Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 119

unpublished repertoire). Alternatively she'll run through favorites like the bean soup,
redolent with Bulgarian mint, and point out rarities like the very traditional but usu-
ally homemade “poparasis serena,” crusty bread with white cheese, butter, sugar, red
pepper, and paprika. If you're hungry, try the mixed grill, served with fresh cucumber
and tomato and home-cut potato chips (ask for the latter to be fried with garlic and
dill); or the pork loin slow-fried with bacon, gherkins, and mushrooms, then slow-
baked with cheese. If you're tiring of Bulgarian, there's a delicious salmon steak, served
with carrot puree and broccoli sauce. End with the fried banana and chocolate in filo
pastry, and you may roll out rating this the best in Bulgaria.
1 Kralo Marko St. & 0888 641 440. Main courses 5lev-10lev ($3.50-$8/£1.75-£3.50). MC, V. Daily 11:30am-
midnight.
EXPLORING VARNA
Driving into Varna, so-called “pearl” of the Black Sea, you can be forgiven for won-
dering what the hell you're doing in this run-down port, surrounded by ugly Social-
ist-era architecture and visually cut off from the sea by an overgrown and unkempt
garden, but stay a day or two and Varna's cosmopolitan vibe starts to creep under your
skin. Bulgaria's main naval and commercial shipping port, and adjacent to the coastal
resorts of Golden Sands, St. Konstantin and Albena, the city has an interesting edge,
made all the more so by the huge annual influx of foreigners and young Sofiates in
summer, most here to trawl the overcrowded beaches and pedestrian walkways, and
inject more energy into the endless disco beat. This in itself is not reason enough to
include the Black Sea capital on your itinerary, but Varna's real draw—even if you're
not a history buff—is its Archaeological Museum (see below).
If you still have energy after visiting the museum, you could take the short stroll
west to the city's other notable city sight: the huge gold-domed Assumption of the
Holy Virgin Cathedral (pl Mitropolitska Simeon). From here, you can explore the
Open Market opposite, coming out at Rousse street where there is incidentally an
excellent souvenir shop ( Bulgarian Art Shop; 19 Rousse St.; & 052/622299 ). Head
down Rousse Street to view the neo-baroque Opera House ( & 052/650-555; www.
operavarna.bg) on Nezavisimost Square, center of the city's cultural life since 1932,
and offering a host of shows, including a few modern and traditional ballets, and
plenty of operas and operettas during the International Music Festival Varna Sum-
mer, held at the end of July (though shows start mid-June). Having checked what's
showing that night, amble down to view the city's 1,700-year-old Roman Thermae
(ul Khan Krum and San Stefano; Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; 3lev/$2/£1), one of the
largest ancient Roman ruins in Bulgaria.
Varna Archaeological Museum Nothing brings home just how ancient
the history of Bulgaria is than wandering through the 21 rooms of this museum, view-
ing exhibits that are not only inconceivably old but unbelievably sophisticated. Flint
tools, some dating from 10,000 B . C ., provide proof of just how long ago Bulgaria was
inhabited. But it is when you enter the halls in which exhibits from the 294 graves
uncovered in the Varna Eneolithic Necropolis that you realize that this region was one
of the great cultural centers of the ancient world. Besides the complicated burial ritu-
als (corpses were carefully arranged in various positions, and there were also numer-
ous “symbolic” graves), there is the sheer quantity of gold found, providing an
exceptionally rich inventory of goldsmith techniques 6,200 years ago. But even more
jaw-dropping is the gold dating from the 3rd and 4th century B . C ., in which the skills