Bulgariaaahh

We were sad to leave such an amazing country but a new and unexpected city lay in front. Varna hugs the Bulgarian coast along the charming black sea, which is actually all we knew about it when we made the decision to go.

Bulgaria!

I suppose the only real reason we decided to go a little bit out of our original planned path was to swim in the Black Sea. We arrived at sunrise and fumbled around trying to find the hostel; this included a stop off at McDonalds for use of their free WIFI to get better directions. Eventually we found the place, despite being told the wrong bus stop to get off at by the grumpy bus attendant * (with horrible fire red hair!) and at this point, Brad was hating Bulgaria, but luckily we found the hostel was a really cool place with really cool people – and a really cute kitty!

Kitty!

X hostel is a short climb up the hill from the bus stop. A gated area with a nice garden lining the walkway into the living space. Since we were there so early we woke the receptionist, a nice Polish guy who spoke with a German accent. We settled in nicely and grabbed some of the complementary (basic) breakfast. After about 4 cups of coffee and a few slices of bread we figured it might be a good idea to see what we came for and check out the beach.

I will have to check my facts, but I am not sure how the Black Sea got its name, surely not from the water. Instead, a turquoise blue greeted us as we walked towards the golden sands. It was nice to walk on fine sand again after being in Perissa and Olympos where it is more pebbles than grains.

Black Sea

However, the beach itself was not that impressive. There was maybe 50 feet from the water to the cement wall the marked the end of the beach and most of it was overrun with umbrellas and beach chairs from the hotels. The water was definitely not as clear as the Mediterranean or Aegean but it didn’t ruin our fun.

We played paddle ball keeping track of the number of successful returns we could get, only 33, and once we were hot enough went for a swim. We had to clear out a short while after due to a massive storm that I Thought was rolling in .. sorry chels.

Paddle Ball fun!

Once we got back and sat down the long sleepless bus ride from Istanbul started catching up to us. I passed out on the floor of the common area and not to long after Chels was asleep on the couch. We were in and out of sleep for a few hours but eventually woke up when other travelers started coming in. One of the employees suggested that we should check out the hot springs and was trying to organize an excursion. We were all about it, especially since it was about 5 euros for the two of us. A big group of us started heading down to the hot spring around sun set and as we walked we got to know each other a little bit. There was a few guys from England travelling in their first summer of Uni; A Canadian and an American traveling together en-route to Istanbul; and a couple of the hostel employees including the half Italian, half Irish owner whose English also sounded German. The hot springs were not exactly what we expected.

Group of us from the hostel!

We thought they would be located somewhere in the sea, but instead there was this massive swimming pool with three fountains pouring water From the hot springs. At first we thought, maybe they call massive hot tubs “hot springs” in Bulgaria, but once we smelled the sulfur, we figured they were legit. We messed around in there for a while, drinking our oversized 2.5 liter beer and chatting about travels.

Biggest beer I’ve ever had!

Once we were nice and pruned up we headed back for a quick drink and some games (Kings YAY my favorite) then passed out in our tent. Tent because it was significantly cheaper than a dorm room.

Long train rides

We took off early the next morning and the next 20 hours or so were spent on trains. First from Varna to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, then from Sofia to Belgrade, Serbia.