Veliko Tarnovo and Tsaravets Fortress

Another foot-wearying day: note Sue’s rather sceptical stance this morning before we began the climb up to the church on top of Tsarevets Fortress, the citadel capital from the Second Bulgarian Empire ( 1185-1396), on very uneven cobbles and steps, to reach a splendid view far into the distance.

We were impressed with the crossbow, though surprised to see it fully equipped given the parties of schoolchildren running up the hillside. The citadel has been restored in places and I was pleased to see that materials were being recycled.

I’m sorry (though Nikhil and Sue aren’t) that we’ll miss the Sound and Light show at the fortress which takes place on a Saturday night. From time to time, a loud booming voice speaking in English and Bulgarian broadcast details across the site, but we couldn’t work out what triggered the announcement. And then we realised it started up every time someone used the WC. What you’d call a captive audience?

We had a pretty good view of storks flying around on our level:

However, a trip to the Church of the 40 Martyrs (which I’ll spare you) brought us down to the river and a better view of a stork (described by the Bulgarian women near us as a pelican or a cormorant):

And finally, as in other Bulgarian towns, Veliko Tarnovo makes the most of the sides of its buildings with lovely artwork, celebrating some element of Bulgarian history – perhaps they’re there so that footsore tourists like us can stop frequently with the excuse of taking a picture.