Last night Sarah and I took a walk round the village of Kromidovo with the dogs. On first appearance, and I am aware we have only been in Bulgaria for 24 hours, it is apparent that Bulgaria has the lowest per capita income of any EU country. The village roads were mostly compacted soil, there were open drains at the side of the streets and many of the houses were in a pitiful state. The brickwork on most of the houses was of atrocious quality, completely uneven and with huge gaps between some bricks. I presume this results from self building because I can’t believe a qualified bricklayer could do such a job.
We met, and had a brief chat with, an Australian couple, with Swiss citizenship, who were staying at Camping Kromidovo, and who have been touring extensively in Europe since they sold their business in Australia more than two years ago. They were planning to spend an extended period in Bulgaria and Romania this year.
This morning our first call was at one of the local wineries, Villa Melnik. Bulgaria has been well known for its wines since ancient times and the wines from Melnik are supposed to have been a favourite of Winston Churchill. Unfortunately after the collapse of the Soviet Union Bulgaria’s wine industry suffered, but it is now slowly recovering.
Villa Melnik Vineyards
Villa Melnik is a is a new business with a state of the art winery. We were given a tour of the facilities and the process explained. We have never visited a winery before, which is very remiss of me given the hundreds of gallons I have drunk during my lifetime! Only Sarah and I were on the tour, so it was very personal and we finished, of course, with sampling a range of their wines. I, unfortunately, had to spit because I was driving. However I have, of course, purchased a bottle or twenty, so I will be able to have my own tasting this evening, and tomorrow evening and the one after that! I have not tasted a Greek red wine to my taste in our 6 weeks there, but these Bulgarian wines were excellent.
Fermentation vessels Villa Melnik
New Oak Barrels – Villa Melnik
Our visit was somewhat spoiled, because when we arrived back at Basil Mabel had managed to destroy a second of our blinds. I was incandescent and would, at that moment, have happily kicked her out to start a life with Bulgaria’s strays, but I slowly calmed down. Sarah’s sewing skills will be needed until we can get it fixed, which won’t be until we return to England.
SatNav finally redeemed himself by finding us an ATM and we are now loaded up with Bulgarian Levs.
We then drove for about 2 hours north to the UNESCO World Heritage Rila Monastery. We were both a little wary of yet another monastery, since we had seen plenty in Greece and wondered whether this was going to be worthwhile. I went in first and left Sarah minding the disgraced dog and her faultless companion. As soon as I walked through the gate I knew we were visiting somewhere special.
Rila Monastery
The monastery was founded in the 10th century, but has been destroyed by various conquerors over the years and rebuilt and destroyed again. The current buildings are about 200 years old. The complex consists of a huge quadrangle of residential buildings, four stories high and all built in beautiful traditional Bulgarian style. There is a small church in the centre of the quadrangle, with every wall, inside and out, covered in frescoes. The effect is breathtaking.
Interior of church at Rila Monastery. Cameras were not allowed inside, so I shot this from outside.
The whole spectacle is enhanced by the monastery’s position at nearly 4,000 feet, in lush mountainous pine forests, surrounded by snow capped peaks. The whole area is a national park.
Rila Monastery
Rila Monastery holds a special place in Bugarians’ hearts because it was here than the Bulgarian language and Bulgarian culture was kept alive, in particular during Ottoman rule. As a result the monastery receives nearly one million visitors each year. Luckily Thursdays in May are, it appears, very quiet.
Fresco at Rila Monastery
We ended the day with Sarah doing a quick shop in LIDL. We decided we could no longer trust Mabel on her own and I drew the short straw. It was immediately apparent from some products, in particular muesli, the quality sold in LIDL Bulgaria is significantly inferior to their products in Western Europe.
Our drive ended at Camping Verila (42.291475, 23.250528) in the spa town of Sapareva Banya. The campsite is registered with Camping Club International and is about €10 with their 10% discount. The site is mostly windowless bungalows, but the small camping area is a pleasant grassy area with electricity, showers, toilets and fast wifi. We are sharing it with four Bulgarian vans.
We might walk into the spa town tonight to eat. One of Sarah’s friends has told us that eating out in Bulgaria is very cheap.