Varna and Veliko Tarnavo

After enjoying a night in Nesebar and considering spending another we instead grabbed a bus to Varna, another coastal town. This town was split by pedestrian strips as Burgas had been which made for very pleasant wandering. We visited another Roman ruin, this time a thermal bath complex which is apparently one of the largest ruins of it's kind. It was awfully large and again smack bang in the city centre but without much explanation it didn't really have a huge impact. There were a few very well preserved columns and pipes from the heating system but a lot was left up to the imagination.
We decided to visit the waterfront park which had a kind of packed up feel to it. There were heaps of bars, clubs and cafes which must only operate in Summer. After seeing Crimea in peak season we can only imagine how busy it would get. The beach was great with clear water and real sand so we sat for a while enjoying the view. Once again however the chain smoking, littering crew had been through before us though so the whole beach was covered in butts, yuk!
We only spent one night in Varna although we once again considered staying another night, this time with the intention of revisiting the Halal restaurant we had eaten at the night before, really, really tasty! We figured we would be able to get equally tasty food elsewhere (hadn't been confident of that in either Ukraine and Romania) and so grabbed yet another bus to Veliko Tarnavo. The bus trip was great in a new bus which even showed a movie, although it was Universal Soldier.
Veliko Tarnavo is one of the major tourist draws in Bulgaria. It is built on the side of a river gorge and the town twists along until you reach the ruins of an ancient fortress. The fortress was similar to the one at Kamyanets-Podilsky in Ukraine only much larger. Almost every piece of land inside the restored walls has ruined building foundations on it with a few bits and pieces being restored a little. Another similarity to Kamyanets was that we were free to clamber over everything in sight which would have been fun if not for the humidity. Unlike Kamyanets Eva did not leave with a gigantic bruise on her behind. Thank goodness.
We ended up staying four nights in Veliko Tarnavo. We originally had plans to visit another town but decided to stay put for a while before heading back to Sofia and on to London. Our decision to stay put was also prompted by the fact we had a hotel room with a balcony overlooking the gorge, how could we leave!?!
We ended up doing a bunch of shopping in Veliko Tarnavo as the prices in Bulgaria are a fair bit cheaper than what we think we'll come up against in London. The whole shopping experience was slightly (hugely), stressful for Eva as jeans above the equivalent of an Aussie size eight do not appear to be available. When explaining with various embarrassing mimes that the jeans being brought to us by the assistant were too small we received looks ranging from blank to amazed that it was possible for someone not to fit these jeans. It didn't help that the first pair Adam tried on fit, looked good and were cheap! After considering binge eating for a day we instead settled on a new pair of shoes and lots of comforting words.
Photos: View from out room in Veliko Tarnavo, Two dorks on a beach in Varna, Street in Veliko Tarnavo