February 17th
Well, apart from another trip to Pleven to have the car made ready for the return journey, we haven't done a great deal in the last few weeks.
We have decided the time has come for us to leave Bulgaria, even if only to return later. Life here has been a great experience and in many ways we are sad to leave it all behind, but life goes on and we must decide what are next adventure will be. We had thoughts of staying here and making a life for ourselves in this country but while we love Veliko Tarnovo and many aspects of the country as a whole, the prospect of spending the rest of our lives in a country that is a long way from becoming a real part of Europe filled us with a sense of discomfort.
The last 8 months have been a fantastic holiday and we will never forget what we have seen, undertaken and accomplished. Having never driven abroad, spoken a foreign language or been further than Southern Germany on the coach it really was a step into the unknown and all three of us have become different people or dogs because of it. John is certainly calmer than he used to be, he seems to accept things better and tries not to fight his feelings as much. Me (Angela), I have become bilingual (of a fashion), even my English has improved due to this website. Also the break has helped me to regain my health which is a big plus. As for Jake, whatever happened to that timid little lad we adopted 18 months ago? He is stronger, more confident and has become our best friend during this trip as well as charming about 50% of the population of VT.
So we are now packing up the apartment in readyness for our departure. Our goods are going into storage in Sofia whilst we head home and decide what to do next. We will start the journey home on 23rd february weather permitting. We have arranged to take a well earned break for a few days in the Black Forest before heading back into the Uk the 1st week in March.
February 23rd
Our journey back to the UK has been delayed slightly due to ill health. We have both had recent attacks of Flu, but John seemed to seccumb worse than most and after deteriorating badly ended up in hospital. He lost his balance, had terrific pain in his head and face and was generally unwell. The hospital here in VT was not the scary experience we had been lead to believe and they treated us very well. The staff at A&E were very helpful and although the doctor did not speak English he brought in a young nurse who did. I had luckily translated all the symptoms into Cyrillic anyway to help so he was pleased. After thorough examinations including ECG he concluded it was post Flu Neuralgia and allow John home with medication and strict instructions for bed rest for 3 days. The medication seems to be working so hopefully we will be away in a few days.
February 27th
"Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is?"
It's a rhyme I remember from somewhere and just about sums up what we have seen here in the last few days. 2 Weeks ago we still had snow on the ground, the temperature struggled to reach plus figures and plummeted to anywhere between -5c and -15c at night. Everywhere looked drab, dirty from the snow that had been lying around for what seems like an eternity, the pavements were still tricky with patches of ice made worse by a little thawing followed by night frost. The birds were practically camped out on our makeshift bird table, eager for any morsel to see them through the cold night ahead.
Now - what a difference. The weather is almost summer like with temperatures reaching 20c some days and never falling much below 5c at night. The snowdrops and crocus flowers are bursting out in gardens all around us. The town is again alive with street side tables brimming with people eager to enjoy the new spring. Everywhere you look someone is busy tidying gardens and planting ready for the summer. And the birds have deserted us for their natural food sources.
Here in Bulgaria they have a tradition at this time of year called Baba Marta. It is officially celebrated on the 1st of March when Bulgarians present each other with red and white Martinitzas.
Children wear their martenitzas on the right wrist, around the neck or on the breast, while young girls and brides wear it around the neck or woven into their hair. Men, however, tie the martenitza above their left elbow or left ankle. In some regions they put it in the shoe under the left heel for if someone sees them with a martenitza their masculinity may be “tied”. Martenitzas are tied on young animals and the fruit trees.
People wear the martenitza until they see a stork. Then they tie it on a fruit-tree branch, make a wish and are sure that it will come true.
The legend is this :-
Many, many years ago, Khan Isperih left his home in the far away Tibetan mountains and went in search of fertile land for his people, the proto-Bulgarians. He crossed many mountains and rivers until finally he stopped in the land of the Slavs who met him cordially.Slav women, dressed in white, brought him cups of wine and the tables were piled with food, the fruits of this blessed land. But the khan was not happy for he was sick for his family – his mother and his sister Kalina. He sat on the bank of the big river and tears like pearls dropped down his masculine cheeks. His eyes looked in prayer towards the sun and the gods. And the miracle happened. A swift swallow alighted on his shoulder. Isperih told her his grief. The swallow flew away to the lands from which the Bulgarians came and told Kalina in a human voice that her brother has a new kingdom, that he grieves about her and sends her greetings. Kalina was very happy to hear that and decided to send a message to her brother. She made a nosegay of green plants, tied it with white woolen thread, made some knots on it meaning best regards and sent it back with the swallow. The bird flew like thunder and very soon was on the shoulder of Isperih again. But after the long journey its wing was wounded and bright red blood had tinted the thread. The khan took the nosegay with joy, read in the knots his sister’s greetings, put the nosegay on his breast and the martenitza shone bright. Since then Isperih ordered his people to make a bunch of twisted white and red thread and wear it on their breasts on this day – for health and blessing from heaven. This happened on 1st of March
and has remained until this day.
