Bulgaria in passing

Ahoy,

We're on our 2nd day at sea to get to Egypt. We left Varna, Bulgaria and passed through the Bosphorus Strait yesterday.

What did I do in Bulgaria? There really isn't much to do in Varna. It was all about water sports and beaches. The beach was right next to port. The bars and clubs were on the beach. Everything is about the beach. It was sandy, but I'm so over beaches. There's this whole strip called Golden Sands that is all restaurants, bars, gift shops, resorts - like Las Vegas - very appropriate for tourists.

There was a big park just next to the beach that reminded me of Central Park, just because of its sheer size. All along the waterfront was beach and resorts. The park followed along the same path. I went on two trips with Semester at Sea. The trips were really good, unlike trips in the other ports, but Varna had not a lot to do on my own.

There was a sad zoo, dolphinarium, terrarium, aquarium, planetarium in the park. The zoo had a large variety of animals we wouldn't see in the States, like a camel, different birds, rams, yak, llama... But there was usually just one, and they had very little space. They had no toys or any sort of enrichment, stimulation or entertainment. Sometimes they had no shade. It was only 1 lev, so they probably don't get enough money to make it nicer. The dolphinarium was small and overpriced. The dolphins only did a cool trick twice and there was no finale. I don't think the planetarium was ever open. There is a lot of graffiti in Varna. There is graffiti all over the planetarium. The aquarium was way tiny and more expensive than the zoo, but it was still only 4 lev. The exchange rate is about $1 = 1.35 lev.

The trips I went on took us to the Petrified Forest, which is a pile of rocks in the desert. It was still cool. The rocky monastary used to house monks in caves on this cliff. They would climb up ad down this cliff everyday to each room. The objective was to separate the body from mind. They wanted to disregard materialism and just be spiritual. We visited the Botanical Gardens in Balchik. It was so pretty and colorful. There was a fortress in Kaliarkra with spectacular views. This was super-cool. I'm so sick of churches and beaches. They ended our night with a dinner and a show in the forest. The show was so over the top. It began with some traditional stuff and as the night progressed, they had less and less traditional dances. The dancers got increasingly sluttier, wore less clothing. It seemed as if these performers used to work at strip clubs. It is probably what a Vegas burlesque show is like. It was hilarious. So much fun. This kind of experience is unlikely with SAS (Semester at Sea) trips. They are never this much fun.

There was not much to do at all. We ventured into the city center and there was a market and some churches, but not much else. I'm so sick of churches and mosquues anyway. No wonder Bulgaria is only partially integrated into the EU. They don't even play football. It was communist until pretty recently. My tour guides remembered growing up communist. I don't think I would have a reason to come back to Bulgaria, but by all means, if you like beaches and drinking, come on down.

increasingly disillusioned,
JT