Romania > The old town Veliko Tarnovo

The breakfast buffet at the hotel is available between 07:30 and 10:00. At exactly 07:30, we enter the breakfast room. Except for the bread rolls, everything is already ready. The bread is quickly brought as well. After breakfast, we drive out of Sofia via a wide boulevard. Outside the city, the boulevard becomes a highway heading east. A broad road with two, sometimes three lanes. The landscape in Bulgaria is much more rolling than, for example, Macedonia or Albania. This makes the highway have few sharp curves or steep sections. We can drive almost everywhere at ninety to one hundred km/h without problems. After about an hour, the highway becomes a two-lane road (one lane per direction). The road runs through villages. It is noticeable that Bulgarians strictly reduce speed to fifty km/h. We follow. Fortunately, this is not for nothing. In several villages, there are police checks. Their favorite position is in the shade under the village tree. In the morning alone, we pass five checkpoints. It seems every village has its own police control. We are allowed through everywhere. Around noon, we enter Veliko Tarnovo. In ancient times, this area was the most important city in Bulgaria. The remains of the walled Tsarevets Fortress lie on three hills in the city. Upon entering Veliko Tarnovo, we expect signs pointing to this historic site. Unfortunately, except for one sign, we see no indications. On the navigation system, we also cannot locate it because we cannot read the Bulgarian text. We decide to ask. A taxi driver immediately approaches. "Do you need help?" He looks a bit puzzled when we show a picture of the castle. "There are closed roads, and it is hard to explain," he says. He offers to lead the way for ten lev (about five euros). Well, he will probably profit from it, but it is convenient. A little later, we have to accelerate to keep up with the small yellow taxi. We drive through a maze of streets.

Romania - The entrance bridge to the old city of Veliko Tarnovo

Indeed, this would have been difficult to explain. At a parking lot, the driver stops. We see only four other cars. Could it be here? The driver gives the relieving answer: this is the statue of the family who founded the city in 800. He thought we should see it as well. Then we follow him again. At the second stop, he signals that we must park. There is no parking further along. "Step into my taxi, and I will take you to the entrance gate." Very convenient. Before entering the walled city, we first have something to drink. The weather is beautiful today, certainly over thirty degrees. Even in the walled city, it is hot. Around noon, the sun is directly overhead, and there is hardly any shade. We walk at our own pace to Baldwin Tower. In this replica of the tower, Baldwin of Flanders was imprisoned after a defeat during the Battle of Adrianople in 1205. At the highest point of the fortress stands the patriarchal Orthodox cathedral. Inside, the church has no frescoes, as normally seen in churches, but modern artistic religious images—a strange combination. A little lower on the hill of the fortress lie the remains of the former palace. Finally, at the extreme point, we visit the execution rock. From here, people were thrown into the Yantra River if they were condemned. In the afternoon, we drive toward Romania. At a gas station, we spend our remaining Bulgarian money. Still good for almost forty liters of diesel. During this trip, we need many different currencies, but the diesel pump is a perfect way to use up leftovers. We simply show what we have, and they fill it. Near the town of Ruse lies the border with Romania. Unlike previous border crossings, it is busy here. About five hundred meters before the border, we join the line of waiting cars. Slowly, the first booth comes into view. We are still on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, the border river. Here, they do not worry about passports, but whether we paid two euros toll to cross the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, we join the queue for the Romanian border control. Passports are scanned. At most crossings, passports are scanned; stamping is increasingly rare. So far, we have received only three stamps. Romania also has a vignette. Just over the border, we have to pay to drive on Romanian roads. Since we will re-enter Romania later, a seven-day vignette is not enough. We buy a one-month vignette. We only receive a receipt proving payment. The vignette is electronically registered, the man explains. The license plate is scanned. We officially enter Romania. From the border, it is about seventy kilometers to Bucharest. It is Friday late afternoon. There are traffic jams on the highways out of the city, fortunately not into the city. We drive into the center via a boulevard. Along the road, old trams carry commuters. Sometimes a car stops in the right lane, sometimes someone abruptly stops in the left lane to turn. We need to pay attention, but it is not difficult to drive. Our hotel is half a kilometer from the center. We can park the car across from the hotel on a secured lot.

Romania - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

It is still warm, above thirty degrees. Clouds and wind are increasing. A rain shower with some thunder follows. After the rain, we walk into the city. On the advice of the hotel clerk, we walk to the left. After a few hundred meters, it turns out we are going the wrong way. We probably misunderstood him. Passersby help us find the direction to the center. We find a nice little restaurant. Unfortunately, the rain returns. Between the drops, we navigate a maze of streets back to the hotel.