Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 111

wheat salad served with peeled and roasted tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, and
finely chopped parsley, garlic, onion, garlic, and walnuts. As is the case at Shtastlivetsa,
salad portions are huge, so you'll struggle to find the space for the huge array of good
pizzas or Bulgarian traditionals offered. But struggle you must: Their “cheese shopski
style” is the best ever, and the chicken kavarma—roasted with onion, garlic, tomatoes,
corn, peppers, and mushrooms, and served on a tile—equally so.
17 Stefan Stambalov. & 062/601804. Reservations for the terrace essential. 2.90lev-11lev ($3.50-$10/£1-£3.80).
No credit cards. Daily noon-11pm.

Shtastlivetsa BULGARIAN/PIZZA Walk along Stefan Stambolov, the
miniboulevard that leads you to the old part of town, and look out for a restaurant
where every table is occupied, and you've found Shtastlivetsa. The locals love this place
as much for its portions—as huge as they are delicious—as for its prices, so it's hardly
surprising that it serves to a packed house almost every day, despite the opening of
another branch at 7 Marno Pole St. It's another huge menu, with plenty of pasta and
pizza dishes to augment the Bulgarian standards—pizzas are very good (if you want a
Bulgarian take on this, try the “country bread” with two types of cheese, walnuts,
bacon and apricots); salads are even bigger than Ego's (we're talking half a kilogram
minimum). The house specialty is meat cooked “in a sach,” which essentially means a
variety of meat and vegetable combinations prepared in or on traditional earthen-
ware—opt for one that includes vegetables rather than a pure “mixed meat” dish.
Dishes can be ordered as 450 grams or 750 grams (1 lb. or 1 1 ⁄ 2 lb.)—specify the smaller
(unless you're sharing) or the waiter, probably with his eye on the service charge
included as a percentage on your bill, may “assume” you've ordered the larger portion.
79 Stefan Stambalov. & 062/600656. Reservations for the terrace essential. 5lev-15lev ($3.50-$10/£1.75-£5.20).
AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11am-11pm.
EXPLORING VELIKO TARNOVO
Touted as the city's top attraction, Tsarevets fortress ( & 062/636 828; Apr-Sept
8am-7pm; Oct-Mar 9am-5pm; 5lev/$3.50/£1.75) must have been an incredible
sight when the medieval walls that girdle the hill enclosed a royal palace, 18 churches,
and over 400 houses, but there's not much left of these grand origins. Besides climb-
ing one of the watchtowers for the views, or heading over to Execution Rock to shud-
der at the hopefully swift justice meted out to the king's itinerant subjects, the main
attraction is the hilltop Patriarch's Church of the Ascension. Declared the “mother of
all churches” in the Bulgarian Kingdom in 1235, it was restored in 1981 to commem-
orate Bulgaria's 1,300th birthday. Interiors are covered with interesting modern
murals, executed in an almost monochromatic palette by a student of Svetlin Rusev,
one of Bulgaria's most influential expressionists—a total contrast to the usual church
interior; then again, this is now a monument, not a church. While a daytime wander
around the fortress (and do plan to get here early or late, rather than during the drain-
ing midday heat) is mildly satisfying, the power that Bulgaria's once-impregnable capi-
tal exerted over southeastern Europe for 200 years is better captured by the stunning
40-minute sound-and-light show , when the bathed fortress comes alive in the
changing shadows, and stirring music charges through the battlements. The show,
held once a week during summer (usually on a weekend night at around 9pm), or
whenever a tour group hits town, is best enjoyed from the Assen II square in front of
the main entrance.

Value