Romania
I always thought of Romania as a very poor country much
behind the rest of European countries, opinion mainly based on my childhood
experience with gypsies (there used to be lots of them in Poland and generally
you wanted to avoid them as much as possible) and my first hand knowledge of
what a communist country was like. It was a huge surprise to discover how wrong
my thinking was! Yes, there are poor places and people but also lots of nice
villages and towns. Everyone was very friendly and I came across a big number
of people who spoke English (still not that common in Poland); even an older
lady selling fruit on a side of a road in a village we drove through!
Bulgaria
Now, my opinion of Bulgaria was completely different to the depiction of
Romania I'd had for so many years. Not that it was based on any knowledge or
experience. I think hearing stories about Black Sea resorts which used to
be very popular and the only option for a foreign beach holiday during
communism made me imagine Bulgaria as a rich country and hence I expected big
modern houses, interesting villages and cute little towns. It's unfair to judge
a place you've basically gone through; however I feel quite strong about what I
saw on the way. The weather might have influenced my opinion as it was a
miserable, rainy day when we crossed the Bulgarian-Romanian border.
Nevertheless I don't think the horrible, ugly, filthy blocks of flats we saw in
the very first town we drove through would have looked any better in sunshine.
Although Aaron liked the bit of mountains we went through I considered them to
be hills without any appeal whatsoever. Abandoned houses or even whole villages
scared with brocken windows and the lack of decent cafés /restaurants gave the
area a haunted feel.
As if that wasn't enough, on our search for a hotel we ended up in a town Nova Zagora which apparently had one. We couldn't find it, though. What we found instead, already after dark, was a neighborhood like from the outskirts of Cairo (although I'd probably feel safer in Cairo): houses half built, walls crumbling down, rubbish left by fences, not even bagged (I suppose awaiting a collection) and a street that resembled more an off road track than a road (mud and serious potholes). There were two pubs, if you can call a wooden shed a 'pub', one on each side of the street through which we entered the neighborhood, with a number of drinking men. Unfortunately there was no way through to the main road so we had to turn into a parallel street which obviously wasn't any better. With a big sigh of relief we eventually got out of there and onto the main road. Aaron then unlocked the doors and we headed for the next town, Stara Zagora, where we found a nice little hotel for the night.
Despite the night being the third late night in a row and our tiredness, I was ready to get back in the car the very next morning to drive to Istanbul or, to be honest, anywhere as long as it wasn't Bulgaria. I was genuinely asking Aaron not to let me spend a whole day in this town and country.
The following morning we had breakfast in the hotel served by a lovely man who adored our kids. It always makes you like a place better when there are people showing interest in your children so we booked another night. Although mainly because we all needed a break.
Since we spent a lazy morning in the hotel, we decided to look for a place in town to have lunch. We spent probably over an hour walking around what was meant to be the centre of Stara Zagora and found nothing! So the next step was to drive to the supermarket we had spotted the night before. Hard to believe but we couldn't find the entrance to it! Very hungry we ended up in a shopping mall which we knew had at least McDonalds. Finally, we got some food! We picked a little place which claimed to serve Bulgarian dishes. Nothing special really but who would care at that point?!
Since we didn't get to taste traditional Bulgarian cuisine at lunch, I had a look online later to find a restaurant that would serve typical Bulgarian dishes. And I did find one that had great reviews, looked good and apparently served the type of food we were looking for. Hopeful to have a delicious Bulgarian dinner we drove to the restaurant just to find it closed! Another disappointment.
I suppose I should write something positive about Bulgaria. Well, it's definitely cleaner than Romania. We didn't see as much rubbish on the sides of roads. Also, the man from the hotel, don't really know what his job was, made our stay enjoyable.
Nevertheless, I reckon it will be a long time before I give Bulgaria another chance.
Stara Zagora
Sooo happy to be on the way to Istanbul! Nearly out of
Bulgaria.
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