04.14.25

Good morning Bulgaria!
For two mornings in a row I sang that tune as I woke up in a very chilly city on Day One which I was not used to– or comfortable with! It has been a long time since I had freezing temperatures in the morning. I picked up our new motorcycle/steed in in Bucharest and worked my way (fortunately) south, back into Greece, to reconnect with Kat. She was been in Athens for a few days staying with a friend, and we met in Tuesday to start our journey from Thessaloniki.
So far so good, and I was so happy when I got to the motorcycle rental place and picked up the bag that we left there 2 years ago. It was complete with warm weather gear which I had forgotten about, and I jumped for joy when I found my heavy jacket and long johns. If not for these items (and others), there’s no way I could have made the trip with what I had! Being in the tropics for 1.5 years definitely made me thin-blooded, so I have to get used to cooler temperatures, but hopefully only for a few days. We are heading south into Italy and summer is coming, and before you know it, the cold will be behind us.
Veliko Tarnovo : Where I stopped on the first night, and my original destination. As I planned this out over a 4-day trip it looked like a cute little resort type town, not really in the mountains, but it had that mountain vibe. But of all the timing! I pulled in Saturday afternoon about 4:00 and the town was bustling. I found a local restaurant and had dinner and asked the waitress if the nearby hotel was a good place, and she said yes– but doubted if they had rooms. It seems that there was a major sporting event going on this weekend, an ultra-marathon, and everything was sold out! By now it was an hour or two before dark so I had to quickly scramble to find a room, and once again God, Fortune, and luck was with me as I found a really nice room close to town. There are certain advantages to having a room set up in advance, and this is one of them!
The next morning dawned at 32° F/ O° C, but the weather report showed increasing heat throughout the morning. I just had to wait long enough to leave, which it did by about 11:00, and it was mostly warm and clear sailing the entire way into Haskova (picture), stop #2. Cute town with a nice public walkway with statues and restaurants, and I got in early enough to enjoy the SUNSHINE and heat! Day 1 was 181 km, day 2 was 171, and my body is getting adjusted to riding again.
I got by for 2 days with no native Bulgarian currency, called the lev. I had to do without a few things that required cash, but overall I was able to eat, drink, and shop just with my credit card. If I never carry another lev in my pocket I’ll be happy with that.
I can’t say I will miss Bulgaria. SO different in so many ways, and I have another post all about that coming up.
Part II: (closing) thoughts on Bulgaria
I spent two days there and never really felt “comfortable.”

I don’t know why, but the country of Bulgaria just doesn’t seem to work for me. Even the Cyrillic script weirds me out for some reason! I know, I know, there are probably lots of you who love it and we did like the city of Bansko when we were there a few years ago, even though it was just a few days. Let’s face it, it’s a tourist town, they cater to Americans and digital nomads, so it’s probably different there than in other cities. But it seems like the people in Bulgaria have a surly attitude. We noticed it last time we were there and I’ve spoken with Bulgarians before and they say it’s true. They’ve had a rough life and they just seem to come off rather stern and abrupt. True enough. And I understand about the residual effects of history.

One of the first things I noticed when we came into Bulgaria a few years ago from Greece was that it’s hilly. Not mountainous, but hilly. Here we came in from Greece, one of the most magical, beautiful countries in the world, and when we arrived in Bulgaria it was like, “meh,” nothing really caught my attention. But we were only there for a few days, So that was okay.

NOTE: ON my recent return trip INTO Greece from Bulgaria, the differences in scenery was dramatic. From the time I crossed the Greek border (Makaza Pass) I went through half a dozen tunnels and saw amazing mountains. Much different than where I had just been.

I’ve just spent two nights in Bulgaria, eating at several different restaurants, and I didn’t feel comfortable in any of them. I could sit in a restaurant in almost any country in the world and even though I don’t understand the languages spoken around me, I usually felt comfortable.

Not so much in Bulgaria.

I felt truly isolated, and granted, I WAS a stranger, not speaking their language, but the truth is,

“Why should I visit a country where I don’t feel comfortable??”

That’s the beauty of our nomadic lifestyle, we go where we want, we try to stay as long as we want, and if we don’t like it we don’t go back. And if we do, we go back again. And my list of countries to return to is WAY too long to concern myself with countries that I don’t want to go back to.

NOTE#2: Now that Bulgaria is part of Schengen it WAS nice crossing the border without a stop. It’s a double-edged sword (ditto Romania) since we now have two less safe havens.

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