| | Roads quality is a limiting factor, more than distance . | |
| | | Looking for a flat in VARNA, we spent the 1st month in this hotel. | |
| | | Located in the center of the town, near the orthodox Cathedral .. | |
|
| | and the Bulgarian Navy Headquarter . | |
| | | MY street ! I should have rented a flat there, just to confuse the postman ! | |
| | | Russians freed Bulgaria from Turkish domination, but did not leave the country. | |
|
| | They left in 1990, leaving souvenirs like this friendship memorial (Pamiatnik).. | |
| | | ..and their style for mass construction | |
| | | Rust all over, long gone paint, rough concrete cracking here and there . | |
|
| | See the big numbers ? What do you think they mean ? (122, 123,..) | |
| | | YES ! there are 121 other identical buildings ! Same style, same state ! | |
| | | Capitalism may not be the perfect system, but communism for sure is the worst | |
|
| | Try to imagine how it feels when after a day at work, you come back to home ! | |
| | | They do live here ! ( live ?! ) Welcome Home girls !!! | |
| | | Hopefully, the old and tiny villages were spared . Nessebar is tiny harbour | |
|
| | on a tiny peninsula, the village contains 40 churches, but some are just ruins. | |
| | | Often , the outside is decorated using bottles or potery | |
| | | Sainte Sophie church , as I said before (ruins). | |
|
| | Another church, in better shape | |
| | | The traditional house in Bulgaria. Stone below, wood above, with bigger floor . | |
| | | Traditional boat in .. No ! This is just the restaurant sign ! Guess the food ! | |
|
| | Sofia . Saint Nicholas Church (Sveti Nikola) 17th century Russian style (in1914) | |
| | | contrasting in size and style with Sveti Alexander Nevski (Tsar Alexander II ) | |
| | can accomodate 6000 persons !
| |
|
| | Arbanaci , a village close to Veliko Tarnovo very old houses and all stone . | |
| | | Churches are small and half burried because Turks prohited buildings higher than | |
| | | a man on a horse . The inside is heavily decorated. Orthodox style. | |
|
| | Veliko Tarnovo was the capital during the 13th century | |
| | | The river turns all around the city, forming a "8" around two hills. | |
| | | Trapezitsa and Tsarevets. On this latter, a unusual church which looks ... | |
|
| | .. traditional, but the decoration inside is surprising or shocking . | |
| | | Unfortunately, taking pictures inside is not allowed. Sorry ! | |
| | | Another view of the Tsarevets . | |
|
| | Houses are particular too due to the shape of the hills. This is the top part of | |
| | | this house . Note th slope of the street and the recess of each floor. | |
| | | Some are just nicely painted ! | |
|
| | Sveti Dimitar Solunski - Saint Demetrios de Salonique | |
| | | Byzantine style. Many Tsar's were crowned there. | |
| | | Dating from the 13th century . | |
|
| | Another angle . The construction is typical .. | |
| | | Alternating stone and bricks | |
| | | There are plenty of churches, different periods, | |
|
| | different styles, and different decoration inside (next picture) | |
| | | Try this : http://www.world66.com/europe/bulgaria/velikoturno | |
| | | Detail of a bridge over the river Iantra . On Internet ... | |
|
| | Go to : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veliko_Tarnovo | |
| | | In these old streets, you are not surprised to find this and | |
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