Had a lazy start this morning. I really didn't want to leave that beautiful room. Wish I had more time to spend there. I had booked the same room for the return trip but ended up canceling it. The hotel is located in a pedestrian mall with no parking, so it's a long walk from the parking lot over a cobblestone street that is not luggage-on-wheels friendly. When I return to Bucharest I will stay closer to the airport and take a bus into town, as there are too many parking restrictions downtown and the traffic is chaotic.
The drive through southern Romania was nothing exceptional. Farmland already denuded of its produce and a topography much flatter than I had imagined. Romania is a beautiful country, with great mountain scenery and castles, but that's in the northern part (Transylvania). I will be taking a different route on the return leg, going through the city of Craiova; perhaps I will be surprised.
I finally reached the Danube River, which separates the two countries and took a rest in the border town of Turnu Magurele, a very simple town with no particular point of interest. The first photo below is the best I could do. I then loaded the car onto a ferry to be taken across the Danube and into Bulgaria.
Surprisingly, once in Bulgaria, immediately the flatness of the countryside became more hilly and the drive much more pleasant. The road was surrounded by trees and I drove through several country towns where old folks sit lazily on benches outside their home, idly spending their time. Along the road I must have seen at least ten horse-driven, home-made farm carts. Time seems to have stood still.
Eventually I reached my destination for the night. The town of Pleven. The guesthouse is actually an apartment on the third story of an old building located in the heart of the old city. It's a very nice place, but I had to carry my 53 pound luggage up three flights of stairs, and I'm getting too old for this stuff. The city reminds me of the days when I traveled to Yugoslavia before its break-up. Several communist-era buildings make up the bulk of the architecture, but there are a number of interesting museums (which I was too late to visit), and a beautiful large park, where hundreds of children come to play. The park also has several fountains which, sadly were turned off due to a water shortage. Still, you can just imagine how pretty it would look, drought notwithstanding.
So far, I don't find the people of Bulgaria to be very friendly, and hardly anyone speaks any languages other than Bulgarian. But I did have a very good dinner of chicken curry with Arborio rice in a place that was hopping. Now, I plan to get me a good night sleep. In the morning I want to head to the capital city of Sofia bright and early. Hopefully I will have good things to report then. G'night!
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