a day out with fellow travellers

I've remarked already that one of the things I've learned about travelling is how my interactions with fellow travellers can be just as enjoyable as my visits to see new sights.  So I was very happy when these two elements came together for a day in Bulgaria when a Polish lady staying in my dorm decided to hire a car for a day and invited three of us to join her.

The pic above was taken at our first stop, the Sokolski Monastery, which featured the usual colourful frescoes around and inside the chapel, then we visited the Dryanovo Monastery, and then Etar, a traditional (and very pretty) village.  After this came the main stop of the day for me - the Buzludzha Monument.

This was built over the years 1974 to 1981 by some 6,000 workers (mostly military) and financed by public donations, on the site of the final battle, in 1868, between Bulgarian rebels and the Ottoman Empire.  Then in 1891 a group of socialists assembled here to form the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, which was the forerunner to the Bulgarian Communist Party.  If functioned as a memorial for the Bulgarian Communist Party until the end of the Soviet era in 1991.  Taken over then by the Bulgarian state, it was left to fall into disrepair, such that it is no longer safe to enter (all entry places now sealed up and a policeman patrolling who could not be persuaded to unlock the door!), so I couldn't get to see the apparently very impressive Soviet era mosaics around the upper level. It is at least now under a very slow process of repair, with the intention of re-opening it one day as a place for "constructive dialogue, tolerance and education" as well as for tourism and events.  But right now all you can do is walk around the outside.

The next (and final stop) was to visit a few Thracian-era tombs.  The Thracians pre-dated the Romans, and the tombs were constructed around the 5th century BC.  I have to say that I knew little-to-nothing of Bulgarian history before this trip, and was astonished by the complicated history, where Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgarians, Ottomans and Russians have all ruled a country whose borders have moved many times.  Surprising that the country now seems so peaceful and generally at ease with its neighbours; even the resentment against the Ottoman Empire does not seem to be reflected in any hostility towards modern-day Turks.

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