Danube Cruise and Exploration 2017 -- Day 4

Tuesday, August 15

Arbanassi, Bulgaria
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

Contributions by Yoyi

While we were eating breakfast the boat left the dock at Giurgiu and crossed the river over to the Bulgarian city of Ruse.  The boat crew took care of all of the border crossing matters including passport control and we simply disembarked and boarded the buses. 

We spent an hour and a half on the road through the Danube plains with an informative guide. Part of his explanation was what we could anticipate having for lunch, which sounded delicious.  I asked if there would be an opportunity to taste the local Bugarian kashkaval cheese. He said that there was nothing planned but he would arrange for us to be able to taste.

Historical plaque in Russian, Bulgarian, and German.
No English

We were eager to reach the fortress city of Arbanassi. This town was on the trade route between turkey and Europe in the 16th and 17th century. Every home occupied by anyone of substance was fortified against highway robbery.  Many of the historic buildings have interpretive plaques, but they are all written only in Russian, Bulgarian, and German; no English.

We walked to another church where a docent interpreted the restored frescos of icons all over the walls of the church. Under Ottoman rule, churches were not allowed to be taller than the mosques. The Christian population skirted these rules by digging indentations into the earth so that their churches' total height could be relatively considerable but still not be higher than the mosque. 

In the garden of the inn in Arbanassi, Bulgaria

We walked to the inn (MEXAHA) where we would have lunch. While we waited for a bathroom break, we enjoyed the gardens of the inn.  At the entrance to the building we were greeted in what we were told was a Bulgarian tradition. We were offered bread to dip either in herbs for a long life or honey for a sweet life.  We were advised that we could choose only one or the other. I suppose we chose based on our consideration of the life we currently live. My life must not be long enough and mom's life must not be sweet enough.

I included the Cyrillic spelling for inn, above, pronounced "Mekhana."  Several people inferred that we were going to a Mexican restaurant.

When we sat down at the already set places there was a salad with beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers, and Bulgarian feta cheese.  We dressed the salad with local sunflower oil and wine vinegar. 

By now I had forgotten my conversation with our guide about cheese. The innkeeper came to our table with a plate of kashkaval just for us.  What a culinary experience!

The approach to the fortified city of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

We drank a bottle of local red wine which was very smooth and delicious, and I soaked up the dressing of the salad with flatbread.  Then we were served a wonderful vegetable soup. The main course was a chicken and mushroom stew served directly from the pot. Dessert  was two scoops of yogurt, that looked like ice cream, with honey and shredded walnuts on top. 

After lunch we continued to the ancient capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo, where we visited the tsar's or emperor's castle on top of a hill. We entered through the so-called Lions gate and walked through the fortifications and next to the walls overlooking the meandering river below.  The fortification is situated on three adjacent hills surrounded in part by the river, and if I were a an attacking  soldier I would not feel very confident about conquering this fortification.  Our tour guides know more history than any of my college professors.

Afterwards we visited a narrow ancient street filled with artisans shops and souvenir stores. We saw a wood cutter chiseling out designs on wooden plates. We saw a metalsmith hammering out copper plates. And we bought tchotchkes. 

We were back at the ship before 6 o'clock to get ready for dinner.

We had signed up tonight for the so-called chef's table.  We ate at the Chef's table tonight with two guys that we met on this trip. They are both really interesting people and very funny. We practically had to pull out a magnifying glass to see some of the food that they served us. It was the kind of food Ed and I always laugh about. But it was really delicious. And it felt good definitely NOT to overeat!

The chefs are aware of our diet restrictions and are very thoughtful to substitute other things in their stead.  (Or to leave out something forbidden, serving us less food.)