Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 115

two 300-year-old homes recently renovated by Ivan and Vanya, who came here on hol-
iday and fell in love with the village.
Madara Horseman Lying just over the halfway mark between Veliko Tarnovo
and Varna, the UNESCO-listed Madara Horseman, a 95m-high (312 ft.) relief sculp-
ture, was carved into the cliff more than 1,200 years ago. At least, the Greek inscrip-
tions next to the carving date from the 8th century; some believe the horseman
predates these by many more hundreds of years, and is in fact the rider-god so revered
by the Thracians. The relief is best viewed early morning (opens daily at 8am), or as
the suns starts to set (closes 7pm in summer; 5pm in winter) when shadows help
delineate the lines of the horseman whose steed appears to be trampling a lion, aided
his greyhound. The Madara National History Archaeological Reserve (admission
3lev/$2/£1) also comprises the remains of 8th- and 9th-century monasteries (also of a
14th-c. rock monastery), and you can take the cliff path up to the plateau above, where
there are more ruins—this time of a 5th-century fortress—and wonderful views.
7 Varna & the Black Sea Coast
449km (278 miles) east of Sofia
Long the premier summer destination for the Eastern bloc, this heavily developed
coastline is now also playground to hordes of package tourists from the West, keen to
dance the night away to the pulsating beat that emanates from the numerous
makeshift summer clubs that seem to range almost continuously along the coast. But
when the sun rises, and the shadows draw back to reveal the monstrous hotels that line
the beaches, and rows of large pink bodies start to sizzle off their hangovers, it's a far
from attractive sight.
Bulgaria's once pristine coastline has largely been ruined. Despite municipal bans
stating appropriate distances between beaches and hotels, and specifying the times of
the year that building can take place, greedy developers keen to cash in on the huge
foreign interest often build year-round, so even those who aren't offended by the exist-
ing developments are by noise and dust. But that's not to say that a trip that incorpo-
rates a few days on the Black Sea coast is without merit. Besides blowing off steam on
the coastal capital's beachfront, it's worth coming this far just to view the “oldest gold
in the world” in Varna's Historical Museum, vying with the National History Museum
as the most fascinating museum in the country, then heading south to stroll past
Byzantine churches and charming 19th-century timber houses in the UNESCO-listed
village of Nessebar. Admittedly Nessebar's cobbled streets can get clogged with day-
trippers, but this is just the reason to head south to the gorgeous old town of Sozopol,
with its plethora of seaside restaurants—time your visit for lunch and, mesmerized by
semitranslucent twinkling sea views, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were on the
Riviera. Only better, you realize, when the bill arrives.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE From late April to October you can reach Varna by plane,
either flying from Sofia or even direct to Varna airport (www.varna-airport.bg; 24-hr.
flight information & 052 573 323 ) or to Burgas airport (www.burgas-airport.bg).
Most travelers, however, arrive by road, traveling from Sofia via Veliko Tarnovo or
heading directly east to Burgas and then turning north to Varna or south to Sozopol;
bank on spending around 5 hours in a car; 6 if you're traveling by bus