Oct 16 - Rousse/Russe is the largest and most important river port in Bulgaria, set in gorgeous rolling countryside brilliant with sunflowers in summer and golden wheat fields in autumn. The city, with docks, shipyards, and textile factories was once the garrison of the Roman Danube fleets and has a history dating to Roman times with an ancient town center. It is the gateway to Romania’s fabled Transylvania region.
After breakfast, we met our Bulgarian guide Mira and driver Andre for a city tour in Russe. The name translates to “port of 60 ships”. It is textile/clothing and shoe center of the country. With all their city parks, the city has the nickname of “Little Vienna”. There are blocks of flats from the communist time and you have to insert a coin in order to use them! The Pantheon of Russe has a golden dome and there are over 300 heroes buried there. After tearing down a church, they built the Pantheon. When the city had much back luck, they re-erected the church in a different spot. The joke in the city is “The Russians came to liberate us and stayed forever”. Russe was too close a city to Romania so Sofia was chosen as the capital. There are 22 embassies and it is the 5th largest city.
They were the first city to protest the Russians’ work with a chemical plant. Chlorine was coming downstream in the wind. As a town, they got together and wrote a letter to the USA about the situation and wanted to become the 51st State! The letter never reached the USA since it was intercepted by the Russian secret service. But it did give the people the courage to stand up for themselves.
1990-2001 the Mafia appeared in the area. Police did not enforce the rules. There is a gypsy quarter with about 20,000 gypsies. Texaco motor oil is made here and exported. The country is about the size of Tennessee.
The highway had a long strip of unpaved road. Mira said the money was given to the town to fix the road but the bid went to the lowest bidder, who happened to be the son or nephew of an official and the work was not done properly so they all suffer.
They grow grapes (for wine), tomatoes, watermelons, sunflowers. They export their red wines to the UK and Germany. They make oil and perfumes from their roses – they are the world’s largest producer of rose oil. In May and June they have a yearly festival at harvest time. 3000 red rose petals make 1 liter of rose oil. 5000 white rose petals make 1 liter of rose oil. Donkeys, horses, sheep…we even saw little wagons being pulled by donkeys with 4 wheels on them. This highway to Veliko Tarnovo is the same road one takes to go to Istanbul.
They even built a 2-cylinder car!! It was German and you had to mix oil with the gas. After Russia/communism were forced out of the country, they had a negative birth rate but since joining the EU, they are now having a baby boom. They have a grandparents program: grandparents on a small pension can babysit other’s children to earn extra money. There were no religious ceremonies allowed (no wedding or baptisms) during the communist reign; just civil ceremonies. Christmas and Easter were erased from the calendar. Mexican bands and their music became popular during the communist reign.
It took about 1.5 hours to arrive in Veliko Tarnovo; the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empires (1186-XXX). It’s a lovely town situated on a gorge with two high promontories and houses that seem to be stacked atop each other as they climb up the hills. The town’s Archeological Museum contains Roman and Medieval figures and the oldest pieces of gold in the world from the Neolithic period. There are two kinds of houses: Fortress and open balconies. In the 1600s, they had indoor toilets! We went to the Arbanassi Palace hotel high on the outskirts of town for a wonderful view of Veliko Tarnovo. It used to be a summer home of a Russian official (with helicopter pad and all) and is now a hotel.
The Nativity Church is nearby . One needed permission from the Sultan to build a church so they made it look like a barn. It is the most decorated church; they call is the Sistine Chapel of the Balkans. There are over 2000 frescoes. It was covered black soot from the candles and has been recently renovated and cleaned. Services are no longer held there and it is a museum – an incredible one – dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The Orthodox New Year is September 1 (1596 was the first one celebrated). They do not have palm trees in Bulgaria so they call that day Flower Day. The door of the altar is closed to hide the biggest miracle – the Birth of Christ. The icons were expressionless, just the eyes were alive as they are the mirrors of the soul. Women stand to the left in the church as they are closer to the devil/evil; men stand to the right as they are closer to heaven. Our guide was Maya Kasheva and she knew where Delaware is! She has a friend working at the University of Delaware who had worked on the church and with the Bulgarian National Bank and University of Sofia.
We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Mexapa restaurant and were fortunate to eat outside! It was a beautiful day with sunshine and a nice breeze. Main dish was chicken, mushrooms, onions, garlic, oregano and paprika all cooked together in a stew and then we had baklava for dessert. Very nice meal with a Bulgarian beer!
We drove to the large fortress built between 1196 and 1393. It used to have a moat around it and the church was high on a hill; “God is above the people”.
The town of Veliko Tarnovo reminded me of a Williamsburg area – the cobblestone streets were lined with shops from the medieval times: a coppersmith, a knife maker, an icon maker, the pastry shop, antiques…nice area to wander around.
Enjoyed the ride back to Russe and we were dropped off near town to explore the walking street. A Latin group of men were playing their flutes and selling CDs. We could have been on a street in NYC! We wandered in to a casino and were amazed at the small space with mirrors on every wall and corner. Virtual roulette and virtual Texas Hold’em. We were greeted by two blondes with long hair in tight pants who smiled at us and followed us around. We went through each small room – all with mirrors on the walls and ceilings. In the “lobby” area, three men were sitting – The Godfather? Sure felt like it. They were smoking and talking and paid no attention to us. It was an atmosphere charged with gambling, sex and questionable ethics. Need I write more?!
The Friendship Bridge connects Russe, Bulgaria with Giurgiu Romania. In 1866, the first railway of the Ottoman Empire was inaugurated here. At 7295 feet long and completed in 1954, this bridge is the longest bridge over the Danube and the only connection between Bulgaria and Romania. There are two levels – one for vehicles and one for rail.
Our wonderful crew: Nikola, Milena, Alina, Christian, Kostel, John, Tatiana, Dushan, Nicu, Gordana and the many others provided a very nice cruise experience. The ports of call were the most interesting part of the trip. The crew and staff could not have been friendlier and when they are so willing to go out of their way to make your trip special, that means more than anything. Nikola said it nicely, “Out of all the ‘isms’ like socialism, facism, communism…I like tourism the best.”
