Silivri, Turkey
Merhaba,
I’m a bit fuzzy. Wednesday was a long day. We left Sozopol (with no port police to check us out from Bulgaria) at 10 am, tied up in tiny Tzarevo (with port police to check us out from Bulgaria) at 1 pm. We walked around a bit before officially checking out from Bulgaria and heading on to Turkey. We arrived in Istanbul only to be dismayed that we couldn’t check in at our planned marina but had to re-cross the busy harbor to stay overnight at the ridiculously priced marina with the outrageously priced check-in agent fee. The marina “kindly” let us pay the 140 Euros for the night without making us check in to Turkey first. This morning, Friday we left Istanbul and are now anchored 30 miles away in Silibri where we also can’t check in so can’t leave the boat. The winds are twirling us around worrying Randal and making me spacy. As this isn’t a port of entry, we can’t check in here either but if the winds calm down we might take a dinghy to shore tomorrow for some fresh fruit and veggies. We have several days of canned food for sure. Until the winds outside the harbor calm down we’ll be here which may mean several days. Thankfully we have wifi so I can download more Kindle books if I run out. The joys of cruising. But the sun is shining so that’s good.
This email concludes the Varna visit. We arrived in Varna after an overnight passage so were too tired for the evening walking tour after spending most of the day in town trying to chase down boat paint that didn’t work out. We went early into town the second day on the off chance I’d misunderstood the tourist official and there really was a 10 am walking tour. Unfortunately I’d not misunderstood. Though the website and printed info listed an August 22 morning tour, the volunteer was unavailable to lead it so it was canceled. So we walked around the then had lunch and then some more walking around and then were too tired for the 6 pm walking tour. Varna was interesting and deserved better than we gave it. Just so you know.
Ru
Varna 2
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Coca Cola on one side and Tuborg on the other. |
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“The cathedral in Varna is one of the symbols of the city. It is situated on “St. Cyril and St. Methodius” square in the center of Varna.” http://bulgariatravel.org/en/object/103/Katedrala_Uspenie_Bogorodichno_Varna The evening walking tours met at the Cathedral; we just never made it back at night after being out and about all day. |
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A very tiny map, one eye that needs cataract surgery, and Cyrillic added up to the long, long way. Finally, a woman past up once because we thought her a bit too old and doddery actually gave us the correct directions. By the time she saw us the second time she sort of initiated the discussion. Just goes to show ya. |
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Everywhere though the doner shops are beginning to give them competition around the world. But I don’t think of doner wraps as fast food so I eat them. |
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This was clever enough that he earned some money from Rick and me. |
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The top half of that woman really is there somewhere. |
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He was a rather lack luster fellow for such a fanciful profession. |
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We walked past this place to the end of the plaza but finally decided nothing looked really “local” which means “good and cheap.” This place was really good and really reasonable. |
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Goat cheese ratatouille tart with green salad= B+ especially compared to some of the other food we’ve eaten along the way. This tasted good and looked lovely. Rick had breaded lamb sweat meats, Randal pizza and Mary chicken over pasta with a salad. While we were waiting a plate was brought out, the waiter said salad and placed it in front of me. I told him I had the ratatouille but he just walked away. So everyone was like, “don’t complain; just eat it.” It was a wonderful tomato and cheese salad and I tried to share. In truth it was Mary’s salad but I can’t feel too bad because I spoke up right away. I did give half of a cheese tart to Rick whose dish was more an appetizer and he ate some of Randal’s pizza so it all comes out in the wash. |
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First opened in 1936 we were told that the Nazis ate there and the Communists ate there, now we’ve ate there proving the old adage, “she who eats last, eats best.” Filip Spasov has been the owner for the past 16 years. Many of the desserts served are made by his mom. Our experience there was good so I wrote a tripadvisor review after reading one that was truly terrible. |
