Greetings from Veliko Tarnovo - a former capital of Bulgaria until it was captured by the Ottomans. The old part of the city is really charming overlooking the Yantra river valley and surrounded by ravines; valleys & forest. The fortress of Tsarevets is the main attraction.

Well, i say that but it may no longer be true - the English appear to have moved-in and not because of the fortress......

The estate agents here advertise properties in English and give equivalent prices in lev; euro and pounds. For £50,000 you can buy a pretty nice 3-bedroomed house; a smaller house in need of some repair can be had for around £15,000 and £120,000 will buy you a SouthFork.......

Can't see the attraction myself........

OK, that was a fib........

The area around here is lovely and the town is bustling. The Hotel Veliko Tarnovo, a Soviet-era building in the centre on the banks of the Yantra is a bit of a shock, and nearby is the huge & equally brutal monument of the Assens. The State Art Gallery is also close by & looks like it was meant to be a church (which was closed when i got there) and from the platform that the monument & gallery are built on you get an interesting view as you look up at the city. Flying around while i was visiting was what i think might have been a Glossy Ibis - is that likely? Intriguing, whatever it was, with beautiful plumage.....

I stayed at the Hotel Yantra - which is very nice & has great views over the valley & the fortress.....

Nearby is the picturesque village of Arbanasi where Konstantsalieva House - a 17th century merchant's house - has been turned into a museum. What is interesting is that Arbanasi must have been quite a wealthy village - as you see from the museum and the other houses in the village - and while it is only 4km from Veliko Tarnovo - it seems odd to have settled here - away from the city - but anyway.....

The Nativity Church is just amazing.....

From the outside it looks like it was a barn. The Ottomans allowed the villagers to have their own church as long as it didn't look like one from the outside. But inside - wow! Amazing frescoes cover the walls & ceilings - really quite breathtaking. The curator is quite fierce in only allowing small groups in at any one time - which you undestand when you do get inside as it is quite compact. And she isn't fierce, really - she just has to be strict - welcoming us back (when the church had emptied) with a warm & friendly smile :-)

Talking of cars, which we weren't, i've seen lots of Lada; Moskvitch; Trabants and Aleko - which is unusual. Quite a few Ford Sierra and several Citroen Xantia. Nothing very exciting yet - but it's early days. There are still quite a lot of old Soviet trucks trundling around. You see the occasional horse & cart - but nowhere near as many as in Romania.....

Bulgarian beer: so far i've tried Boliarka; Kaminitz (InBev); Shumensko; Starobrno and Zagorka (Heineken) - they are all dull - Bulgarian-brewed Heineken; Stella & Tuborg likewise - Zagorka being the best of a mediocre bunch.........

One thing you can't help but notice about Bulgaria is the number of Soviet-era statues & monuments - fierce-looking things full of symbolism....