In Varna, we visited the Ethnographic Museum, with displays of daily life and industry in the 1800s. The wedding and bread displays were unusual. Traditional weddings involved the bride baking bread during the wedding ceremony, for the groom to give a final “thumbs up” before marrying her.
As our bus passed through Varna, our guide explained that under the Communist plan, Varna was developed as an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse, with many of the rural population moved to the city to work in the factories and shipyards. High-rise apartment buildings were built quickly and of somewhat inferior quality, and many are in poor condition today.
Currently tourists are the driving force of the economy, lured by golden sand beaches, five star hotels, and low rates. There are 35,000 hotel rooms and a flight lands every 22 minutes in Varna.
As our bus drove further into the Bulgarian countryside, it appeared that we were stepping back in time. Large fields were still farmed with horse-drawn implements.
We visited Madara, a carving of a horseman high upon a rock cliff from the eight century. Next we headed to Shoumen, a major wine region. It was also a major military training area. Our guide, who was both entertaining and knowledgeable, shared that he was stationed at that center 30 years ago, learning to shoot US military aircraft, and never dreamed that he’d be guiding groups of US tourists.
Shoumen is also known for a huge concrete lion Soviet-era monument that is 1300 steps above the city. At the winery we had a short tour of the facilities, and then set down to taste 6 glasses of wine, with goat and sheep’s cheese. The wine was quite good, and sold for 5 Euros per bottle.
Lunch was in a hotel in Shoumen, with the tradition Bulgarian foods.
Back in Varna, our tour ended back at the ship. We headed out quickly to explore the beach. Unbelievable to be just 90 minutes from the rural area, this could have been Ibiza. Trendy beach bars with discos were packed with beautiful people and certain to turn into party central once the sun went down. Unusual though, this was the only area that we found that did not accept Euros or US dollars, only the Bulgarian Leva.