A small historical city, Burgaria

We woke up in Sofia, Bulgaria and attempted to go to the bus station. At first, We could not find the tram station, then we got on a tram going in the wrong direction. Haplessly We had to walk roughyly 500m and finally got to the bus stop. Sofia- Veliko Tarnovo, 19 Lev per head, equivalent approximately 1300 in a Japanese currency. 

 We finally had in Veliko Tarnovo. We dropped our bags off and went straight out for shopping. Veliko Tarnovo is a little city in north central Burgaria. It is one of Burgarians oldest settlements, was the capital of the Second Burgaria Empire and is located on the Yantra River.

The first thing that comes to mind is Tsarevets. It is a fortress which was in use when Veliko Tarnovo was the Burgarian capital, and is built on one of the three hills of the city.

 

Basically, We didn’t hold back at all in terms of spending money, but we stayed at a relatively cheap hostel at that night and this was where We met the cool guy who inspired us. In addition, the fact that the Burgarian people are extremely warm and welcoming towards foreigners just increases its attractiveness as best value destination. Everywhere we went we found it so remarkably easy to strike up a conversation with locals not only because gonca  is fluent in Turkish and I have a broken Turkish but also because they are simply warm, whether it  as the waitress at th restaurant, a taxi driver, the staff inside of a shop or strangers we encountered while wandering the streets.

We only had three days to visit the entire city of Veliko Tarnovo and it was enough to complete the city. We tried to visit the most important touristic attractions but ended up spending more time in playing soccer against school kids. Regarding important places, there are a few to mention, but I believe the city itself is a lovely place to just get ourself lost in.

Although I am not familiar with its history, Tsaravets Fortress is the most important touristic attraction from Veliko Tarnovo. There is a little bit of climbing and I wouldn’t suggest going on a very hot day. On top, there is the patriarchal cathedral, a small church with colorful paintings and it also features a tower that you can visit and I bet it has a nice view. We weren’t that lucky, it was closed that day.

Overall, I liked this place a lot, and I know I would have like it a whole lot better if I had gone in the summer when a bunch of foreigners pay a visit.