The population of Vidin and the country in general has been going down since the fall of communism. About seven and a half million people populate the country with about two million living and working abroad. The country has a growing tourist trade with about twenty thousand guests houses since it is located near Romania and Serbia. The country lost a lot of its markets after it became a democracy, but industry and investment is returning. Bulgaria is not in the European Union and that has helped some. Retired Americans are also starting to find the country attractive due to the ready availability of housing and land in the mountains.
Sunflower fields brilliant with bright yellow flowers brightened up our ride. Since Sunflower oil is so popular for cooking, a lot are grown here. They also grow wheat, corn, and barley because of the large place bread has in the Bulgarian cuisine.
As we headed to the Belogradchik Fort, we passed through little villages of red roofed houses with one or two floors, small gardens, and small vineyards. Almost everyone has a barrel of homemade wine in the cellar for celebrating special days such as St. George Day on May 6. This one is widely celebrated since George is the most prevalent name of men.
The Bulgarian cuisine also uses many spices, fresh vegetables and fruits. Since they were occupied by the Ottoman Empire for over five hundred years, their cuisine has a distinctive Turkish flavor.
As we continued to rise we passed by huge forests. Over ten thousand different types of wildlife live in the country. The brown bear is one of many species which is protected.
The country has roughly fifty snow days each year and their are ski resorts within a short distance of the capital city of Sofia.
When Belogradchik was in sight, we stopped for a few minutes and picked out the huge rocks shaped like the elephant, turtle, bear, and rabbit.
The thing that made this fort unique were the rocks which were actually incorporated into the fort. Over two hundred steps take the visitor to the top where cisterns from the Roman era can be seen and there is an outstanding view of the countryside.
Coming down, we passed beautiful flowers, hydrangeas, a Byzantine Church with its white and red stripes, and a stork next where the young stork was posing. White storks live to be seventy years old and mate for life. They reuse their nests year after year. In the winter, they migrate to Africa. Natives in the region know the winter is over when the storks
Our guide shared some information about her country as we returned to the ship. Children start preschool and kindergarten for which parents pay a small amount, but the twelve obligatory years are free. They have a ten per cent income tax and a Value Added Tax of 26%. Their average income for each month is about 460 Euros. They pay for half of their medical insurance and the employer pays the other half.
In the afternoon, we went to a roomy home away from town a few miles for a cooking lesson in a home. We went through a Bulgarian ceremony of welcome in the front garden before learning all the steps to making Banitsa which is a traditional Bulgarian pastry served on Christmas and New Year's Eve. Of course various forms of it appear all year long. On the special day, little lucky charms are baked, hidden away in the banitsa. After we watched Romona, her Aunt Rosa prepare the dish, we all donned gloves and made a second one which we presented to the crew of the Embla. After all, we had divided and eaten the one Romona made!
As the captain pulled the ship away from shore and eased out into the Danube headed to our next stop, we left with a greater understanding of the area and anticipation for the next stop in Bulgaria.
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