Hotel Pension Viliren St. Konstantin

... Zvezdna daga children's competition (annual)

... again I upped poles and polyester and overloaded the creaking cro-moly-mileage meanderer to further my trip southwards toward Turkey.

Soon after leaving the camp I encountered only my second and third long-distance-travelling cyclists. Dread locked, on tiny bikes with huge rucksacks attached painfully to their backs, Thorsten and Elise had been hitch-hiking around Europe since July. They had tired of the cars, motorways and petrol stations and changed their mode of ...

... showing us how to make a bacon and egg pie. We enjoyed the ambience of the place and were farewelled by our host from afar as we made our way to the bus.

Varna is the second largest town in Bulgaria with a population of about 1 million after Sofia (2m) which is 400km to west. Bulgaria has a population of 8m It has a well developed tourist industry, business centre and transport hub including an international airport, large seaport and ...

... She tries to visit once a year and I begged her to let me tag along. She was gracious enough to conceed and we had a wonderful time.

Her husband Rick was very jealous that he could not get away from work to join us, the beaches were wonderful the weather mild, and the prices cheap. We were in heaven.

A very nice place and quiet resort, is ideal target for family with kids, food and drinks very cheap and the people are friendly. About the security reasons I saw all the time the officers from Security companies -armed- and Police patrols on the street, here you need just to choose the proper location and enjoy the time.

... br>In addition to the miles and miles of beach, Varna is a charming little city with a few other things going for it, like a huge park that runs along much of the beach, with a planetarium, a dolphinarium, and some stages for local performances. We stumbled on one of these performances, mostly high school aged children in traditional costumes doing some dancing and singing. Priceless.

There are natural hot springs that come out to meet the Black Sea, so there are ...

... strong of a word, the door was opened by someone. Into the common room we finally found ourselves, "Hi". No answer from the locals. Well great this seems like a really great place. In writing you may not be able to tell that this was sarcasm. Both toilet/showers were busy so even though we both needed to go to the bathroom we had to wait to use the filthy things. Finally Dave the owner showed up ...

... years ago) and we would have to go around. We found our way to the other side of the landslide and then asked for more directions ... we were on the right track ... just up that way. Our third enquiry had us just up the hill, turn right, then left, then right where we finally found it but the sign was written in Cyrillic lettering. We checked in to the old but comfortable multi storey hotel, complete with pool and ...

... to various locations and countries that need an extra bit of security. Here in the foto one can be seen working at the Botanical Gardens in Balckik, Bulgaria. \his job is to stop the squirrels from pinching all the nuts off the oak trees. He looks very happy about it.

... Picked up Jovik, Damyan's best friend and off we went. Past many hotel resorts that have been built along the Black Sea coast. Finally got to the gardens and started our walk. Not too many annuals were in flower as it was the wrong time of year, but the trees and old winding paths that led us to the beach and then the Queen's Summer Palace were very impressive. Will let the fotos explain the rest. Had a coffee in a quaint ...