We packed up and left our Sofia apartment this morning. We were heading for Bucharest which is only about a 5 hour drive but there is a border crossing which can always delay the drive. I am surprised by all the road construction that is being done in Bulgaria - there are some pretty good motorways and smaller roads. And when we had crossed the border into Bulgaria yesterday, there was a massive undertaking at the border there. Most if not all the road works have signs that the European Union was supporting the projects. But I recently read that Bulgaria has only used 4% of the allocated money from the EU since 2021! And some of that EU money will soon expire unused! Bulgaria was facing huge protests before the last Presidential and Parliamentary elections - the government threw billions of levs - Bulgaria's currency - at businesses, tourism, health care workers, and agricultural enterprises despite increasing the country's annual deficit. But I think they did use the Recovery funds that the EU gave out during Covid.
Lukovit in northern Bulgaria - stone house and building beside a service plaza on the highway.
I love the architectural details and the stone work.
Lukovit was conquered by the Ottomans by the 1400s - the Turks tried to force everyone to convert to Islam but they were not quite successful. In 1860 there were 250 Muslim families and 260 Eastern Orthodox families in Lukovit. After the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottomans, all the Turkish families moved out of town.
We stopped in Rousse/Ruse in northern Bulgaria for lunch about 3 pm - it is the last Bulgarian town before crossing to Romania. Ruse is one of Bulgaria's largest cities - it is located on the Danube River and became a trading center with the rest of Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is known as 'Little Vienna."
There was plenty of parking - we parked on a Main Street near the Western Union where Tina later changed some money into Romanian Leus - $100 equals about 177 Romanian. It was 89 degrees Fahrenheit so it was a very hot walk to the street with some cafes/restaurants.
We stopped at La Strada Restaurant in Ruse - despite the heat we sat outside to enjoy the slight cool breeze.
I had a salad with tomatoes, cukes, peppers, apples, pears, grilled chicken and pita chips with a little lemon vinaigrette dressing. I think JB is eating something like a shopska salad but with added ingredients. Very tasty and refreshing. We ordered homemade lemonade with ginger - but the ginger was overpowering so I stuck with water.
We continued on to the Bulgarian border with Romania. We didn't have any issues with the officials but there were hundreds of container trucks backed up to get through to Romania. We got through quick enough because cars, buses and trucks all have separate lanes, but then we were stuck in ungodly traffic to get onto the bridge over the Danube River to Romania. It is an old bridge built around 1952 and was being repaired so only one side of traffic could go at a time. At one point an official waved us into a new line of traffic - we moved way up front to make a new line for the cars because the back up at the crossing was so bad. We watched a cyclist ride right up to the point where the officials had stopped the traffic going over the bridge. It was 10, 15 minutes before our line of traffic began merging and moving up to start over the bridge. They were holding trucks and buses back. That bridge looked very old and rickety - it didn't seem wide enough to hold one line of traffic never mind traffic going both ways - and there are so many container trucks going in every direction! There were trucks and some cars still coming over toward us, but they let cars start over to the Romanian side. I don't know how that bridge held up with all the weight on it from so many trucks!
We passed through the border here in Rouse and were lined up trying to cross over the Danube River over this bridge - you can see a truck on the right side of the picture approaching our side. An official came along and signaled JB to pass the car in front of us and move up to the front of the line because the border control was backed up with cars. We finally crossed over the bridge and entered Romania.
Look at all the trucks coming over the bridge!
We managed to find Hotel Berthelot in downtown Bucharest. We didn't know where to park because there was no parking anywhere - JB live parked while Tina and I went inside to register. The receptionist was not very friendly - she gave me my key 301 and told me that it was on the 1st floor - Tina got room 303 and was also told it was on the 1st floor. She was not the least bit helpful re parking. I went to check out the room and planned to go back down to help bring up the luggage. I found the room 301 on the 3rd floor and tried the card 4, 5, 6 times and the door did not open. I tried 303, 307 in case that was a 7 and not a 1 - no luck - I went down and tried 101 since she had said it was the first floor. I went back down to the desk and told her that the key did not work - she started yelling that of course the key would work - I said I tried 301, 307 and even 101. She was fussing and nasty but gave me another key. I was heading upstairs when JB texted asking where I was - I texted that I was heading back upstairs because my card had not worked. He and Tina met me outside my door - I just wanted a witness in case it did not work again but they took the key and opened the door. JB dragged my suitcase in as Tina inserted the card into the holder inside the door to activate the lights. I was in a terrible mood by this time. They left and I fumed - I have traveled in the US and to Ireland, London, Italy, Spain and had no problem with a room key unless I demagnetized it by putting it near my cell phone. That receptionist was nasty not only to me and Tina and then to me but she was also nasty to the person ahead of me when I went back down. On the other hand JB said that the employee in charge of parking was super nice and even brought the bags up a flight of stairs. He'll get a special mention in my satisfaction survey and even on their Facebook site.
The hotel is actually to the right but I was taking a picture of the details of the house beside the hotel. I loved the architecture I'd seen so far!
We were amazed at all the buildings we saw that are covered up because they are being renovated! This one was across the street from the hotel.
We had eaten not so long before we arrived in Bucharest so we opted to stay in and get an early start in the morning in case it was raining in the afternoon then we might go to Thermes, a famous spa, in Bucharest.
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