Bulgaria

Bulgaria, check. A country that has never been on my bucket list, and now that I’ve seen a few places there, a country that remains not on my bucket list. Admittedly the few places, I’ve gotten to visit, Vidin, Silestra, and Alfatar are rather small rural communities (each smaller than the last) so perhaps the poverty and extreme stark Soviet architecture are more prevalent here than in a big city like Sofia. We’ve been here for three days, though the middle day was spent entirely on the river traveling over 250 kilometers (150+ miles). 

In Vidin, or rather, an hour’s drive away from Vidin, I joined a tour to visit a fortress in the small town of Belgradchik (literally small castle town). Apparently I’ve reached my quota of fortresses, because while I was interested in the views I found I had no interest in the history or military implications of the fortress. There were lots of steps, some rocks to step on, a nice though not spectacular views of the surrounding hills and nearby town. It was fun to see the fog roll in. David was delighted with his adventure baking banica, a Bulgarian treat that he can share more about. 

The afternoon in Vidin was spent on a rather long, flat walk with about a dozen cachers to find the six caches in town. Lots of abandoned buildings, Soviet architecture, streets and sidewalks in disrepair. Also lots of smoking and aggressive driving. 

The second day was on the river, with Romania to the port (left/north) and Bulgaria to the starboard (right/south). It’s rather flat here, and somewhat green though with a fair amount of brown too. It was at the end of the river day that we found the virtual cache that required us to be on deck at 12:15am.

Day three was in the town of Silestra. David and I were both on a tour to the village of Alfatar (population about 700) to visit the school. The music teacher and a group of maybe a dozen students were outside waiting for us at the front of the school. The teacher was playing a Bulgarian bagpipe, which is a bit different from a Scottish bagpipe. Lots of kids were waving from their classroom windows. The kids were great, typical kids, excited to see the visitors who added some spice to the school day. We visited several classrooms, grades 1, 2, and 4, the English room and the biology (or perhaps all sciences) room. We saw some unique things: a pile of Bulgarian National Geographic magazines from 2007, a classroom floor decorated with various city names on it (yes, London was one of them). The visit concluded with a performance by the dozen kids, dressed at least partially in traditional Bulgarian attire, who sang a few songs and received a donation from Scenic tours that will be used to replace some desks and chairs for older students. We learned that teachers must have masters degrees and that they start earning about 700 Euros per month, before taxes, with the principal earring 900 and the most experienced teachers earning 1000. (Further research suggested that minimum wage is 363, and the average is about 1700 so teachers are quite poorly paid.)

We then walked a block or two to see some adults perform Bulgarian songs and try their liquor, rakia, which was advertised as apricot brandy but was so strong I could only handle a sip. We’d been warned that the music was an “acquired taste” which turned out to be quite the understatement. It wounded to my ear like a wounded cat wailing in a high whiny pitch, so clearly I have not yet acquired the taste. There was a chance to see a house from 100 or so years ago but it was so moldy in each room that I didn’t really see much. We were given the opportunity to dress in traditional Bulgarian folk attire and while I declined, David chose to participate and seemed very happy with his decision. 

After the bus ride back, David, June and I decided to walk to 3 of the 4 geocaches in town (the 4th was a distance away). It was just as depressing as Vidin if not more so. We were surprised to see a Balkan Airways jet parked at the second cache. 

I took a few pictures, but otherwise didn’t buy any souvenirs from Bulgaria as it’s not the most memorable place I’ve visited