Day 28--Ruse, Bulgaria Rest Day

NEO-BAROQUE & NEO-ROCOCO

Tuesday July 22,2008

Ruse Rest Day

X+--We have a rest day in Ruse today; Ruse is the most important river port in Bulgaria and is famous for its 19th to 20th century Neo-Baroque and Neo-Rococo architecture.

I got on the lobby computer at 6:30 am and managed to send a message to Jeff et al. We do not have wireless in the room. The computer room was tiny and suffocating. Had to leave the door open onto the lobby.

We had a great breakfast spread (but I have somehow lost my appetite). Over breakfast, we told Alex about how hot our room was. He volunteered to swap with us. He had a smaller room one floor up and said he didn’t mind the heat. So we swapped rooms with him. His room was a bit cooler but not by much. We found that if we opened the one window that would open, it was cooler than having the AC on as we were on the top floor and got the cooling breezes from the river.

At 9 am we gathered in the lobby for a tour of the old city with an interpreter. She was very good and told us of the 500-year Turkish domination and then of the Russian war of liberation that made the Bulgarians friends with the Russians.

The city still appears shabby, with some of the big Soviet era buildings crumbling and abandoned, but they are working on it and maybe in 10 or 15 years it will shine like some of the western European towns. The car below is a Soviet Lada. Manufacture of this very popular inexpensive car continued until 2012--untouched in design over those years. The sticker on the window identifies it as belonging to someone who belongs to the Lada Club of Bulgaria.

What the guidebooks say:

The city of Ruse, Bulgaria, is located on the Danube river. As such it has played a major role as a port and been an economic and cultural center. Most importantly, Ruse is a historical hub of Bulgarian revolutionary activity and the National Revival movement. Visit the fortress Levetabya, the church St. Troitza, and the museums of Zahari Stoyanov and Baba Tonka, Bulgarian revolutionary leaders who fought for independence from the Ottoman Empire.

  

 The Monument of Liberty in Ruse is a pyramidal structure. The statue on top represents a female figure, who is holding a sword in her left hand, while pointing with her right hand to the direction where national liberators came from. One of the two bronze lions at the base is tearing the yoke chains with his mouth, and the other one defends the Freedom's shield. There are reliefs of resistance scenes on the pedestal. Two cannons are placed  at the rear.

A lovely old building in need of a facelift

An example of the vibrant colors individuals use to paint their businesses and  homes

Angel Kanchev Angelov, a Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the Second Bulgarian League. When attempting to enter Romania, he killed himself rather than be captured, and this monument was erected on the place of his suicide.

Some of the rococo and art-deco decorations on the city's buildings

A building badly in need of repair to save the figures holding up the window arches

A newly restored building painted lavender.

Unrenovated buildings just around the corner from the restored lavender building above

A renovated building that is now a bank

Some of the detail work atop the administrative agricultural building on the main square; don'tr know what that is the angel is holding but the figure  at right is plowing

Another odd onion-top dome; the graffiti on it is a shame, but all big cities are plagued by graffiti.

We went inside one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox churches. The guide said that churches could not be built higher than a soldier with his sword raised, so there was no early tower (it had been added) and many churches compensated by building down; thus we entered by going down several flights of stairs to the church proper. Very gold filled and elaborate inside. There were two men touching up the paintings in an alcove, but it was so dark that my photo of them did not turn out. Judy’s did though, and I like it (don't know where this photo got to).

That evening we walked about 7 blocks to an Italian restaurant the was recommended by our morning guide, Judy lost and complaining all the way. Every time I would tell her the direction to take she would think it wrong. She has been plucking at my last nerve all day today. I had salmon on fettuccini which was so-so and a “snow white” salad—chopped cucumbers and yogurt and dill—very good, also a small cracker type garlic bread. I finished off with a Crème Brule. Guess my appetite has come back.

While we were at the restaurant, Fred and Marion, who had apparently been in a back room, left. Harold and Carolyn came and then Bob and Rod came in. All sat separately. This group has never “bonded.” There are no cries of “Hey, let’s meet in the lobby and walk to the Italian restaurant together.” I find it very strange, and wish it weren’t so because it glues Judy and me together too much.

We walked back to the hotel at dusk, Judy trudging as always 10 feet behind me. Judy went up to the room and I walked up to the Roman castle across from our hotel, but the gates were closed. It appeared to be nothing more than a pile of rocks and foundation. There were too many buildings in the area to get directly to the river, which we can see from our window, so I went up to the room to organize for tomorrow.

A square we passed through on our way back to the hotel

The room is so hot that I am soaked, and so are my newly washed pjs. The heat, plus thoughts of our too-long day in tomorrow’s heat, are putting me in a bad mood—as is my roommate’s TV which is turned up full vol. Enuff sniveling.