A TRIP ROUTE
IT IS WORTH KNOWING
Władysław III the Jagiellonian, commonly known as the Warnaese, was the son of Władyslaw Jagiełło and the king of Poland and Hungary. Władysław III undertook an armed expedition against Turkey, which ended with a victory and a truce. At the urging of the papal legate Julian Cesarini, he broke the truce and led a badly prepared Christian crusade against Turkey, composed of Hungarian-Polish-Wallachian troops. After initial successes, it ended in the king's defeat and death at the Battle of Varna in 1444. According to some accounts, the Turkish sultan kept the head of the Polish king in a pot of honey for many years, treating it as a war trophy. The body of the monarch has never been found, so stories of his miraculous rescue have spread. You can read about one of them in the section on Portugal.INTERESTING STORIES
Grzegorz Cambijak, born around 1362 in Veliko Tarnovo, was a Bulgarian monk, theologian and writer, a representative of the Tyrov school of writing. He stayed for a while on Mount Athos, in Constantinople, Moldova, and Moscow. In 1406, the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas asked the Patriarch of Constantinople to appoint a new Metropolitan of Kiev to replace Photius who resided in Moscow. He claimed that the aforementioned hierarch disregarded the management of the Lithuanian part of the metropolis, robbed the treasury of the metropolis and oppressed the bishops subordinate to him. In 1415, thanks to the support of Jagiełło and Vytautas, the synod of the Orthodox clergy in Nowogródek elected him the Metropolitan of Kiev. Gregory held this dignity until his death in 1420, against the protests of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who excommunicated him. In 1418, as a representative of the Ruthenian-Lithuanian clergy, he took part in the council of Konstanz. On the initiative of the Polish king, Metropolitan Cambijak proposed a union of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, which, however, did not come to fruition.August 2014
We spent our next holiday together in Bulgaria. Sunny Beach was chosen and the criteria were similar to those in previous years. Sandy, nearby beach, with easy access for a stroller and the hotel is located away from the noisy center. The disco clubs organized on the beach had a hard time, but it was compensated by the picturesque view of the Black Sea from the balcony of our room.
I had been planning a trip to Bulgaria for several years. The reason is the sentiment I have for this country, because as a teenager I spent my first holiday abroad. During the communist era, going to the Black Sea was quite an attraction, and I have been to Bulgaria several times. I remember spending almost all my time in the sea and eating enormous amounts of watermelons during the breaks. It was also the period of the first love infatuations, and such moments are the most memorable. I wasn't really interested in sightseeing then, although we were resting in the city of Varna, full of tourist attractions and monuments. I remembered the multicolored, cosmopolitan city because of the delicious rotisserie chickens and fizzy schweppes.Julek is resting
Sunny Beach is the largest Bulgarian resort and its origins date back to the 1960s. Hotels and apartments stretching along the coast can be overwhelming, but the 8 km wide, sandy beach and gentle descent to the sea attract families with children, and this was also the case in our case. When everyday lazing on the beach and gluttony in the all inclusive option started to bother us, we went on longer or shorter trips around the area.
Nessebar
We lived at the southern end of Sunny Beach, so we were literally just a few steps from Nessebar. We went for walks there many times, but as it usually happens, you do not fully appreciate what you have under your breath. And Nessebar is a magical place, beautifully situated on a rocky peninsula, with a picturesque old town full of medieval churches and wooden houses with characteristic bay windows. Julek, on the other hand, liked a wooden windmill standing on a narrow passage at the entrance to the city.
Sozopol
I was persuaded to visit Sozopol by an advertisement in a guidebook, praising the picturesque fishing port and the old town with cobbled streets, densely built with old houses. I cannot deny the charm of this picturesque place, but it is far from it magical Nessebar. In this former Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica not many medieval buildings remain. monuments, and the biggest attraction of the city for me was a walk along the promenade along the rocky coast.
Burgas
I have been to Burgas twice, but only passing through, which is probably why I did not have the opportunity to fully get to know this seaside resort. The situation is also complicated by renovations carried out in various parts of the city, which make Burgas look like a huge construction site. Walking through the streets, it struck me that the Bulgarians apparently have no problems with their recent history, because the monuments commemorating the Soviet soldiers look great here.
Veliko Tarnovo
The unfavorable dates of bus connections meant that I had only three hours to visit Tarnovo. It is a pity, because the capital of the reborn Bulgarian state certainly deserves to be thoroughly explored. I naturally focused on the most interesting places, visiting the Tsarevets fortress and the Asenov district, once inhabited by clergy and artists. This picturesque place, located in the bends of the Yantra River, looks most attractive from the walls of the fortress.
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Bulgaria and there is no exaggeration in it. The old town, situated on three hills, with churches, mosques, Roman ruins and colorful houses in the style of the national revival, simply amazed me. I was wandering around the winding cobbled streets, every now and then discovering an unusual place or an original architectural detail. I also visited the famous Baczkowski monastery located nearby, entered on the Unesco List due to its magnificent architecture and frescoes decorating the interior.
Varna
Visiting Varna, I felt a great disappointment and immediately came to mind the words of the old Skald's hit "Memories are always flawless". When I was resting here as a teenager, Varna was a lively, multicolored city, full of tourists and laughing locals. Now I was greeted by deserted walking avenues, streets full of ruined buildings and locals as if regretfully sneaking along the ruined sidewalks. However, a nice change was a visit to the Stone Forest reserve , where I was greeted by fossilized, prehistoric trees from 50 million years ago.