Несебър (Nessebar)

Like so many other popular tourist sites, Несебър (Nessebar) is like a beautiful girl who wears too much makeup. She’s still lovely and captivating, but she’s too overdone to be genuine and much of the originality and uniqueness that define her beauty is lost behind the facade. A victim of her own popularity and narcissism, you can’t help but wonder what she would be like if she wasn’t so adored by others and so in love with herself.

There is plenty of information about Nessebar online and in print. I won’t regurgitate that here. What I will say is, despite all of Nessebar's flaws, I was nothing but happy the entire time I was meandering around its cobblestone streets. In short, it was a great day to be alive and a great day to be in Bulgaria.

A short causeway links Nessebar to the mainland. On one side of the causeway is an old windmill. On the other side is a monument. At the base of the causeway are the remains of old ramparts. A little further on is a small marina full of fishing boats and a few sail boats. The photos speak for themselves.








Nessebar is famous, among other things, for its many historic churches. Some have been restored; others not so much.








The town also features numerous National Revival era homes.






Restored homes, and copycat architecture, now house cafes and shops.



Nessebar is an old fishing village, and some folks still make a living as fishermen.


The cleaned and gutted fish end up at the market.



The guts end up as food for the ubiquitous Yellow-legged Gulls.


Those which weren't fighting over fish guts seemed to be mocking me.


Mute Swans were common along the jetties.


And large flocks occasionally flew by.


Fortunately, I wasn't standing in this Great Cormorant's line of fire.

Поморие (Pomorie)

My visit to Bourgas coincided with Гергьовден (St. George’s Day). St. George’s Day is a public holiday that takes place on May 6th every year. It is one of the most celebrated name days in Bulgaria.

What is a name day? I had the same question the first time one was celebrated. The cynic in me would say a name day is a poor excuse for Bulgarians to get drunk. But for many Bulgarians, name days are more important than birthdays. Tied to the calendar of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, a name day is a day of the year designated to celebrate the name and life of a specific saint. Everyone, male and female, named after that particular saint celebrates on the day set aside for that saint.

On St. George’s Day, for example, people named Georgi, Georgiya, Gergana, and Gyuro – plus their friends and relatives – all celebrate. Since Georgi and Gergana are very popular names, almost all of Bulgaria joins in the festivities.

St. George’s Day also is the town holiday for the city of Поморие (Pomorie), a small town and seaside resort located twenty kilometers from Bourgas. With nothing better to do, a friend and I decided to celebrate St. George's Day in Pomorie.

Our day began with a trip to the aptly named St. George's Monastery. There are two entrances to the monastery. One was heaving with people who had come to be blessed.





The other was practically deserted.


The back side of the monastery was rather serene in comparison to the chaotic front side.



Among other things, it is common to slaughter and eat a whole lamb to celebrate St. George’s Day (St. George is the patron saint of shepherds). This guy was on display at the monastery. No doubt, the sacrificial lamb.


After visiting the monastery, we took in some traditional Bulgarian folk music and dancing.




Then it was time to eat. What's not to love about grilled meat? And lots of it.


Plus, cold beer and eye candy ...


Not to mention a seemingly endless supply of real candy, ice cream, popcorn, and piping hot donuts and waffles ...


And fresh squeezed juice.


Plus freelance musicians like this guy.


It could have been any carnival, anywhere.

Бургас (Bourgas)

Using Бургас (Bourgas or Burgas) as a base, I spent four days exploring the Black Sea coast. It was perhaps the most enjoyable four days I’ve spent in Bulgaria.

Nothing about Bourgas is particularly special or worthy of visiting independently. The wide pedestrianized center, featuring cozy cafes and store after store of items beyond the means of most Bulgarians, is extremely popular and a great place for people watching. On a par for people watching is the equally popular city park running parallel to the beach. But those are probably Bourgas’ strongest selling points. There are undoubtedly places within Bulgaria with better beaches, restaurants, and nightlife. Places with more interesting histories, museums, and architecture. More scenic places. If anything, Bourgas is remarkable only for being utterly unremarkable. But the people are laid back and friendly, and Bourgas serves as a great jumping off point for nearby places of interest. In that regard, Bourgas reminded me of Houston. And maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much.

The beach at Bourgas.

Леденика (Ledenika)

Do a Google search for Леденика (Ledenika) and you’re likely to turn up hits for one of two things: the cave or the beer. I drank a fair amount of the beer during my time in Boychinovtsi, but I never got around to visiting the cave, which is located near Vratsa. That changed this weekend. Fittingly, the cave is on a par with the beer. On a grand scale, neither compares favorably to the competition. But when there is no competition, they are more than tolerable. In this regard, I came to the conclusion that most easily accessible caves are like most available beers – there is little about them to distinguish one from another, but they both bring a certain amount of enjoyment to most of us.

In the case of caves, tight passages and slippery rocks make them more accessible to the small and spry than the large and lumbering. They are universally cold, damp, dark places virtually devoid of plant and animal life. By contrast, they are full of stalagmites and stalactites which create strange formations that invariably resemble (at least to those with vivid imaginations) real or mythical creatures. Ledenika, for example, has an eagle, a falcon, a witch, Santa Claus, a giant, an elephant, a frog, and numerous other imaginary residents. Despite significant effort, I never saw any such things. Perhaps this is the reason all but a few of the caves I’ve visited have seemed more or less the same.