Ralitsa Superior Albena

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

... under which the newly democratic states must have existed under communism. Those at the top of the political food chain got the perks and those under the heel got on with their lives in a suppressed sort of way, all the while looking over their shoulders to make sure that they were not coming under surveillance or bringing themselves to the notice of the authorities. It must have taken a lot of courage or foolhardiness to have spoken ...

... 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.<br><br>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>

... where the hot, fresh water and the cold(ish) Salty water meet, and the kiddos splash around and the old people soak their bones. Cute. There is also a natural hot bath along at the end of the beach where I went one night for a soak. Its the little things in life. <br><br>A strange tradition that we stumbled on in Varna is called July Morning, which is based on a song by Uriah Heap by the same name. Apparently, since the end of communism, everyone in Varna, and along the ...

... 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 ...

... breakfast for the grand total of $24A for the night &#8211; bargain! We had lunch and then walked down to the beach via the usual souvenir shops. The specialty here seems to be old fashioned dress-up photos and to have your portrait drawn (they were actually very good). We arrived at the beach and wandered along the water's edge (it was too hot on the sand) past the many umbrellas and chairs set out for rent. We ...

Due to the Cold War being over and the world seems to a much more settled place now, Russia has an over abundance of FSB officers with nothing to do. So, as not to have them wandering about the workplace with nothing to do, the Russian Government has rented out these ...

Woke up to a great sunny morning after a good night's sleep. Damyan and Erina were already up, planning our trip. We decided to go to Balchik, a small town on the Black Sea coast where a Summer Palace was built for Queen Marie of Romania in around 1926 when Romania had control of this region. Beautiful gardens also surround the Summer Palace covering an area of about 65,000 square metres and has over 2000 species of plants growing ...

Finally got to Varna and caught up with Damyan, though was tiuch n go as my mobile battery was just about flat and \damyan did not yet know where the bus would drop me at. Finally we meet up, and we head back to his place, say hello to his parents, and wife and then we head out for dinner at an \italian pizza parlour. After dinner had an early night as \i was completelly exhausted and was looking forward to a good night's sleep.