Варна (Varna).

I wanted to stay here a for a day to catch up on small errands (bank, phone calls to U.S., etc) given that Varna is a respectably-sized city with lots of comforts (internet, laundry, etc), as well as one of the most well-known Bulgarian Black Sea cities. I wanted to visit the beach, too (it's been a while since that last toe-dipping in Montpellier!), and see the largest Archaeology Museum in Bulgaria, containing no less than 36 roomfuls of Thracian artifacts (as you know, Bulgaria was first settled by these Indo-European peoples).

I was once more, therefore, expecting to part ways with Jesper, since he's pedalling much faster (it is a bit of an effort catching up to him while riding) and as I mentioned before he's said to me several times in the past that he wants to cycle fairly uninterruptedly (i.e. without stopping for rest days), at least until Istanbul. But as it turns out, when I knocked on his door to deliver my goodbyes this morning, he said that he had gotten some sort of scratch on his foot while riding yesterday, so he decided to stay in Varna while it healed instead.

Uh huh. ;P

But at least that was lucky, for it means I get a riding companion to Burgas tomorrow, and possibly, even, into Turkey, where everyone I meet keeps recommending I do not ride alone.

Anyway, the Archaeology museum was closed (I had forgotten it was a Monday), so I went down to the beach, which was desolate and cold, in spite of all the restaurants and town fair-like amusement locales that were, though closed, still standing by the sand. It wasn't hard to imagine that this place would be absolutely packed in the summer, but as it was, today, it was a bit depressing.

So I returned to the hotel, where I happened to catch the men's team foil World Championships in Torino on TV (how cool is that? I wish TV stations in the U.S. would broadcast my beloved sport every once in a while. It is truly a lot of fun to watch!): France vs. Germany, which France, of course, won.

I then headed to visit the Cathedral of Varna, which was nice, and then leisurely strolled about the center, where I ran into Jesper, and hung out with him for a bit before sharing a lovely dinner.

Quite a relaxing, pleasant day, it was.