I'll have Ruse four ways followed by a splash of Balchik

On Sunday I made my way by train from Bucharest down to Ruse, or Russe, or Rouse or Русе  depending on how you want to spell it. Apparently it's also know as Rustchuk but I didn't come across that when I was there. I knew it as Ruse so I'm going to stick with that spelling! It was a pretty uneventful journey other than the fact that my reservation on the train was for a seat that didn't exist. They had most seats up to 40 and then most seats after 42 but not 41 which is what I was after. I say most as the numbering scheme follows no logical sense that I can make out and seat numbers seem to be vaguely located together but in no kind of order. It's testament to how relaxed I've become in that this doesn't bother me in the slightest (surprising isn't it!), I just find it somewhat curious and would appreciate knowing how this numbering scheme developed! It also helped that very few other people seemed to want to go to Ruse and so the train was virtually empty.

I was also prepared this time for them to come and take my passport from me when we crossed the border, less so when they made us stay on the train when we arrived so they could check them again, but I was in no rush, unlike the lady who kept saying 'Sofia' to everyone who would listen to her and thankfully those who spoke her language seemed to be able to placate her that she wouldn't miss her train bound or the Bulgarian capital (there were no other trains in sight at this point so I think she was safe!).

Anyway, I arrived in Bulgaria, having been advised that most road names are written in Cyrillic and English and feeling fairly certain I'd be OK. Those people who told me that, you lied! To give you some idea of the alphabet, I took this picture which I think sums up the difficulty I saw ahead of myself...

If you're able to make out Accounting Services from that then I'm seriously impressed! (I should say I can now read the gebona bit in Cyrillic!) Anyway, I decided that I wasn't going to let a little thing like this affect me and so I checked into my hostel/hotel (it called itself a hostel and had communal space like a hostel but rooms as if you were in a hotel) and then went off for my recce. I had been looking forward to Ruse as the guidebook describes it 'as if a little bit of Vienna chipped off and travelled down the Danube' and it was not long before I understood what they were talking about. The architecture was beautiful here and I knew that I would be very happy the following day just meandering around the place. Fortunately I also discovered at the Happy Bar and Grill where I went for dinner, that the second bit of advice I'd been given about Bulgaria did seem to be true, that pretty much everything has cheese on it! And so I enjoyed a baked potato, spinach and cheese dish for my dinner, accompanied by the first semi-decent glass of wine I've had since I started my trip. In defence of the wine from this region, it would be appropriate for me to mention that after a few disasters early on in my trip I decided that I'd be better off sticking to beer so I haven't had that many glasses for comparison purposes.

The following day, I got up late, went and bought my ticket for the next leg of my journey and then eventually made my way to a restaurant called 'Splendid Garden' that I'd seen the night before and looked quite nice for an early lunch. It was, but their menu, unlike Happy's, didn't come in English and so the very lovely waitress translated it for me! It was quite long, so after the first section I just asked if they had anything traditional, she said meatballs and I said that sounds fine! And it was, they were delicious!

After that, I went for a meander around the town and you'll see what they mean by a little bit of Vienna. There was the town clock...

State Opera House

A Bank...

Theatre...

Not sure about this one... Museum?

Profit-Yielding building (hiding behind the fountain)...

Then the less Vienna-like bits such as the Russian cemetery...

Pantheon...

City Hall...

And yet another church (I couldn't do a post without one!)...

I also discovered a beautiful park and spent a happy hour wandering round there...

I just had the day in Ruse, it was plenty, and I was glad to have seen it. But after that day I was ready to move on and so with my alarm set for 5.45am I went to bed, ready to make my way to Balchik the following morning. My alarm was set so early as my bus left at 7.15am and the bus station, like everywhere else I've been, is right on the outskirts of the town and with my reduced pace, made even slower by the challenging pavements...

I knew I needed to allow plenty of time to get there. But all went well and I made it into Varna by 10.15am and the bus station I got into was fortunately where my bus to Balchik left from. I was a little challenged over where to buy the ticket however as the lady at the information desk just kept telling me 'casse casse' when I asked where to get it from ( I went to ask her twice as I was a bit baffled by it all!). The bus station has at least 10 separate offices for the different bus companies so not knowing which company went to Balchik I was somewhat confused, until a very nice lady must have heard me muttering underneath my breath 'ok it's a casse, but which **** casse' and kindly pointed me in the right direction! 😳 Turns out the station had a central desk for you to buy your ticket from!

