by Iuli
I do not chose traveling by car too often...I do not quite chose it at all, actually. Any taken journey beyond my country’s borders is either by coach or plane, respectively the means of transportation found at destination...it’s not a principle, it’s simply a choice that appears more comfortable to me although, probably, a journey by car would save some expenses...for this reason my car is equipped by neither radar detector or GPS – though, honestly, the radar detector is also missing due to some...ethical reasons.
In the spring of 2009, more precisely in the Easter period, we have decided to take a trip to the Bulgarian seaside and we took advantage of the accommodation offers presented by travel agencies for Balchik. From my point of view, vacations can have three purposes: ‘laying around’, ‘visiting’ and ‘laying around + visiting’ (in the case of longer stays)...The week-end in Balchik was dedicated to ‘visiting’ so we did our homework and research from time considering the things we could do during our three days visit on the Bulgarian seaside. Being aware we had no GPS, we prepared ourselves with maps and sought for advice on forums and travel planners (http://www.viamichelin.com/ and www.map24.com) but we have also looked for detailed route configurations on Google Maps (http://www.maps.google.com/). Of all the recommended routes from Bucharest to Balchik:
1. Bucharest – Constanta – Vama Veche – Shabla – Balchik
2. Bucharest – Ruse – Silistra – Dobrich – Balchik
3. Bucharest – Giurgiu – Ruse - Razgrad – Schumen – Varna – Balchik
- we have chosen the last one, which, although probably longer than the rest, offered us a road of enchanting landscapes, not crowded at all and in pretty good condition. We haven’t met, neither on our way to nor back, any radar, absurd speed limit or police officer determined to get some bribes – maybe we were luckier than others but I actually believe that the first myth was shattered – YOU ONLY NEED THE RADAR DETECTOR TO TEST YOUR POWER HORSES TIRED BY THE CROWDED TRAFFIC IN ROMANIA AND TO PASS IN GREAT SPEAD BY THE ‘DUMB’ BULGARIANS WHO FOLLOW THE RULES…this is not general practice, of course, but I have noticed it is fashionable to do so…against my opinion to follow the principle that says ‘when you’re in Rome, act like the Romans’...
Once we got to Balchik, it has taken us a while to find our hotel, as the street linking the main road to it (or the only one we have considered), was under construction and…blocked, obviously without any present sign for the alternative route. We were lucky with the car behind of which got out a speaking (yes!) English kid who asked where we wanted to get and who offered himself to take us there. Two other myths shattered – BULGARIANS DO NOT TREAT THE ROMANIANS BADLY AND SOME OF THEM DO SPEAK ENGLISH…
The hotel, Lotos – 3* (http://www.lotos-hotel.com/indexen.htmltel.com/indexen.html), for which we have paid the travel agency approximately 100 EUR/person/3 nights + HB + Easter meal, although was not some architectural monument, impressed us pleasantly by its ingenious façade (sailings, ‘reflecting’ in some manner the neighbouring yacht port), cleanness and hospitality – regarding the accommodation conditions, I would assimilate it to a 2* hotel in Greece and the fact that it was on the shore plus the beautiful sea view we had from our rooms brought it some other stars from our side.
As any other port-town, Balchik also has that relaxing atmosphere that summons long meditative walks on the sea front, introspection and creation, things of which we took advantage on every evening of our stay there. The scenery is delightful at any time of the day and the angles from which you can admire the quite town with its white houses are of the most interesting types, from the panorama given by the road climbing down towards the sea line to the long pontoons and quays which offer a presentation of the whole town in its entire beauty but also the occasion to a silent contemplation of the infinite sea.
The first day of our visit there was dedicated to visiting the Queen Maria’s Castle (not very hard to find, as both main roads in Balchik lead to it) and its famous gardens – for both the entrance fee was approximately 10 Leva1)/person. The very good state of the castle itself – which is in fact a superb villa, simply and austerely decorated, of its furniture and surroundings as well as the excellent organizing and administration of the gardens, were making you feel the presence of royalty in that place still alive. We have spent a whole day wandering through the botanical maze and we have admired plants of the most interesting and diverse species, from stunningly red tulips to cacti that I thought only in Mexico could exist… I recommend visiting the wine cellar with its early 20th century atmosphere, where you can taste awesome wines made after a recipe belonging to Queen Maria herself and from where you can buy for the ladies but also for the ones back home an excellent almond wine.
