Bulgaria

Day One

We had arrived in the waters outside of Varna, Bulgaria, on the day before we were scheduled to debark the ship. As I went about my regular class day I would look out across the water wondering what I would find the next day when I went ashore to another new country that I knew nothing about. In my business class I learned that Bulgaria is a former member of the Soviet bloc, and now the poorest member of the European Union. Since it was my first experience in a country that used to belong to a communist regime, I wasn’t sure about what to expect. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise when I took the tender boat ashore the next morning, as I walked along the port towards the center of the city. The weather was pleasant – warm, breezy and sunny – and a sandy beach stretched out along the shore. I had a few hours to kill before my scheduled trip in the afternoon, so I decided to wander around with a small group before returning to the ship. With no map or directions we ambled inland. I wasn’t sure what to think of the place – it seemed nice enough as we walked under the trees in the cool breeze, but the buildings were in poor condition, stray dogs were sleeping on the streets and we randomly passed by an old helicopter and missile launcher as we walked on the sidewalk. We arrived at the center of town, a small cluster of modern shops and cafes, but there were no crowds of tourists save the students from our ship. We sat down at a coffee shop, but I took a walk by myself to see what I could find to eat. I stopped at a small shop on the street and pointed at the first thing I saw that someone else ordered, and received something like a gyro – chicken wrapped in pita with lettuce, cucumber and tomato, but also doused in a variety of yogurt and chili sauces, with some French fries thrown into the mix. After my quick and delicious meal I walked back towards the ship to arrive in time for my trip. I had signed up for a class-related trip on the subject of human trafficking, which is apparently a huge problem in the area – young girls seeking to leave the country for opportunities abroad are exploited for sex or forced labor. We were driven down to the municipality building, an impressive and official-looking structure in the center of town. We were led into a large lecture hall where the mayor and some NGO-representatives talked about how they were combating the issue, and we also heard from local high-school students who volunteered to educate students on the subject. After the discussion was over I walked back to the ship where I met some friends waiting outside, and we strolled over to the beach to grab a meal at one of the restaurants. I had a shopska salad, a local favorite, along with a chicken skewer and the local beer – all for six or seven dollars. We returned to the ship to shower and rest, and then went out to check out the bars along the beach. We found a great outside bar right on the beach with ridiculously cheap drinks, so we hung out there for a few hours. We met a guy from Varna who happened to work in DC, and he gave us some tips about where to go and what to eat. Following his advice we walked along the beach to a packed nightclub called Copacabana where we stayed until two or three in the morning, then stopped at a shop for another pita before returning to the ship. Not knowing what to expect in Bulgaria, we were ecstatic to find such a great nightlife; not to mention the drinks were cheaper than any place we had been on this trip. We hung out in a friend’s cabin till 4 am and finally went to bed.

Day Two

Slept in until noon to get some much-needed rest and went down to the dining room to find everyone at lunch. Four of us decided to take it easy and just go lie on the beach for a while, so we got our stuff together and walked over to the sandy beach just five minutes away from the ship. I hadn’t gotten a chance to swim in Turkey so I immediately took my first dive into the Black Sea, but found the water to be a stark contrast to what I’d gotten used to in places like Capri or Mykonos. The water was murky, slimy seaweed wrapped around my feet and small pieces of debris floated on the surface; so I went back up to the sand and lied down for a few hours. Compared with our experience in Istanbul just a few days ago, where women almost never swam in public and the ones that did were fully clothed, the beach in Varna was the complete opposite. Kids up to maybe ten years old were running around naked, and even girls our age would lie around without clothes on while chatting with their mother or friends. It was a refreshing return to the relaxed European attitude I had become accustomed to. After a while I got up and walked to a stand where I pointed at another random food and received what looked like an enormous hot dog, except with some kind of sausage and with French fries thrown on top. We spent some more time in the sun, watched the Red Bull volleyball tournament going on nearby, then walked back to the ship after taking a quick detour for the cheapest ice cream cone I’ve ever purchased – I think it was about 40 cents. I took a nap and met up with friends for dinner on the ship, and made plans to go out for the night to Golden Sands, a resort area about 10 miles away from town. After successfully haggling for a decent price we got in a cab. The ride was unexpectedly safe and the driver blasted techno music the whole way there. We were dropped off in a place that, at first glance, looked almost like Disney Land. There were luxurious hotels, a long stretch of bars with pools, a mock Eifel Tower, and European tourists crowding the sidewalks. Feeling almost suspicious about the glamour of the place, we walked for some time searching for a cheap place to stay. We walked by one huge hotel where in the front parking lot, I kid you not, five cars were neatly lined up: an Audi SUV, a Mazarrati, a Mercedes sedan, a Porsche Cayenne, and an Astor Martin. We eventually found a decent hotel where the seven of us could share a room with two single beds for about twenty dollars each – perfect. While booking the room we met a half-naked and tattooed Scandinavian dude who was sipping on a small bucket of what had to be alcohol on a street corner. It turned out that he was selling tickets to a pub crawl, and remembering our amazing time doing one in Rome we decided to do it right away. We checked into our rooms, and while the girls got ready the other guys and I went out to grab some pizza and drinks to bring back to the room. We got ready, ate, drank, then headed out to the first bar called Den Glade Viking. The place was filled with people from Norway and Holland, and the impression I got from them is that Varna is kind of like our Cancun or Acapulco: it’s a cheap vacation spot for college kids to party, but there’s not a whole lot in terms of cultural or educational experiences. I decided it’d be nice to take a rest from the cathedrals, mosques and museums, and just have fun in Bulgaria without worrying about what I’m missing – I didn’t know of anything to go see anyway. We spent the rest of the night hopping from bar to bar with a massive crowd of crazy Scandinavian kids. We got a drink at each place, hopped into a pool at one, and marched on as tourists went by on mini-trains snapping photos at the mad crowd of drunken kids chanting to the beat of “Seven Nation Army.” It really was a surreal experience. I eventually made it back to the hotel room and fell asleep.

