Varna - BAPHA - finally back at the sea (11th stop)

After strengthening ourselves with Covrig filled with chocolate or raisins, we board the train towards Ruse on the Bulgarian border. The connection seems to be not as easy as expected, as there is apparently replacement service on a part of the route. In Ruse, we should have (despite a 45-minute delay) a three-quarters hour layover, which suits our hunger just fine. But no such luck. Before we can get off the train, the border police quickly try to collect all passports for the passport control. When we answer that we want to go to Varna, a policewoman orders us to come with her immediately, but she has already disappeared from our sight... The procedures seem to be unclear - we are immediately asked to change platforms, while we are being told that we are not allowed to simply run away... somewhat confused by the hectic situation, we wait for our passports on platform 1. After a few minutes, the policewoman returns, hands us our passports and urges us to get on the train immediately. When we hesitate, she responds with an unbelieving look 'you know, the train is waiting for you!' We still don't quite understand, but anyway the train actually leaves right away.
At the train attendant, we make sure once again that we are on the right train. With the help of a colleague, she informs us that we are indeed correct, but we have to change trains twice more. The replacement service bus takes us through very hilly and green landscape from one mini train station to the next until we are allowed to board the train again. The trains are already a bit older - the toilet can still be flushed directly onto the track, you can simply open the doors on both sides (or they are not closed at all). We start working on the blog post about Bucharest before streaming the European Championship game on mobile data in the train. Perfectly at halftime, we arrive at the beautiful Varna Central Station. We make our way to the hostel, which has nice little sleeping pods. For the football game, we treat ourselves to take-away food on the beach and mini waffles in the pedestrian zone. During a short exploration walk along the promenade, we discover some cool bars and a small amusement park, which briefly creates a Oktoberfest atmosphere. No wonder, we are not far from the Bulgarian 'Ballermann'. However, we decide against going to the Golden Sands Beach, as there are so many other beautiful things to see.

The following morning, we take a small self-guided tour of the old town. We start at Bulgaria's most famous Orthodox church: the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Holy Mother. It impresses with its size and golden domes, but unfortunately it is under construction, so we cannot visit it. We also like the Roman excavations in the city, such as the Roman baths. We also like the wide squares and parks.
Afterwards, we take a local bus to the Monument of Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship. You climb many stairs to the monument, which towers over the city. It dates from the time of the communist regime in Bulgaria. On one side, Bulgarian girls stand, welcoming the Soviet soldiers on the other side with bread and salt. You can see that the monument is slowly decaying. Right in front of it, two large flags are flying: a Bulgarian one next to a European one.
We continue by bus, as we still want to go to the Aladzha Monastery. In every bus, there is a person responsible for ticket control, who buys the tickets from the machine. But how exactly this is regulated seems quite opaque to us. For example, it happens twice that we only get two tickets instead of three, even though we buy three. Well, it's funny. However, we don't find it quite so funny that the bus driver simply drives past our stop, and the next one is quite far away. We get off there and realize that no bus in the opposite direction will come anytime soon, and we will have to walk a bit further. There is a nice hiking trail through the forest. Good thing Veronika and Babsi are wearing skirts. At two viewpoints, you can see over the forest to the Golden Sands. But the way was also worth it for the monastery, which is carved into the white rock and impresses us a lot, even though it is now only a ruin.
That was another 8km unplanned hike, after which we really deserve the beach. We want to go to Trakata Beach, which is said to be particularly popular with locals. Our impatience leads us to get off at the nearest bus stop. Unfortunately, Google Maps apparently did not know about the residence of the government there. Despite our stupid question, we were not granted passage. Stupid. So, detour. After about another 30 minutes, we finally arrive at the beach. The access is via a small steep path, through which the area is practically separated from any road, etc. On the left, we see the high fences and walls to the government, which apparently have their own beach area. Locals families are enjoying themselves here. After a successful cooling off and a long sunbath, hunger drives us back to the city. Strengthened by delicious homemade risotto, we finish writing the blog post about Bucharest, shower off the sand from our skin, and go to bed satisfied.

The next day, we actually wanted to take a little day trip to spend a bit more time at the beach today. Haha xD
We want to take bus 43, which should take us near the Stone Forest. So we head to the nearest bus stop and wonder why it doesn't appear on the display board. The people at the bus stop are very helpful and try to help us in Bulgarian. Because we start feeling uncertain, we go to the main bus terminal, where we are again told that we have to take line 43. Therefore, we decide to wait for three-quarters of an hour and take a taxi if necessary. The bus actually arrives, and we wobble through the villages in it. In one of the villages, we get off in the middle of the field and go to the stone forest. In the midday heat, we have to walk along the main road for about half an hour again. We are very happy when we arrive. The pillars in the stone forest were formed by deposits on the former seabed. They extend over an area of about 800x200m and are an impressive natural phenomenon. The way here was definitely worth it, but we'd appreciate it if the way back were easier. And we're lucky: at the parking lot, we find a taxi that is taking a tourist from France to the Golden Sands and can take us with them. We are relieved and gladly accept the waiting time. We also have a nice conversation with the taxi driver about tourism in/around Varna and about his family in Germany. Our lucky streak continues, as we even get the taxi for free. Completely satisfied, we spend the rest of the afternoon and evening at the beach. The sea has a pleasant temperature and we have fun hopping in the waves. A loose football briefly turns into our volleyball. We treat ourselves to a delicious dinner directly on the beach and enjoy a glass of wine with it. A few steps further, we also leisurely sip a cocktail. On the way home, we even have an ice cream. Well, if that wasn't a successful end to the beach vacation!

Varna definitely did us good. After the many hot cities, we really enjoyed the short beach vacation. What was interesting to us was the interplay between a modern tourist resort and hotels in old, tall prefabricated buildings from the communist era. There was a lot going on, the city was bubbling with energy. We hear many German-speaking tourists again, but also notice many different languages. Varna and its surroundings have obviously attracted not only us.