Thanks to ICDET I lived a unique experience together with my internship mates.
Taking advantage of the holidays here in Bulgaria, we decided to undertake a multi-step journey along the Bulgarian coasts.
After renting our car, we embarked loaded with suitcases, food and a great desire to discover new places. At the beginning we never expected everything that happened to us. It was like an adventure. If this story were written in a book, the title would have been “ Five girls and one coast”.
1,2,3 and let’s go.
The first stop was Veliko Tarnovo where we left a piece of our heart.
After three hours of travel we arrived in this ancient town full of small shops that sold handcrafted or iron-made things.
As we walked around the city we found a lot of street art and different architecture. So we researched a little more about the story. We found that Veliko Tarnovo is famously known as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
It is located on the Yantra River and the old part of the city is located on three hills.
The view was amazing.
We visited a fortress called Tsarevets. It was the main fortress of the Second Bulgarian Empire and the strongest bulwark between 1185 and 1393, housing the royal and patriarchal palaces.
After having visited the whole city on foot and having made about 22 560 steps (shown on my smartwatch) ,our only thought was to eat. So we went to a restaurant with a great view that prepared typical Bulgarian dishes.
The after dinner instead was made magical by some hipster musicians that we listened to while sipping a glass of wine.
The next day we took the car and headed to the second stop, Varna. So we approached the part of Bulgaria that faces the black sea.
Here we had some problems with the apartment, so we spent most of the morning and early afternoon finding a place to sleep. But we didn't let that stop us. On the contrary, this unexpected event made us realize how much we have been able to solve the problems on our own.
So we can say that we have only experienced Varna at night. But this is not displeasing. We spent the whole time in a place by the sea and met many locals and even Erasmus guys. Time flew by quickly and the sun rose from behind the black sea before our eyes.
It was Easter morning.
After about 4 hours of sleep and a big headache we set off towards the third stop: Nesebar.
Nesebar amazed us. It is wonderful to smell the scent of the sea and in the meantime look at the remains of the ancient city. Here we were delighted with a fish-based meal in a very elegant restaurant overlooking the sea. And it was here that we performed the traditional eggs fight. It is a Bulgarian tradition that takes place on Easter day. The owner of the egg that doesn’t break is the winner of the fight and has luck all year round.
The fourth stop was Sozopol, another little village on the sea. Here it was full of tourist shops and we took the opportunity to make some gifts. On the same day we moved to Burgas. Beautiful city! We were in a long pier and the black sea fascinated us.
Next to this was the sea garden. The park is planted with trees and shrubs. In those areas there are many sculptures scattered around.
The Burgas evening was our last. So we celebrated in a nearby club and spent the time between a chat and another. Here we made a promise and that is to make another trip very soon!
Caterina Cioffi, intern@ICDET