I woke up about 6 am with the sun and turned over and tried to sleep until about 7. Got up and got ready and went for coffee in the café. I wasn’t really hungry but they had the delicious muslix that I really like – creamy with large chunks of fruit in it – so I had some. It was yummy.
Enjoyed coffee on the back deck as we sailed into Nessebar. The couples from San Diego came through and I gave them my table since I was done. We anchored off shore and today is a “tender day”. While I was finishing my coffee it poured down rain.
Went to the cabaret theater and met my tour group at 9:00. The tender ride was quick and then the nightmare. They had “registered” all of our passports with the Bulgarian authorities, but the immigration officer decided that each passport had to be checked. So we stood in line – for a long time. The Europeans were able to get through since Bulgaria is now in the EU, but we waited and waited and waited. The cruise tour organizers were confused as to what was happening but we had no choice but to wait. They were really slow. Is this a hangover from the Russian influence on Bulgaria perhaps?
Nessebar – and Bulgaria - is thought to have been inhabited long before recorded time – as far back as 100,000 BC. There are several old structures in Nessebar that date back to the 400’s – 1500’s. We saw the Old Bishop’s Residence, The Christ Pantocrator Church, St Stefan’s Church, St. John Aliturgetos Church, St John the Baptist Church, the ruins of the fortified walls, the archaeological museum, and the Byzantine Baths. There were lots of religious icons, and several murals in the St John the Baptist Church that were original from the 1400’s. Beautiful. Most of the churches were ruins but we got to go into one of them. Interesting.
After the Walking Tour, I explored Old Nessebar on my own. The new city is quite a beach resort – one of the largest on the Black Sea. There is one resort after the other along the shore. The sun finally came out and it warmed up, so I enjoyed my independent walking around the city.
Headed back to the ship about 2 and had lunch by the pool. I was reading a booklet I picked up at the Blue Mosque – “What Is Islam”. The waiter from Uzbekistan asked me about it and he was very happy that I was learning about Islam. We talked for a while about this.
Went to the pool and read for a while – napped – and then went to The Looking Glass for sail away at 5 pm. Bulgaria definitely shows its Russian influence. The guide, Nasta, made it clear that Bulgaria may have had a communist government but it was always free of the USSR (????). The buildings are generally not well maintained, the streets and sidewalks need work, and the cars look cheap.
Had a light dinner (relatively speaking!) in the restaurant. They had a guy playing a guitar and singing. It was a bit amusing as he spoke with a thick Russian-type accent yet he was singing Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Sting, etc. Still it was somewhat enjoyable dinner music.
After dinner I went to the Mosaic Café Lounge and listened to a cabaret entertainer– Jim Badger – he was excellent – good pianist, good singer, funny and entertaining. Had an amaretto on the rocks while I enjoyed his show tunes and oldies but goodies – lots of Jerry Herman.
Went to bed about 11. This ship doesn’t rock much at all. Don’t believe we are going all that fast, but the ship seems to be very stable with not much side to side or front to back rocking. That has been good.
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