Photos - Black Sea Coast and Several Villages

Veselina in Dobri Dyal.

Visiting friends in Dobri Dyal.

Dragizhevo

It was a hot morning near the river and the sheep were huddling....to stay cool?

Friends Ekaterina and Hristina serving traditional Bulgarian Shopska Salad and Mikitzi.

Time to leave the country and head to Sofia.

In Saints Constantin and Elena, a cafe on the 12th floor provided a nice panorama.

This is the hotel where Peace Corps had it's conference this year.

Tourism is a huge industry here.  The coastline is filled with resorts whereever there are beaches.  Bulgarians and eastern Europeans, western Europeans and Russians are frequent visitors.

This hotel was built into the side of the hill - the entrance is from above.

Ryan and I walked along the beach with shoes off of course.

These look like concrete anchors - there is a metal loop on one arm.  Anyone familiar with how they are used?
 I'd love to know.

At sunset lots of little black crabs made an appearance.

Peace Corps volunteers Bulgaria - our first dinner together for the conference.

Dolphins in the spotlight.  They are from central America - not the Black Sea.  The pools are state of the art and there is an expansion planned.

One tourist activity for the health conscious is to have little fish nibble away dead skin cells.

Yup, jeep tours - only I didn't see any pink, red or yellow jeeps like in Sedona.

Speaking of vehicles - I was on a public bus stopped at a  stop light when I noticed this vehicle.  The dealership sticker is from Peoria, Arizona.

Other transportation - on the Varna Pinta - I'm climbing up to the crows nest.

But when I got to the top, it was a huge reach to actually get into the crows nest, and  I suddenly felt that I have very short legs.  So I decided to take in the view from here.

After arriving in Burgas first on the agenda was lunch.  Ryan ordered sting ray.

I love the self-timer on my camera ........ usually.

Burgas is a very active port.

Sozopol - a little south of Burgas.

This is a cute little (new) church.  There were several here.  This  was funny because on the deck  behind and above is a towel hanging with a picture of Jack Sparrow.  It seemed incongruous.

All sorts of tourist activities.

Old Town in Veliko Turnovo - very charming.

In the shade before we walk to the castle.

This was an interesting 3-D picture on the side of a building.
Not sure what the medium is but it seems to be some sort of chiseled stone.

What the Tsarevets Castle looked like originally.

The inside of the church has very modern and dramatic art.

Overlooking the Yantra River.

I like this view - thinking this is how it looked 900 years ago.

Look again - the close wall with the open door is a canvas reproduction of a stone wall.

These were really steep and narrow steps. I'm glad there is a railing.

We weren't there at night, but this is how it looks for their light show!