We had not booked tours for either of these towns, but instead hooked up with a cab driver on the dock in Varna for a personal tour (can be risky, but turned out to be a great idea) and tried to see Odessa on our own (not such a great idea). Our driver (Gatev) was very knowledgeable and we saw a lot more of Bulgaria than we would have on our own. Along with the tour, he added a lot of commentary about Bulgaria's history and his thoughts on his government and where his country is headed. This is usually a lot more interesting to me than dry facts. He took us to Aladzha Monastery which is a medieval Orthodox Christian cave monastery complex in northeastern Bulgaria, 17 km north of central Varna. We were then on to Golden Sands beach resort and finally into downtown Varna. The biggest surprise for me about Bulgaria was the beautiful beach resorts. I would have never thought of going to Bulgaria for a beach vacation. One of the biggest problems for Bulgaria, in our guide's opinion, is the many "gypsies." He said they are a huge drain on the economy as they don't work and get full medical benefits. He was constantly reminding us to watch our belongings and at one point pointed out to us where the Police had a bunch of gypsy women lined up searching them for things they had pickpocketed. Gatev made our stop in Varna both memorable and educational for me.
I really had high hopes for Odessa after reading that it was the "Paris of Ukraine." Because of our poor map we basically spent 4-5 hours wandering around wondering if we were looking at what we thought we were. It was a pretty town, but I would highly recommend bringing along or purchasing your own map with streets labeled in Ukrainian.
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