Bulgarian border town

Last weekend was another great weekend in Europe. I started it off a bit early, on Friday with another night at the Romanian National Opera, which was presenting Verdi’s Nabucco. This is a rather famous opera, and for good reason. While the opera company does have some minor issues to work out, namely the balance between the orchestra and the singers, The entire production is amazing, going from one amazing chorus aria or scene to the next. Nabucco is now my favorite opera. Next day I got up, packed an overnight bag, headed to La gara de Nord, and caught the train to Russe, Bulgaria. The train ride was uneventful and I enjoyed watching the goats grazing next to the tracks. After stopping at the Romanian–Bulgarian border for customs the train trundled across the Danube River, on the largest steel bridge in Europe. I was pleasantly surprised upon arrival at my hotel. It was a newly renovated historical building near the town center. It has been everything from an aristocrat’s house, to a taxi depot, to the Romanian Consulate. I was upgraded to a double room, with a balcony and a view of the river at no extra charge. Immediately after checking in I headed for the town center. While Russe may be in the geographical sense a ‘border town’, it is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria, and has a totally different feel than Romania does. I found a restaurant right on the central square and enjoyed lunch. I then set about sightseeing. The highlights included the Pantheon of Romanian revivalists, which consisted of a large monument and park with small chapels interspersed among the trees. Some of them were very old. There was also a church, which was built mostly underground. The Monument to the Soviet Solder is a time capsule. It consists of a large statue and a couple of fascinating socialist-realist reliefs. The inscription on the back of it says something like “this is a sign of the friendship between Soviets and Bulgarians, long may it last”. The monument was not moved after the fall of communism, and remains at the entrance to one of the city’s main parks. The Café culture in Ruse is quite ubiquitous. This is something that is somewhat lacking in Bucharest. Taking full advantage at about 8pm I stopped into one of the cafes for dessert, a crepe filled with chocolate cream, topped with vanilla ice-cream and dark chocolate shavings. I was surprised at the price when the bill came. It was only 3.50лв (about $2) for a decadent desert, beverage, and an hour of people watching on one of the main old town roads. One of the problems with staying in the town center is that it is hard to find anything outside of a restaurant. I spent an hour looking for water before going back to the hotel. Next morning after breakfast at the hotel I decided to go sightseeing south of the city center. This proved difficult, as many of the sights are inside of or are used by Ruse’s port. I am thankful that I can read Cyrillic as I would have been completely lost if I did not. I managed to see the ancient watch tower, and the Roman Fortress. The much talked about fortress consists of a few stones, which you can look at through the port fence. While looking for these relics, I ran into a few sights which are not on the tourist map in the city’s center. I found the monument to Bulgarian Saliors, which has a stunning view of the Danube. I also found a Orthodox church, which made a point of displaying Catholic stations of the cross, with inscriptions in Polish. I passed the Catholic church of Russe. In was Sunday morning, so I ducked in for mass. I was surprised when the mass ended after the sermon. Apparently the Catholics in ruse have no priest and a lay-person was giving the mass. I walked by the Danube, which is a pale shade of brown here, slightly north of the town center, for lunch. Then back to the hotel where I put my feet up on the balcony for about an hour, before it was time to leave. I greatly enjoyed my time in Ruse. It is a manageable city with great ambiance. I am looking forward to exploring Bulgaria further in a few weeks. This also was an example of how the Eastern European nations are not integrating well with the EU. I had a minor scare on the way to Ruse. At Grigiu, the Romanian Town near the border, the train stopped and customs officer got on board. One took my passport and then left the train with it. I found myself rather worried that he would not come back. Fortunately he did, and I found out that they are entering your information into the system. The train then crawls on to Ruse where the Bulgarians stamp your passport, and take down your passport number and name. As a result of my weekend trip I accumulated 4 new stamps in my passport. This may not seem unusual, except for the fact that both Romania and Bulgaria are EU members. You can now pass between most EU nations without having to pass through customs, or even stop at the border at all.