Bulgaria, Burgas/Bourgas - July 2007
Dogrose

Hooray, today we actually got up early and were breakfasting in Bourgas by 9am, good job too as the day soon heated up and became pretty unbearable. Maybe it’s my age but nowadays I seem to just drip my way around places, arms close to my sides trying not to reveal the tell-tale damp patches on my t-shirt.

The journey to Bourgas was hassle free. The buses leave from the bus station every 20 mins, starting at 6am right through to midnight. You pay your 4 leva each on the bus and settle back for the 45 minute ride through the Bulgarian villages and country side. You alight at the port which is also where you catch the bus back, again every 20 minutes from 6am till 10.40pm. I don’t know the cost of a taxi fare from Sunny beach but a taxi driver at the port in Bourgas quoted us 40 leva to bring us back.

Bourgas is where you will no doubt arrive if you’re flying to one of the black sea resorts or arriving by train from the Stara Planina (old mountain) range.
It’s a pleasant town with a cosmopolitan feel and a leisurely pace. We found ourselves breakfasting at one of the many pavement cafes and got into our usual hobby of eating and people watching. There’s certainly a lot to look at, with scantily clad young girls (enviously slim and gorgeous) and the more mature women all immaculately groomed and clad in the height of fashion, you could almost be in Rome.Traffic isn’t a problem and we found even the busiest of roads easy to cross.

Shops of all descriptions lined the streets and we made it our mission to find a couple of mugs to use in our hotel room while we’re here, eventually finding them in a 1 lev shop, the equivalent of the British pound or American dollar shop only a lot smaller and of course a lot cheaper. Every time we return from our travels we vow that we’ll buy some unbreakable mugs for the next trip and throw away the tiny, plastic cups that came with our travel kettle. Needless to say we never do it and usually end up buying over-priced souvenir mugs, from an over-priced souvenir shop, just to leave them behind when we depart.

For anybody thinking of spending a few days in Bourgas here’s a few choice words from Lonley planet:

Burgas showpiece is the Marine time park - a swath of greenery running alongside the Black Sea coast. Within walking distance of the city centre, the park features manicured flowerbeds, spouting fountains, Soviet-era war memorials, modern sculptures and plenty of cafes.

The beach, however, is disappointing. Next to the port and overlooked by several rusting oil tankers, it has greyish sand (which contains iron, so it retains the heat longer) and scrappy facilities. Paddle boats are available for hire, but are really hard work if the waves are high. There is also a water slide.

The natural science museum is of special interest to anyone planning on visiting the Strandzha Nature Park, the Ethnographical museum is pretty much the same as other ethnographical museums throughout Bulgaria.

The City History Museum explains the history of Burgas. It contains 100-year-old photos of the city and beach, but is fairly uninteresting: cans of tuna even fill up the display cabinets on the top floor.

The Archaeological Museum houses a small collection of antiquities, such as Neolithic and Thracian artefacts from the 6 century BC and various bits and pieces from the Roman period.

The staircase is lined with glass takes of live reptiles no doubt to boost sagging interest in antiques. The highlight is probably the wooden tomb of a Thracian king, the only one found in the region. Leaflets are printed in English, French and German.

Sts Cyril and Methodist church and St Hach Armenian church are the only two attractions (apart from the park) that the lonely planet seems to recommend. The former for its frescoes and the later for it’s quaint and charming appeal.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see either of the churches as the heat beat us into submission yet again so clutching our precious shopping we dripped our way back to the bus station, boarded the bus and looked forward to a decent sized cup of white tea.