We left Bulgaria last night, sailed past Istanbul early this morning, and are now traversing the Dardanelles strait and about to return to the Aegean Sea. The only real excitement of the day was being allowed to climb the masts of the sailboat up to a crow's nest for a great view. Spectacular!
Nessebar is just about the prettiest village we've seen in a long time: what was once a small island is now connected to the mainland by an isthmus. The old town is built up round ancient Roman ruins and there are ships and boats all around. Plus lots of restaurants and beaches! A group of us headed to another winery/restaurant for more tastings and a lesson in how to make Bulgarian dishes. The Shopska salad is my favorite. Then it was off to the beach for a leisurely, languid afternoon.
We had a great day today. The highlight was a wine tasting at a local restaurant that is part of a winery that bottles a small amount of Sauvignon Blanc, rosé and Merlot for local sale. We loved the wines so much that a group of us later took taxis back to the restaurant and had a lovely dinner. The cost for Debb & me, including a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc, worked out to $25! What a bargain.
Debb had fried whole scad from the Black Sea, which she polished off head, body and tail.
Our waiter Nikolai, who had also served us the wine in the afternoon, was an absolute delight.
A stop in the seaside city of Constanta, with a beautiful promenade, Roman ruins that reminded us of Tunis, and a Saturday afternoon festival with barbecue, libations, music and beer. And perfect weather!
We sailed through the Bosphorus and entered the Black Sea, on which border Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Turkey. We docked in Burgas, Bulgaria and spent the day in a rural village visiting women farmers who have been working the land since the 1930s. Then a quick visit to the port village of Sozopol and back to the ship. We next sail to Romania but we'll be back in Bulgaria twice more while we're in the Black Sea.
As you know, we don't get to stop for two days, as originally planned. Add Turkey to Algeria and Morocco (... and North Korea!) on the list of countries we've had to skip for security reasons. <Sigh> But we did pass through the Bosphorus Strait, a river that bisects Istanbul and is the place where Europe and Asia meet.
Below are pictures of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (or so we are told). Matt can tell me for sure, as he's been inside both mosques, but this is as close as we can get.
Another picturesque island on a gorgeous, clear day. We did some shopping in the small port town of Myrina, and in the afternoon I hiked up to the old fortress from where I took this photo.
Now we're having a day at sea as we sail from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea and our ports of call in Bulgaria and Romania. The cruise line felt it was too risky to stop in Turkey, so we are going to sail past Istanbul later tonight. I hope to get some pictures from the top deck, at the least <sigh>.
