The Bulgarian 🇧🇬🚞 rail trip thread continues here.
Day 3️⃣ Велико Търново / Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo is known as the "City of Tsars", since it was the medieval capital of Bulgaria. For me, it was one of the surprises of the trip.
We start the visit with some panoramic views from the Monument to Assen dynasty, located right in the middle of the Yantra river bend.
Some more pics of the monument itself.
Built in 1985 to make the anniversary of the rise of this dynasty, it features similar characteristics to other "historical monuments" built during the last years of communism in Bulgaria.
We continue our walk around the old streets of Veliko Tarnovo, on a gloriously sunny autumn day.
☦️ St Nikolay church. Beautiful paintings inside, but too dark for proper pics.
Note the text from 1836 on one of gates, written in Greek and (what I think is) old Bulgarian alphabet. While at that time, this was still part of the Ottoman empire.
The "Museum of the Revival", where the Bulgarian Constituent Assembly met in 1879 to ratify Bulgaria's first constitution, as it had just achieved de facto independence from the Ottomans.
From the top of the hill, you get excellent views of the Tsarevets and Trapezitsa hills, where the medieval city stood.
Walking through the beautiful narrow streets and alleys of Veliko Tarnovo.
The "hanging" houses and the Yantra river, in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.
🇧🇬 Велико Търново, България
🍽️🇧🇬 Lunch with a view
Into Tsarevets, the main sight of Veliko Tarnovo.
This medieval fortress was at that time, the main part of the city. It was fully fortified and took advantage of the river bends for a strategic location.
Plenty of ruins to check out...
... although for me the beauty of Tsarevets, were the spectacular views of the valleys that make up Veliko Tarnovo.
A reconstruction of how the "City of Tsars" used to look like on the 14th century.
More of Tsarevets in autumn 🇧🇬🍂
Hearing the muezzin call for muslim prayers, while in the heart of Bulgaria.
Balkans, what a wonderfully diverse beauty you are.
Last pics from Tsarevets as the sun slowly begins to set.
Down at the valley, next to the Yantra river, the views are still spectacular.
Veliko Tarnovo, a must see in the Balkans,
We wait for the bus back to town, in a rather retro bus shelter.
And ok, the bus network map is not great... but even on this old-looking stop you get up-to-date timetables. Something that the bus company in my home town @bilbobus_bilbao still fails to provide 😒
2021, the year of eternal electoral campaign in Bulgaria.
The voted in April and in July, and they will vote again in November.
The bus looks familiar… 📯 🚌🇨🇭
It is indeed an old "Postbus" from Switzerland, with even some of the original "Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz" signs.
Even more surprisingly tickets were not sold by the driver, but by an actual ticket seller!
Ticket price 1 franc, I mean 1 leva
And yes, even in medieval Veliko Tarnovo, you can find some brutalist hints.
Most notably the Interhotel, opened in 19821, a classic communist brutalist hotel, as seen on any main tourist spot of the former Eastern block.
A little bit more concrete at the city hall of Veliko Tarnovo.
Day 4️⃣ train trip and София / Sofia.
And since it's too early for fresh banitsa, in this part of Europe there's always a plan B.
Early morning views as we wait for our regional train from Veliko Tarnovo to Gorna Oryahovitsa, where we will change to continue our trip to Sofia.
Back in time...
We board BDŽ train КПВ 40202 Плачковци - Горна Оряховица.
It's a retro class 32 EMU built in 1971, very similar to soviet elektrichkas.
#FensterAuf from the Soviet train ⚡
The sun starts to rise 🌄
Arrival into Горна Оряховица.
These old EMUs still make plenty of services on many of the rural electrified branch lines of the BDŽ network.
Also, note the construction plaque:
USSR, Riga Carriage Works, 1971
СССР, Рижский Вагоностроительный Завод, 1971
Compulsory pic with the retro train.
A cold morning in Gorna Oryahovitsa station.
Freshly baked banitsa on a cold autumn morning 🤤
Boarding BDŽ train Б 2610 Варна - София.
Once brakes are checked 🔨, we're ready to go!
#FensterAuf across Northern Bulgaria
Banitsa ✅
Timetable ✅
#FensterAuf ✅
For most of the ride, we cross endless plains...
... and suddenly we meet the mountains, as we turn south towards Sofia.
Crossing the "Stara Planina" or "Balkan" mountain range by train, through the Iskar gorge. It starts to get very scenic.
Open windows make the ride so much more enjoyable. Just open the window and let the scenery surround you.
#FensterAuf 🚞🇧🇬
🚞🇧🇬 Line 200 of the Bulgarian State Railways, Sofia - Mezdra through the Iskar gorge, deep in the valley across the Balkan mountains.
It officially joins my personal list of most scenic European railway lines. Extra points for the open windows that make the experience amazing.
🚞🍂 Autumn in Bulgaria, as seen from the train, somewhere between Mezdra and Sofia.
I've definitely been in quicker "fast" trains. As if that would matter now...
In Лакатник we overtake the slower regional train, to proceed south towards Sofia.
More pics of the Mezdra Sofia railway.
Enjoy the ride 🎥🚞🇧🇬
Своге is the last stop before София.
Last minutes to enjoy the mountains before we arrive to the plateau that surrounds Sofia.
Arrival in Sofia. What a wonderful trip surrounded by autumn beauty.
Old and old-but-renewed at централна ЖП Гара София.
Sofia. Cobblestone streets and trams 🚋
Lunch at the retro-themed (and slightly touristy) Ракета restaurant.
Visit to the "Socialist Art Museum" of Sofia. Basically, where the Ministry of Culture, shortly after the change from communism to capitalism, decided to gather the still-standing political statues. They also have the star that use to stand on top of the communist party HQ.
Sofia is big, and most of the suburbs are made of endless rows of "panelkas". However in Druzhba architects were a bit more creative.
Blocks 67 & 68 make up this interesting building, almost worth of the crazy brutalism of Novi Beograd.s
Gràcies @sergi_sc97 for the tip!
Some more pics of blocks 67 & 68, the Twin Towers of Druzhba.
#Brutalism #Sofia #Panelka #Панелка
Say what you want, but these two towers do break the monotony panelkas.
#Brutalism #Sofia #Panelka #Панелка
More standard blocks around Druzhba.
Across Sofia by 🚎 and 🚋.
In the main avenue of the Krasna Polyana district, trams of both narrow and standard gauge run on the same line.
📸Time for some late evening spotting of these former-Czech Tatra units.
Also note the double gauge junction!
📽️🚋 Trams in Sofia.
Трамвайно депо "Красна Поляна"
You can even see (what I think are) some Duwag trams on the Depot.
This is not Prague 🇨🇿
🌇🚋 Лека нощ София
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