26.2.2007

City of the Tsars Pairs Well With Wine or Song

Bulgaria, a beautiful mountain-filled country with great wine, ski slopes and the Black Sea's best beaches, can get lost amid the Eastern Europe stars such as Croatia, Czech Republic or Hungary.

But things are changing. In the past few years, leagues of "new Bulgarians" have moved in, mostly British retirees who snatched up century-old villas in mountain towns and beachfront property for as little as $15,000. Since Bulgaria's admission to the EU on Jan. 1, many Bulgarians are eager to look ahead from their pokey, post-communist economy. But they will tell visitors that seeing Bulgaria means sampling its past.

The best place to do so is in Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria's capital from 1185 to 1393 and now a lively student town of 73,000 in the hills of the Stara Planina (as the Balkan Mountains are called here). Three and a half hours east of Sofia, Veliko Turnovo still looks a bit like the city of the tsars it was built to be.

The triumphantly walled Tsarevets Fortress, built between the fifth and 12th centuries, sprawls across Trapezitsa Hill on the east edge of town. "Executioner's rock," from which the guilty once were pushed, is at the far eastern end; these days the traffic moves the opposite way, as grazing goats clamber into the fort's grounds here.

On Saturday nights, or whenever tour groups pay up, the fortress stages a "Lord of the

Rings"-meets-Yanni-style sound and light show that casts beams of light across town. Locals love it; one told me as it started, "The tourists come and pay, and the whole town watches for free."

The fortress overlooks the snaking Yantra River, which cuts a sharp S through town, squeezing through steep hills lined with centuries-old homes and cobbled streets. Just up from the river is Gurko Street, Veliko's oldest, where you can visit an 1861 banker's home at Sarafkina Kashta (88 Gurko St.). Up two streets is the wee Rakovski Street (Veliko's "arts-and-crafts street"), which is lined with shops selling wood knickknacks. In one I met long-haired student craftsman Stanislav, who lit up when he heard my English and invited me to an all-night birthday party in the woods across the river.

When we made it there later - toting two emptied pop bottles filled with tasty Bulgarian wine - a group of students were huddled around a fire. We talked about rap, globalization, Crazy Horse and travel, before Stanislav's friend Miro, perhaps seized by the moment, burst into a Bulgarian folk song.

"This is why we love Veliko," Stanislav said at one point. "Midnight picnics with friends, wine and music."

By 2:30 in the morning Miro lay with his head on the ground like a drunken ostrich, and I left before it further deteriorated.

Besides drinking wine, some of Veliko's best activities are outside town, where cliffs challenge rock climbers and forested paths attract hikers. Feeling a little uneasy after so many birthday toasts the night before, I took a taxi a few miles east to hilltop Arbanasi, a town of royal villas where tsars' courts were once based (and now affluent Sofians hang out for the weekend).

There's a nice spot to sit with a beer and see the sun set over Veliko below, but I chose instead to visit the 16th-century Nativity Church (011-359-62-604-323), a couple hundred yards west of the central square. The church is easy to miss - it looks more like a stable from outside. As my eyes adjusted inside, I had a jolt, as ceiling-to-floor murals of rich colors depicted more than 2,000 scenes. The door attendant there told me, "They made the outside so humble to trick the Ottomans." Then nodding, "Pretty clever." Good fortune.

Getting there
* No direct flights connect Bulgaria and the U.S.; transfer in London or another European gateway city. Visiting the hills around Veliko is doable by bus, train or taxi, but renting a cheap car is best. The tourist information center (011-359-62-622-148; 5 Hristo Botev St.; www.velikoturnovo.info) offers cars for about $20 a day.
* The modern Yantra Grand Hotel (011-359-62-600-607; www.yantrabg.com; Velchovazavera Square; doubles $75, with citadel view $83), which opened last year, has a small pool and Veliko's most comfy rooms, half of which get full-frontal views of the citadel.
* The family-run Hotel Comfort (011-359-62-628-728; 5 Tipografov St.; doubles $42) has balconies overlooking the fortress.
* Sofia-based Hostel Mostel plans to open a Veliko branch in April, for the latest check www.hostelmostel.com.
* By far Veliko Turnovo's favorite (and best) restaurant is right on the central strip, with views of the river. Shtastlivetsa (011-359-62-600-656; 79 Stefan Stambulov St.) hands out two sprawling menus - one for very good pizza and pasta (the "diet pizzas" are made of rye flour), the other for Bulgarian, including $12.50 "gypsy" meals.