Thursday, April 5
Burgas (BOOR-gus) is the fourth largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna and it’s the most important port in Bulgaria. It has the largest oil refinery in all of Southeastern Europe. Oil refining, fishing and tourism are the main industries. The Town is well known throughout Europe as a beach vacation destination.
The city’s history extends beyond 3,000 BC into the Bronze age. In the sixth century BC the area was controlled by the Thracians and since has been settled by the Greeks, Romans, Bulgarians and Ottomans. Today the Town has charming buildings, lovely parks, pristine beaches and is undergoing massive growth with construction and restoration work going on everywhere.
We spent most of the day getting acquainted with our new surroundings. We walked the downtown area and found a lovely pedestrian walkway that is several miles long. It’s lined with shops, restaurants and cafes. There are a number of sculptures, monuments and areas for children to play.
By the beach there is a long pedestrian/bike path that extends from Town to Town along the coastline. We walked south through the park that follows the coastline and north along the path that is adjacent to the water. They also have a pedestrian only pier that is a great place for viewing the Sea and the surrounding coastal areas. It seems a popular place to fish.
(The Burgas Pier)
We ate lunch at one of the many seaside restaurants. Sitting in an open air restaurant at the beach eating seafood made us feel like we were on vacation. We ordered a salad composed of lettuce, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs and scallions and it came with a plate of tomatoes, garlic, roasted red peppers, onions and olives. Wanting to try some of the local seafood we ordered a plate of boiled Black Sea shrimp. We were a little surprised when the shrimp arrived. They were so small that they were hardly worth shelling. By the time you ripped the head off there was almost nothing left. They did, however, have a very mild and sweet taste that was unlike the shrimp we are used to eating and we enjoyed them very much. It just took a LONG time to eat them.
(These Shrimp Appear Larger Than They Actually Were!)
After lunch we realized that our phones no longer had Internet access. Our accounts needed to be recharged. It would be nice if the phone company notified us in some way. It was so pleasant walking around the beach area that decided not to bother with our phones just then. Instead we strolled through the maritime park for a while longer before heading home. Our apartment has WiFi so there was no urgent need. It was a very relaxing day.
Distance walked: 9.7 miles
Friday, April 6
Before leaving the apartment we consulted some local websites for coffee shop recommendations; no one in Plovdiv had any good tips on where to get good coffee in Burgas. There were several very interesting choices so we thought we’d check them out but, before getting coffee, we headed over to the bus station. We planned to buy tickets to one of the neighboring towns.
We had intended to get our phone service recharged along the way but realized that it was Eastern Orthodox Good Friday and all the stores were closed. Since the phone stores are normally closed on the weekend and Monday is a national holiday (Easter Monday) the earliest we’ll be getting phone service again is Tuesday. It’s going to be interesting to see how that’s going to work. At least the bus station was open.
The bus station is a modern glass and steel structure. It was clean and bright and had a comfortable looking waiting area. We suspected that is must have been built fairly recently. Upon entering we saw an information booth and decided that we might do better conversing with someone who spoke English. We asked about bus tickets to Nessebar on Saturday. The woman responded,
“The bus leaves every 30-40 minutes from gate three. You just pay the driver”.
“How much does it cost?”
“Around 6 leva per person”.
“Do you have a schedule?”
“It goes every 30-40 minutes”.
“How long does the trip take?”
“It’s only 20 kilo-meters. How long could it take?”
We left feeling like we had just witnessed an old comedy routine. It was time to get coffee. Our first choice for coffee was closed. The entire building was undergoing massive renovations. We went to the addresses listed for our second and third choices but those cafes don’t appear to be in business any longer. We’re not using that website any more.
We decided to give up on the idea of coffee and headed over towards the seacoast. Along the way we stopped to take a peek inside an Armenian Church. It was a small stone structure that looked very old. As we walked around the outside looking for a good vantage point to take photographs we noticed a nearby cafe. They were serving coffee and that’s all we needed to know.
Butler’s Coffee and Kitchen is a delightful spot serving homemade pastries, Bulgarian specialities and many varieties of coffee. We had cappuccinos made with French Dark Roast and Deborah had a small muffin with raisins that was made from corn. It was still warm from the oven. The barista was a very friendly person who spoke fluent English. There’s no doubt that we’ll be back.