The next bus left at 10.30am so I hopped on that and made my way up to Balchik. This has always been on my itinerary but I'd also been recommended to do the Black Sea coast in Balchik, rather than Romania by the lovely Caroline and this was a great recommendation. Despite it being low season, or maybe because it was low season, Balchik was absolutely beautiful. On the day I arrived we had 20 degrees, I was in a t-shirt, had to wear sunscreen and even went for a paddle in the sea! 

But had to avoid the jellyfish...

Though this was doable as the were generally at least 4 inches in diameter and you couldn't miss them! I lazed on the beach for a good 45 minutes. I was impressed with myself at managing this length of time as I usually need all manner of entertainment to last a maximum of around 2 hours on a beach and as I hadn't pre-planned this trip, I hadn't taken anything with me. I think it helped though that the views were stunning...

After this, I wandered along the sea front with its multi-coloured piano painted on the seating...

and then stopped for a late lunch. One thing my guidebook had said is that Bulgaria has fantastic salads. This is so true. I had an amazing one for lunch that day. It was bliss! During my lunch I also made two other interesting discoveries. The first is that swans (which I'd always thought of as freshwater birds) also swim in the sea:

And cats sit on the beach quite happily...

Admittedly the Back Sea is low salinity, but it's still salty! You learn something new every day! 

By the time I finished my late lunch the wind had started picking up, so that evening I had dinner in my hotel. When I woke up the next morning, boy had the weather take a turn for the worse! I went from a t-shirt the day before, to short and long sleeved t-shirts, fleece, coat, hat, scarf and gloves the next! The thermometer was barely into double digits! 

Anyway, because I find them hard to resist, I decided to go to Balchik Botanical Gardens. It was bizarre, as to do the gardens you also have to do the palace, yet you buy the tickets separately, but need both. You can't physically do one without the other, the palace is a collection of buildings interspersed throughout the garden... Yet another thing that leaves me puzzled! Anyway, having bought both my tickets I made my way into the 'complex' where I quickly made my way to the permanent exhibition of succulents. I adore succulents, they're by far my most favourite plants as you may know and in Balchik they the largest collection in the Ballkans. I was in heaven!!

The glasshouse wasn't overly massive but they properly packed them in. There were four rows like this...

This was taken from the centre so there's an equivalent section in the other direction...

Individually, these two were high on my list of favourites...

How cute is the fluffy one! But I couldn't miss out these... (For you Mum!)

Despite it being mid-November, the grounds were still really pretty and here are some photos of them along with the buildings I mentioned...

And finally, the actual palace...

You weren't expecting a palace to look like that were you!

By this point it was getting pretty chilly and so I stopped in the restaurant for a coffee, and you've guessed it, a slice of cake! This was strawberry and hazlenut.

Not the best I've ever had, but definitely not the worst either!

After that, I went for a wander along the seafront in the opposite direction to the day before and was amused by the carvings that appeared on rocks randomly along the sea wall...

Having frozen my butt off doing the walk, I then went back to my hotel for a bit of a rest; tiring business this traveling lark you know!

That night, I decided to go to a restaurant along the seafront. I didn't have many to choose from as most were shut, it being low season and all (even the supermarkets are shut!) and I ended up in a fish restaurant. Whilst the food was OK, less than OK was my first encounter with a sleazy waiter so far on my trip. I kind of know to expect them being a woman eating out on her own, but having not been exposed to one yet, I guess I'd let my guard down, so when he stuck his face about 4 inches away from mine and said 'Ingleesh' in the slimiest way possible, I think my immediate body language reaction said it all. Needless to say, I paid and legged it!

Fortunately I did not leave Balchik on a negative note. The hotel I was staying in was really nice. My room had smelt of smoke when I first arrived and Pavlina couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful, offering to move me (t wasn't necessary, it was fine once the room was aired). She also kindly phoned up to find out the bus times back to Varna for me. Then this morning when I checked out, the manager even gave me a lift up to the bus station, which given it was up a very steep hill was much appreciated, and he translated for me at the bus station too. So I would like to give a big thumbs up to the White House Family Hotel (https://whitehousebg.com) who really helped to make my stay in Balchik a happy one.

I'm now back in Varna getting stupidly excited as my friend Shalini is flying out tonight to meet me. We'll be travelling down the coast to Burgas between now and Tuesday when she flies home (so no posts for a while). Unfortunately it doesn't look like we're going to have great weather but given we've not seen each other for nearly 3 months and with so much to catch up on, I'm not sure that will really be an issue!!