Yes, it’s the middle of summer, and I am on the road again. Because this year, I decided not to spend a single month without leaving to a foreign country at least for one long, interesting weekend; up until now, the plan was successful and this endeavor started in October 2015. July’s destination, besides the Romanian seaside of which I will talk in a separate post, is the beautiful old town of Nessebar, in Bulgaria. So, Friday afternoon, after work, we embarked on a new journey mostly in our Bulgarian neighbours’ country. From Bucharest up until Giurgiu customs we drove for approximately 45 minutes, then waited for a while at the frontier since it can get a bit crowded sometimes. We arrived in Nessebar, the newest part of the city, late in the evening, around midnight actually, and we were greeted very pleasantly and professionally by our hosts at Zevs Residence. In the following morning, after grabbing a quick bite, we went straight to the beach. I was never a big fan of visiting new locations while outside temperatures range from 35 degrees Celsius up, but summer in the Balkan area may get extremely hot, so we had to adjust to this small detail. We did a bit of research and chose a wide, long beach called Pyasachni Duni. The golden, super fine sand led your way into the clear, very clear water. The Black Sea is known to be an agitated one, with many storms at sea, thus its shoreline is not always the clearest of them all. But I was surprised to meet the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea, of an incredible turquoise-green-blue, a very warm, clean and pleasant water. Somehow, being there showed me once more how people actually enjoy being at the beach, on a beautiful sea’s shoreline, without caring so much about any other unimportant details. There were few sunbeds available on this beach, so people would just bring towels and stretch them over the cosy sand; most of the families here were also equipped with portable umbrellas, food and beverages of their liking, toys, beach balls, swim seats for toddlers, swimming mattresses, briefly, anything and everything they might need in order to have a great day at the beach. I liked the fact that this beach’s visitors were simple people, in large numbers, and that they would have a lot of activities, both in the water and onshore – playing volleyball, snorkeling, swimming, collecting seashells, running along the coastline, or simply getting tanned, reading, resting, meditating, shaping the sand in different forms. Maybe staying directly on the sand is not as comfortable as laying on a sunbed, but everyone there was making the best of their day with any given condition they had, so I sat, took photos, and wondered on in my dreamy world of personal conclusions and life lessons. Unfortunately, sun’s power in midday is almost unbearable so we decided to quickly change clothes and attempt visiting the old town of Nessebar. Said and done: the distance from new Nessebar to old Nessebar is no longer than a 5 minutes’ drive. As soon as you get on the causeway connecting new Nessebar to old Nessebar, a wooden windmill rises right in front of your eyes on the left side of the road. It is quite big, very well preserved, and it confers a traditional allure to the entire landscape, like a predictive totem preparing you for an unique experience. On the right side of the same causeway the statue of Saint Nicholas rests, protecting the bay and the small peninsula of Nessebar. This particular saint is the patron saint of sailors, mighty protector of those who are at sea and who live by the sea. The winds are strong around this imposing statue, and so is the power of thought and memories coming from beyond your being and understanding. The entrance to the peninsula is paved with old rocks, and is part of the Archaeological Museum of Nessebar. This peninsula has preserved architectural monuments from all periods and has an existence one thousand years until the present day. In 1956, Nessebar was declared a museum-town, granted to its overwhelming beauty and its architectural reserve. Later on, in 1983 it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Monument. With each step taken, I soon realized that I was surrounded by beauty, I was in the middle of a beautiful secluded place (850 meters long, 300 meters wide). Even though the weather was really, really hot, and the air entering our lungs burned inside, constantly suffocating us, and thirst dominated and controlled our minds and bodies, we still managed to stay focused on this old town’s amazing heritage. Nessebar’s infamous trail of churches did not escape our eye and visit. The Church of Saint Sophia (The Old Bishopric) is located in what is supposed to have been the center of the ancient city. I personally loved this construction’s remnants because, after taking photos here, a huge discrepancy between my size and this church’s size was revealed, and it made me think about how tiny humans are in front of what is built by themselves, leaving aside our short stature compared to Nature’s offspring and the Universe’s grandeur. The Church of Christ Pantocrator is a medieval Eastern Orthodox church constructed in the 13th-14th century. Still vivid and visible today, its lavish exterior decoration lures and impresses visitors from all over Europe. The