Tomis Yachting Club and Marina (Constanta Municipality)
Port Tomis, Constanta, Bulgaria
Salut,
Mary and I went out to find a supermarket while Randal and Rick wrestled with the wires that needed to go back up the mast. They’re still at it now, but have had a bit of success. Oiy! It’s one of the reasons we’ll probably be here a few more days longer than we planned. That’s fine as there’s lots to see in the old town area. While Mary was using the ATM, I was looking into the closed Tourist Office. The lovely woman inside opened the door, welcomed me in and gave us maps and brochures. She was very helpful. It’s a holiday weekend and the office was closed yesterday and today. So she was very kind indeed.
This email is the final one from Ruse. The next email will be about our visit to Silistra.
Ru
http://davidsbeenhere.com/2014/07/08/mini-travel-guide-ruse-bulgaria/ This is a blog to read if you really plan to go to Ruse.
We arrived in Ruse on Sunday, a day when many shops traditionally close. But after being on the boat for several hours we always need some walking so off we went into town to find some lunch. We walked past the History Museum and the Regional Library and a small park that was being upgraded. In a few blocks we passed a small open air market and then a closed shop selling barbeque chicken. Eventually we found an open restaurant called Plan B and had a late lunch. We had an interesting discussion whether the restaurant was the owner’s Plan B or the restaurant was supposed to be your Plan B if your first choice was not available. The food was good and the restaurant very modern. Then we walked into the town center, toured around for a bit and returned to the boat. Every day we’d go back into town but somehow we never did stop at the library and the museum signage was in Romanian so we took a pass. I did go in and ask about Lipnik, but didn’t learn more than I already knew though the ladies were very nice. The main center of town was a 15 minute uphill walk from the boat. When it’s as hot as it has been the past weeks, you tend to wander less, unless you get lost as we did on the way to the Transportation Museum and then you wander a lot. ( A lovely lady and her young daughter of granddaughter walked us out of their way to show us where to go.) Below are all the photos that I thought showed our view of Ruse.
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A small Sunday outdoor market. I hope the empty boxes mean much of the produce had been sold. Had we been on our way home we probably would have bought some. |
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Randal and Rick checking out the barbequed chicken store. |
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Street art |
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Official Public Art “Monument of Liberty was designed by S. Zlatev and S. Kiryakov. The sculpture was made by Arnoldo Zocchi – an architect and sculptor from Fiorentina. Today the monument is part of the city’s coat of arms. It is made of granite and bronze. The statue at the top represents a figure of a woman that holds a sword in its left hand while the right hand points the direction of the liberators. One of the two bronze lions at the base breaks the chains of slavery with its mouth, and the other one protects the Sword and Shield of Freedom. The text of the main sign says, “Dedicated to the fighters and the volunteers who took part in the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1876-1877.” Two cannons are placed at the rear end of the base.” http://rusetourism.org/ a very good introduction if you visit Ruse.
A truly terrible photo of the monument with the lions and a small monument of a man fighting a water monster … maybe. |
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Fountains make you feel cooler!
A wood sculpture of razors
Lots of fountains and pools in the center of town. |
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This photo should have been included with the architecture email. Rick and Mary have noticed changes, (especially here in Romania) where things have been spiffed up especially in tourist areas. It’s a trade-off though. If the EU gives money for local development, it also has lured many 20 and 30 year olds to better paying jobs outside their countries into other parts of the EU. “Ruse is the biggest Bulgarian town on the Danube River through which during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century penetrated the European values, ideas and trends in architecture. In 2007 well preserved buildings from that epoch were included in the European Heritage Sign Initiative.” |
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A lovely neighborhood street with trees and a café just near the Danube. At the end this young boy was entertaining himself with a “street puzzle.” |
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An interesting billboard near Lipnik Boulevard. |
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Balloon man was wearing a harlequin costume rather than a clown suit. |
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A ceramic boot planter outside a shoe shop. |
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Randal shows his appreciation to a street performer. |
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It was only after we bought and opened the bottle that we realized it said Tonic. We’d wanted soda water. But it’s diet Tonic so I drink it and actually quite like it. Good thing as we bought, and lugged back, 6 big bottles. |
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A blow up slide in the park with many of the stone women sculptures
Pedal cars |
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“Model of a vase in the park in Rousse. Each season different flowers are planted in it to make it look nice and colourful. “ |
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Cups of hot corn off the cob with different sauces. I had a cup with garlic sauce in Vidin. |
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Luben Karavelov; the statue with the book. “Lyuben Stoychev Karavelov (Bulgarian: Любен Стойчев Каравелов) (c. 1834 – 21 January 1879) was a Bulgarian writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival…… Karavelov died in 1879, soon after the liberation of Bulgaria, in Rousse……. At his first newspaper Svoboda (Freedom) in Bucharest (1869–1873), we worked and became friends with poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev who devoted a poem to him. In 1870, Karavelov was elected chairman of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee, where he worked with Vasil Levski, the leader of the Internal Revolutionary Organization; he shared Levski’s ideas of a democratic republic as the goal of the national revolution. Karavelov admired the political systems of Switzerland (which he believed was the model for the ethnically diverse Balkans) and the United States; he praised the American public education system, as well as the emancipated (in his opinion) status of American women. Karavelov’s works include the short novels Old Time Bulgarians (Bulgarian: „Българи от старо време“; Bulgari ot staro vreme, and Mommy’s Boy (Bulgarian: „Мамино детенце“; Mamino detentse), considered among the first original Bulgarian novels. His younger brother Petko was a prominent figure in Bulgaria’s political life in the late 19th century.” Wikipedia |
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What on earth? When I downloaded my photos there was a whole series of these, most not so clear. I finally realized that Randal had taken photos of my shadow hanging the laundry on the front of the boat. |
