My vision of Veliko Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo is one of my favorite cities. For me it really has it all - culture, great shops, restaurants, nice hotels and guest houses, beautiful surroundings...

Cultural tourism is my favorite and in Tarnovo there are historical sites like in no other Bulgarian town. But I have to admit, that one restaurant chain is equally important reason for me to take the trip to the old Bulgarian capital. I am talking about the "Shtastliveca" Restaurants. There are five of them in the country, but my favorite is the one near the city center of Veliko Tarnovo, situated at the river bank, overlooking the Art Gallery and Asenevtsi Monument. It's vintage interior design, friendly staff and delightful meals always make mu day! 

Here is a glance of the dishes...

For our visit in Veliko Tarnovo this winter, we chose to stay in one guest house, situated on "General Gurko" Street in the old historical part of the city. Gurko is parallel to the Yantra River and the houses are build on the very edge of the river bank. 

Our room had a wonderful view to the Art Gallery...

...and the city...

After dinner we took a nice walk. The town was still wearing it's New Year's decoration, which made the experience very pleasant, despite the cold weather...

This street is called "Samovodska charshia" and it is the town's old market street. Nowadays it's very popular with the tourists. Luckily for us, there were no tourist in that late winter hour...

The next morning greeted us with fairy mist and a little bit of snowing...

Perfect for a winter walk...

 ...a walk on the narrow alleys, gazing at the old houses...

..."Trapezitsa" hill with the second most important fortification in the old Bulgarian capital of Tarnovo...

...“Tsarevets” hill with the Bulgarian Tsar's palace from Medieval times...

...and back on the paved streets...

 ...I just couldn't skip the cats (and there are many of them on the streets of Tarnovo).

The thing I don't like about Veliko Tarnovo (and probably about every other Bulgarian city) is that there are many beautiful old houses, which are now deserted and falling apart. I hope that the next time we visit there will be few of them and a lot more brilliantly renovated examples of the glorious past.