In VT where ever you go there are stalls selling these Martinitzas and it is obviously a major event, I have bought a few of these and will photograph them and add a picture shortly.
February 28th
We awoke to our last morning in Bulgaria not really knowing what the day would bring. We decided the time had come for us to set off as John was feeling strong enough to tackle the drive ahead and as we were all packed it seemed right to go.
There is a certain amount of sadness at our departure but so many things have made us realise that although there is a lot about Bulgaria we love and especially Veliko Turnovo there is also a lot we do not like. I took some pictures yesterday of the dirt and rubbish that seems to be becoming a major problem in Bulgaria. Even friends who live here say it is worse now than when they moved here 2 years ago. I guess the coming of supermarkets with all their glossy packaging has contributed, but mainly I think the administration of these towns is failing to march forward in time with the progress of modernisation.
A pavement near our apartment
Behind the local market
The gardens in front of our apartment
Potholes in the main road in VT
With the final bits packed in the car we left VT at about 10am heading for the Bridge at Rousse to cross into Romania. The roads in Bulgaria at the moment are extremely dusty caused mainly by the thawing snow leaving the dirt behind. There seems to be no thought to road cleaning and what the country needs at the moment is a really good downpour for about a week to wash everything. Thankfully the journey to the border has been improved by the finishing of a major road scheme around Byala and we crossed the bridge and left Bulgaria behind around lunchtime. It felt very strange to be in another country after so much time in Bulgaria.
Our first problem seemed to be the lack of anywhere to purchase our Rovinette, Romanian Road Tax which is compulsory even for a one day crossing. We bought this from a small kiosk on the way into the country in July but returning there did not seem to be any of these along the road we took. We even tried the petrol stations but no luck so we just forged ahead and hoped we didn’t get stopped. Strangely we had the impression that we did not like Romania, our journey through the country on the way to Bulgaria had left us with an entirely different opinion to the one we now formed as we drove through the towns and countryside. We found the roads to be better and cleaner than Bulgaria, they even had road gangs working collecting litter from the verges and trimming the trees back. The houses are very different to those we had left behind, these seemed better kept, brighter coloured and despite their tin roofs looked altogether more appealing. We met traffic hold ups on the notorious Bucharest Ring Road, but soon progressed onto Romania’s one and only motorway. We decided to stop for petrol and only after pulling into the petrol station did we realise it was the same services we had stayed at on the last night of our outward journey. The staff were really lovely and despite speaking no English, one older chap regaled us with his love of English football, recounting all the names of the 1966 world cup squad and telling us repeatedly “I love you Arsenal “ .
The traffic again became a problem on the far side of Pitesti where drain replacement is causing major hold-ups and we must have been stuck for over an hour and a half before finally getting through the town and out onto the open road again. We had not made any plans as to where we were going to stop for the night and after going through Ramnicu Valcea the light started to fade and we decided it was best to look for somewhere to stay. Luckily we had entered the Cozia National Park area and we found a cluster of hotels and motels catering for tourist. We stopped at the Motel MC. The receptionist spoke no English but called over the restaurant head waiter. He asked if we spoke German or French to which I said no only English or Bulgarian. “I speak Bulgarian he said” and so all transactions were carried out in Bulgarian from then on. I never thought having Bulgarian as a second language would be so useful. The rooms at the motel were basic but the beds were clean and comfortable and the restaurant attached serves great food, they allowed us to take Jake in with us and we even had live entertainment. Not bad for £20 a night which include £5 in vouchers towards food.
Motel MC
February 29th
Leap year gives us an extra day this month so we make good use of it and finish our crossing of Romania. The area we stayed in turned out to be very picturesque and we enjoyed the scenery on our way North to Sibiu.
The mountains of the Cozia National Park
Sibiu struck us as being a very vibrant and modern town, busy and bustling with life. Another town which stuck in our minds was Sebes, a really pleasant small town with beautiful clean square with lawns and seating and a pretty flower market busy with the up and coming Mothers day trade. All in all a very pleasant couple of days which changed our feelings about Romania for the better. Even the policeman who stopped us just before the border to check our passports and vehicle papers were correct was smart, polite and spoke enough English to make the process simple.
We managed to enter Hungary just before 5 and stopped at the border to buy our vignette. It is so nice to see inter-European co-operation with the Hungarians also selling Austrian Vignettes so we were able to use up our remaining Romanian Lei and purchase both together. Things are moving apace in Hungary with their tax vignettes and this is all computerised now and instead of a sticker you just have a receipt and it is all recorded for the Police. Hungary passed in the dark, the best way to cross the Country, as we found the motorway runs through some very flat and uninteresting countryside. No wonder they don't have a sense of humour! We managed to make the Austrian border before nightfall despite the weather turning pretty foul and with no checks in place we entered yet another country that day. 3 countries in one day, not bad. We found a nice motel just before Vienna and settled down to a well earned sleep.