Lunch was at another seaside restaurant. This time we ordered a salad that was mostly cucumbers, onions, feta cheese and tomatoes along with the fried Danube trout. The fish was served whole. It had simply been dunked in the deep fryer for a few minutes without any preparation or seasoning. It was delicious.
Afterwards we walked along the beachfront path for several miles. Many people were walking, skating, cycling, etc. along with us. Everyone was enjoying the Spring weather. A cab driver told us that the normal population of the Town is about 350,000 but that in the summertime it approaches one million. There are many festivals and concerts during that time. It must be a fun place to be.
Distance walked: 11.6 miles
Saturday, April 7
Today we visited the Ancient City of Nessebar (ne-SAY-bar), which is about 20 kilometers north of Burgas. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is a photographers dream. It is essentially a peninsula that is connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus and is surrounded by water on all sides.
(Remains of the Ancient Fortifications)
Around 3,000 BC the city was a Thracian settlement called Menebria. In the 6th century BC it became a Greek colony. In 71 BC it fell under Roman rule. Starting in 864 it changed hands between the Bulgarians and the Byzantines many times before it was conquered by crusaders in 1366. The Ottomans captured it in 1453 and it became an autonomous province in the Ottoman empire in 1878 after the defeat of the Ottomans in Bulgaria. In 1885 it was reunited with the Principality of Bulgaria.
Around 1925 a new town was built on the mainland and the old town was restored. Today you can see artifacts and ruins from its entire history. It is a premier tourist destination with many churches, archeological sites and museums as well as cafes, restaurants and gift stores.
We left our apartment around 8:00 am. It took about 30 minutes to walk the two miles to the bus station. Over at gate three there was a large minibus waiting with a sign indicating that it was going to Nessebar. We got in and waited for the driver to finish his cigarette before hitting the road.
The route was along the coastal highway. The bus driver stopped in several towns along the way. All of these towns were seaside resorts with hotels, spas and condos intended for tourists. We also saw a salt production facility. They fill large shallow pools with Black Sea water and harvest the salt after the water has evaporated away. Across one road there were fields where villagers in naive costumes were working the land.
There is a non-profit organization that runs free private tours of the Ancient City and we arranged for a guide to meet us at the city gate at 11:00 am. The tours are normally offered at 6:00 pm but we asked if they could arrange one for noon. In the end we settled on 11:00 am. Not bad for a free tour. We arrived around 10:00 am, took a quick turn about the peninsula before heading over to a nearby coffee shop for cappucinos.
We met our guide at the gate and he gave us a brief history lesson on Bulgaria and Nessebar. After that we were off to explore. Everywhere we walked he had something interesting to say. We saw many churches (we went into one of them together), several museums, an amphitheater, an old lighthouse, lots of ruins and many examples of the 19th century wooden houses. The tour lasted about 90 minutes. Then it was time for lunch.
Our guide had recommended a seafood restaurant overlooking the water. From the outside it looked a bit pricey but we decided to indulge. It had an extensive menu but in the end we decided upon a tomato and feta cheese salad, a grilled chicken cutlet and a pot of mussels fresh from the Black Sea. The mussels were generally larger in size than ones we are used to and had a milder flavor and were cooked in a broth of herbs and sea salt. The portions were huge and everything was delicious.
(Black Sea Mussels)
Before we left our waitress brought us two complementary shot-sized glasses of a dark, brown liqueur. The drink had a strong, sweet flavor. We liked it a lot. I thought it tasted fruity. Deborah thought is tasted like coffee. On the way out we asked the bartender what the drink was called. He responded, “you need another” and proceeded to fill two glasses. How could we refuse? After we pressed him some more he said that it was almond. We knew it wasn’t almond but since his English had not been very good we assumed that something had been lost in translation. Before we left we took a picture of the label with the intention of researching it when we got back to Burgas.
After lunch we went back around the island and saw each site in detail at our leisure. We also visited the archeological museum. We caught a 4:00 pm bus back to Burgas and arrived back in Town without incident.
(St Sofia Church was Damaged in a 20th Century Earthquake)
Back in our apartment we found the company that made the aperitif. The bartender was right – it was almond. It is produced by a company located in one of the towns that we had passed through. We’re going to see if any of the local liquor stores carry it.
Distance walked: 10.0 miles