Pleven, Bulgaria

A different kind of experience today. Still in Bulgaria, we did the included tour of Pleven. When we left the port we passed a TWO MILE line up of semis waiting in line to take a ferry boat ride 1/2 mile over the Danube to get into Romania with their goods. Similar to our experience in South Africa to cross the Chobe River . A crazy thing to see. We then passed a nesting area for storks... And this was similar to Vancouver, British Columbia.

We went into St. George mausoleum in Pleven which was a beautiful building. We then walked through a park and the downtown area. Unfortunately, no chance to stop and shop and eat...but it was still quite lovely. Went into St. Nicholas Church, which was built in 1834. Very small and very uninspiring. We've gotten to the point where a church is a church is a church.

Unquestionably the highlight of the day was a trip up to a museum that is called the Panoramic. The building itself was unusual and the grounds were okay. The battle of Pleven,that it was built for, was nothing more than a typical skirmish in this area of the world that took place July through December of 1877. Russia and Romania were fighting the Ottoman empire. But the layout and design of the museum was very cool. The top floor had a panoramic canvas painting of a depiction of the battle. There was lots to see for both of us.

Two other photos of note... apparently a famous Bulgarian singer in the statue, Emile Dimitro. And at the Panoramic they say the only other collection of Gatling guns in the world. Still in working condition and can shoot over 600 rounds per minute.Read more