Sunset Over the Black Sea
Stayed awake last night until after 10 to email. Then up this morning at 6 to try to catch a sunset over the Black Sea. It was foggy to the east, but eventually the sun broke through at 7. Meanwhile I enjoyed a nice walk on the beach by myself and part of the time with Sheila and Sean. Walter with his ever-present videocam was also crazy enough to be up then on a rest day.
Since there is no restaurant or food vendor nearby as in the hotel cities, Sean and Shanny put out the usual breakfast goodies. Did a little more housework today - cleaned my muddy bike and squeaky chain.
Chuck is down to the mindset that there are only 6 more riding days and if its made it this far he expects no more problems.
Brian had ordered 2 cabs. On to a day in Varna (BapHa in the letters on signs). Varna is a large resort city and therefore has a lot of shopping in its very nice city center. There is an opera house and theatre on the main square along with numerous restaurants and cafes. Although Varna dates back almost 5000 years the current city architecture seems to be very recent - 18th to 19th century,
the earliest. The big Cathedral of the Assumption at the west end of the center was built in 1886. Varna is also a large seaport. The Archeology Museum is supposed to be impressive particularly with a collection of ancient gold jewelry (world's oldest gold they said on their billboard coming into town). I imagine Sandy made her way over their. I'm amazed at how she manages to maximize the cultural and shopping aspects of this tour while spending as much bike/van time
as anyone else.
I actually kind of like the site where we are lodging, but we have been spoiled by our previous hotels that have often been located very close to city centers. I spent 4 hours in the city then cabbed back. Finished the laundry, bike cleanup and most packing. (Note for future: don't dry socks on bare bulbs - they roast rather quickly if not attended to).
I went back to the beach after 5PM and found Kerry and Casey, David, Jennie, Walter(asleep), Vic, Tim, Lincoln over there. Since others said the water was nice, I jumped right in and found they were right. Some good little waves, a bit of an undertow and probably about 80 deg F makes for much more fun than a little swimming pool.
I think there may be a beach bonfire being planned for tonight and I heard rumors of "smores" too. I may just stay home and start reading up on Istanbul finally and get to bed early. With all that running around the old bod needs some rest.
Have a great weekend.
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Posted September 17, 2005 by Tour Participant
Bulgaria |
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