brickwork is absolutely stunning, completely assorted to the beautiful gardens carpeted at the church’s entrance, filled with flowers glowing in cheerful colours. The Church of Saint John the Baptist is a domed cruciform church, one of the best preserved churches in Nessebar, built in the 11th century. The Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel resembles to that of Christ Pantocrator, in terms of its lavish exterior, rich external decorations done in the Nessebar characteristic style, so it is assumed that it was built in the same period: the 13th-14th century. Most of this church’s roof is missing. The Basilica of the Holy Mother Eleusa used to be a monastery-church, and was built in the 6th century. It is presumed to have been destroyed by an earthquake, so what we saw here were some remnants and the initial foundation. Either way, I still find archaeological sites to be very impressive since they are surviving proof of human efforts made in the name of people’s strong belief in something greater than human existence (whether that be religion and its vestiges, or God and other gods, or simply huge constructions venerating the sky or the earth, etc.). The Church of Saint Paraskevi is believed to have been built around 13th-14th century and is part of the Ancient Nessebar UNESCO world heritage site. The same lavish decorations on the outside of the building are featured here as well. Last but not least, The New Orthodox Church of Saint Mary features a golden dome, and was built in mid 1800s. All this wandering about present and past, medieval times was a bit tiring so we decided to stop for a well-deserved late lunch at Emona Restaurant, situated on the Eastern part of the peninsula, exactly on the coast and the shoreline. We served delicious seafood dishes and enjoyed the scenery. At one point, we also fed some hungry cute seagulls which visited our table. We reserved time to buy souvenirs, admire merchandise in the shops (a blend of Bulgarian, Turkish and Greek products) and to enjoy a good artisanal ice-cream while strolling along the cobbled, narrow alleys of Nessebar. There was this one place I have heard about for a long time now but never visited before; so we allotted our evening promenade to the Sunny Beach coast of Bulgaria, just a 10 minutes’ drive from new Nessebar. Immediately after entering this summer resort, flashing lights started attacking our eyes, colourful banners inviting us somewhere, noisy locations trying to attract customers in. We did not back up, we wanted to see what was the real deal about this notorious location. Hotels and holiday resorts, small tattoo parlours, coffee places, clubs, bars, crowded restaurants, strip clubs, entertainment centers, casinos, fun activities on the beach, ice-cream shops, waffle shops, cotton candy booths, lemonade and juices stalls, shops with everything one can imagine, pharmacies, even more shops featuring products with rose extract (very famous items in Bulgaria) ranging from creams to shower gels, perfumes, shampoo; it was crazy, I was super confused by this crowded 4-5 kilometers long promenade along the shoreline. People of different nationalities were coming towards us from all directions, purposelessly, in a constant rush to nowhere. There were no garbage cans, the trash was all in the street. As a personal conclusion, Sunny Beach is a very restless location. As disappointing this experience was, in the end we managed to find a very quiet beach coffee place to enjoy a light drink before sleep time. It was a different experience and I am glad I went through it, now I really know that I appreciate less noisy places when I travel abroad, filled with less people, offering a more meaningful overall impression. The majestic moon was upon us, guiding our steps to the long-desired sleep and dreamland. Sunday morning was reserved to some more beach time and for that day, we chose to follow some recommendations and visit a local beach on the road to the city of Aheloy, a very small beach under the Marina Cape Vacation complex. The sun was hazy so I had plenty of time to collect seashells, tiny colourful rocks and add them to my collection. There was a pier nearby so we went there to take some pictures and afterwards, just relaxed and enjoyed the silence. After we checked out, we took one last visit to the Nessebar peninsula and had a scrumptious lunch at George’s Restaurant, facing the Church of Saint Paraskevi. After visiting this amazing ancient medieval town, I am already dreaming about reaching Sozopol in Southern Bulgaria, which is rumoured to be similar to Nessebar. The Bulgarian coast features blue, turquoise, clear waters, golden, fine sands, and makes the perfect host for travelers in love with summer, the beach and the sea, as long as you focus on finding relaxing spots and enjoy the landscapes in a meditative manner. A recurring image forged by my imagination constantly haunts me: Byzantium princesses, in their enchanting long wavy dresses, caressing the paved paths of old Nessebar, praying inside the Church of Saint Sofia for medieval dreams to come true, confessing thoughts, nurturing feelings, fostering misunderstood emotions, and contemplating the majestic Black Sea in search of their lives’ purpose.
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