Day Three

Woke early in the morning to find (fortunately) all seven of us back and crammed in our hotel room. We stayed in bed for about two hours recounting the night before and swapping stories, and eventually got up and checked out. We took a quick swim in the hotel pool and left to find some food. While the girls walked around shopping for souvenirs, I stood in a long line and bought some crepes. We were all exhausted so we hopped in a cab and returned to the ship. I took a long nap then went out with a few guys to grab a meal at the beach, then spent about an hour at an outside bar to take advantage of the free wi-fi. Completely partied out from the night before, we decided to spend our night at a bowling alley that we passed by on the first day. We bowled, played a few rounds of pool and called it a night.

Day Four

Rested up from the day before, I woke up at nine ready and excited to do what I’d been anxiously waiting for since we got into Varna: bungee jumping. I had looked it up on the internet and supposedly there was a 52m-high bridge in Varna that was famous as a bungee spot. Four of us met up ready to go, and made the hour-long trek to Asparuhov Bridge. Having never done this before, my heart was pounding as we crossed a street and finally began walking across the bridge. Unfortunately, all we found when we arrived at the spot were a few students from our ship sitting or looking down at the water. The guy hadn’t arrived yet, so we nervously waited around just imagining what it would be like to actually leap off the railing. After an hour we were fed up, and one of us had the bright idea to go get some food since nothing was happening. We walked about 40 minutes before finding anything resembling a restaurant, and our big group split off trying to find places they wanted to eat at. Three of us ate quickly at a KFC, the first fast-food place we found, and walked back to the bridge. We arrived to find a long line of students from our ship waiting for their turn, and the bungee crew had just arrived and were setting up for the first jump. We had only four hours left until we had to be back on the ship to leave Varna, and with each person taking up to 15 minutes we thought that our opportunity was gone. With nothing else to do we waited for hours and hours, watching as each person was strapped to the cord, climbed up on top of the railing and fell 150ft below. The first guy I saw jump actually went into the water and came back up with half of his body soaked – apparently they had misjudged his weight. As sketchy as it was bungee jumping in a country that could potentially have no laws for liability issues, I was determined not to miss my chance. Even as we hit the last hour and groups of people started to leave, I stood in line and waited my turn. By 5 o’clock most of our friends had left, but four of us finally made it to the front of line. One of my friends Andrew, who wouldn’t even jump off of a cliff in Croatia a few weeks before, insisted on going first. Surprisingly he got hooked up to the cord, and with his teeth chattering he got up on the railing, looked out straight ahead, and fell with no hesitation. Next it was finally my turn. All the nervousness that had built up after waiting and waiting for hours climaxed as the tattooed and dreadlocked Bulgarian guy strapped me up, and his English-speaking assistant gave me the instructions: stand up, put your feet together, lift your arms out, and lean forward. Anxiously I stood up on the railing, smiled at the camera, and without thinking I took the dive. In the first few seconds I felt the rush I was used to from cliff jumping, but it didn’t end there. I fell, and kept falling… and kept falling some more. About half way down, as I flailed my arms out trying to find my balance, I had the sudden thought: “What the hell am I doing?!” But before I had the time for another thought the cord pulled me back, tossing me high into the air, and again I fell as the world spun into a blur of sky and water. After another few bounces and falls I started to spin as the cord went taut, and suddenly I wasn’t having so much fun. Fortunately the spinning stopped shortly and the guy lowered a red rope that would pull me back up. After swinging back and forth, grabbing desperately at the rope several times while hanging upside down, I finally managed to grab it and pulled the hook up to clasp it on my belt. With my signal the rope pulled me up, and after waiting for a few long minutes clutching to the side of the railing the guy pulled me back over. When I was done I couldn’t stop smiling; it was the greatest rush I’ve ever felt. My two friends eventually made their jumps and as the last one was on his way up, we signaled for a cab and we all rushed in. Being late back to the ship on the last day is a huge deal – being just 10 minutes late can mean hours of having to stay aboard the ship at the next port. Luckily we made it back to the ship before six o’clock and spent the dinner talking about our experiences and watching the videos of our jumps. It was a fantastic end to an incredible four days in Bulgaria.