Our second day we dedicated to a road trip along the Bulgarian sea shore, having as destination Nessebar. We have configured the route prior to departing for Bulgaria and we already had in mind the towns we were supposed to cross. Traffic signs due exist (shuttering of myth no. 4 – THERE ARE TRAFFIC SIGNS IN BULGARIA AS EXPLANATORY AS THE ONES IN ROMANIA) but no one writes Nessebar on them while you are still in Balchik…which is actually a logical thing, if you come to think about it. It is enough to know you must ‘follow’ Burgas (large city, Black Sea port, 160km south from Balchik and 35km south from Nessebar) and then, when getting closer, you will be able to find directions towards Nessebar. To put it in a more simple way, follow the national road 9 (the one coming from Romania through Vama Veche and going along the sea line), although, at the exist from Varna, you may ‘take advantage’ of the A5 highway (for a short length of several of several tens of kilometers). It would not be a bad thing to have knowledge of some corresponding characters from the Cyrillic alphabet, a thing which might help you ‘guess’ the towns written on the ‘strictly Bulgarian’ traffic signs (Varna, for example, is written someway like ‘Bapha’, from where you can know how ‘Kavarna’ looks like – ‘KaBapha’, you may also know that ‘s’ is written ‘c’ and s.o.) – your visual memory will help you identify names written by Cyrillic letters once you have seen, even for one time, their correspondence in the Latin alphabet. 
I must admit I was not highly impressed by the overdone Mediterranean architecture of the Black Sea Bulgarian hotels and what we were really interested into visiting in Nessebar was the old town, a historical monument included on the UNESCO list. A short description for it would be that it resembles a lot to a sea-side ‘Sighisoara’1, with narrow streets hiding among medieval, but also new or refurbished houses which saved the archaic architecture and style of the place. We had the luck to ‘catch’ a bright sunny day and the privilege to enjoy a delicious lunch at one of the terraces with view to the Sunny Beach sea front (the old Nessebar is located on an island tied to the shore by a narrow road, like a neck). You can find on this island an impressive number of churches but also stores from where you can purchase souvenirs and traditional Bulgarian products, such as the famous rose perfume. On the way back to Balchik we took a stop-over in a less common place, which I have encountered by chance browsing pictures on Google Earth and whose images had made such an impression that we have decided not to ‘miss’ it. I am speaking about the Irakli beach, which is to be found at the mouth of Vaya river, by turning right on the first road after passing by Banya. The wild nature, the three kilometers of white sand beach and the inclusion of the area on the list of natural monuments have helped the place keep an unattained charm against the touristic construction expansion and turned it into a more than perfect destination for camping and bohemian life lovers.
The third and our last full day on the Bulgarian side of the Black Sea was kept for visiting Cape Kaliakra, which is located approximately 35km away from Balchik, following the same no. 9 national road but in an opposite direction this time, towards Kavarna. On this road we had the bad luck to stumble a little but also the chance to be asked “mister, mister, where?” in Romanian by a kind Bulgarian gentleman who has afterwards guided us all the way to Kavarna.
You can park at the fortress entrance, where two-three stalls can also be found from which you can buy souvenirs and refreshments. The area hosts a highly appreciated restaurant serving fresh sea food brought directly from the annexed farm and also the picturesque Bolata gulf.
Our short stay within the country south of the Danube ended on the forth day, when we returned to Bucharest following the same route but with some delay caused by trucks held in line by the Romanian border officers. We have left Bulgaria with the cards filled with pictures2) and with the promise of saving some other week-ends to enjoy the hospitality of our neighbours.
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1)1 Leva = 0.5 Euro = 2 Romanian Lei
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