Bulgaria, Balchik, Summer Palace of Queen Marie & Botanical Gardens - July 2007
Dogrose

‘You can’t come to Balchik and not visit the Summer palace of Queen Marie and the Botanical gardens’, that’s according to the lonely planet guide book and it was spot on! Definitely the main attraction of the area, over looking the sea and fishing port, the gardens and palace are quite stunning.

We had walked past the palace the evening before with out realising what it was. We had noticed this rather unusual and very interesting building with it’s pretty terraced gardens as we strolled down the promenade in search of a nice spot for dinner, we had even stopped to take photos, but we had never thought it was the palace as we were under the impression that it was a few kilometers on the road out of Balchik and we were just a few hundred yards down the prom.
There was a wedding happening in the garden which we took to be for the benefit of tourists and not an authentic Bulgarian wedding. If you stood on the low wall that separated the prom from the sea you could just glimpse what was happening and, real or not, everybody seemed to be enjoying them selves.
The next day when we actually visited the grounds we found a scrap of paper with some of the wedding vows, they were written in English with such commitments as ‘I promise not to leave my dirty socks on the bathroom floor’ etc., Nuf said!

So, up bright and early the following morning with the intention of getting to the palace before the flocks of tourists descended and the heat of the day made it too unbearable to walk around comfortably.
I had spent a really restless night in the Balchik hotel due to the heat and the lack of a fan or aircon. The Balchik is at the cheaper end of the hotel scale in that area of the town and all I will say is that you get what you pay for, which in this case was 50 lv for the night!
Our lonely planet states that this sleepy little town hasn’t really caught the tourist industry yet. The book is two years old and things have changed dramatically in that time due to the plan to build a big swanky marina there over the next couple of years; already there are a few flash hotels springing up along the harbour with premium priced rooms but accommodation gets a little cheaper as you move away from the front line.

We were at the gates of the palace by 8 am - the staff however were not; but by 8.30 everything was bustling with life and not long after the gates were open; we paid our 5lv and were ushered through, remembering to buy a map of the grounds on the way in. The map is a definite must; it outlines a pleasant and not too taxing walk through the gardens that takes in all of the sights.

The palace was built in the early 1900s by king Ferdinand of Romania (Balchik being part of Romania at this point) for his wife Queen Marie, grand-daughter of the British Queen Victoria. She requested a place of solitude and called it ‘The quite nest’. It certainly is a tranquil spot, with the palace surrounded by beautiful gardens on three sides and sweeping sea views on the other.
Queen Maria practiced the Baha’i faith, which believes that there is only one God, that there is only one human race, and that all the world’s religions represent stages in the revelation of God’s will and purpose for humanity. Her beliefs are evident by both Christian and Muslim holy buildings being hosted by the palace - a church and a mosque. There is a statue of the virgin Mary in the grounds along with areas designated “The garden of Allah” and “The garden of Gethsemene”.

First on the route was ‘Allah’s Garden’, a mixture of cactus, fir trees and border plants, with a small stream running through the middle. This was a theme for the gardens, lots of running water, quirky buildings, bridges, stone walls, very large pots, and plants and trees gathered from around the world.

The plan to come early in the morning was definitely a good one as not only did we had the place practically to ourselves but by 10.00 am the temperature was already staring to hot up and get a bit uncomfortable for walking up and down the  terraces.
Although the Lonely planet states that the palace and grounds are a 35 hectare complex the walk through the gardens following the map only takes about an hour and a half.
It is certainly awash with colour at this time of the year with about 600 different species of flora, every thing from rose gardens to Europe’s second largest collection of cactuses and with its romantic setting complete with water powered mill and Roman bath I can see why it’s a perfect spot for a wedding, real or not.
Sadly we never found the Tropical house by the cactus garden that is mentioned in the LP, in fact we didn’t see any signs that it ever existed.

So by 10am we were trudging back up the gently sloping hill deciding which of the restaurants that lined the street to breakfast in. Sitting over a double espresso a few minutes later we watched the first of the tour parties arrive, already looking a bit uncomfortable under the morning sun; we patted ourselves on the back for making the effort to get an early start while the weather was pleasantly cool and we could still appreciate the peace, quite and relative solitude.

I would like to mention at this point that while we were waiting to gain entrance to the gardens I took the opportunity to use the loo by the gates. The reason this is worthy of a mention is that not only was it the first squat loo I had come across in Bulgaria it was the first squat loo with a flush that I had come across anywhere in my travels, now that’s real progress for you!