Varna

We got up at 4:30 on Wednesday morning and flew to Varna, the premier resort city on the Black Sea. This was our first time in Varna after all of these years. Unfortunately we didn't see much. It was cold and very foggy and despite the best efforts of our host and hostess, we couldn't see much at all there. Oh well! We left Varna and headed for Burgas. On the way we stopped by Sunny Beach, which is a resort area between the two cities. The Black Sea coast is the summer vacation spot for Eastern Europe and, in the old days, the whole Soviet Union. So it has been a popular destination for decades. After communism fell, private developers went a little crazy and overbuilt the area. There are over 400 hotels (plus apartments and condos) jammed into a relatively small stretch of coast line. The sewer system has been overloaded and it has created a real mess. However, it remains a very popular destination in the summer.