The following morning (see previous post) my doorbell rang. My good friend and neighbour from the apartment next door beckoned me to meet him downstairs at 10 for photos. What a coincidence! We had talked about this over a glass of rakia last week when he proposed taking me to a place with a good view of Varna. Unfortunately the trip never took place due to the weather. As I got myself together I wondered if we were going to retrace our footsteps of yesterday. Hopes were raised as we turned left instead of right at the bottom of the street. Driving into the centre of Varna we joined the queue to cross the Asparuhovo Bridge which is again under repair. The bottle neck created during the working week is truly amazing, no quarter given by drivers in Bulgaria!
Our timing today was good as we managed to pass without to long a delay and wound our way round towards the town of Aspauhovo itself. I was curious to know where we were destined. If you have been following my blog you will know that I have visited the town on several occasions. Ah, we head up the hill towards Galata village instead of following the road into the centre. Climbing steadily, it is deceptive how high these headlands are, until we turn across the oncoming traffic into a tidy parking area at the observation point. This is pleasantly laid out with seating and a fence with an angled wooden shelf to support guide books, maps or the elbows of photographers. A slot meter telescope is also in situ during the summer months.
We have a clear day with reasonable sunshine and a cool wind. The views across the bay to Port Varna and the city are spectacular. A totally different perspective than any I have seen before. I have take photographs of various sites now visible in this wide panorama before me. From the whole extent of the bridge, through the busy harbour with its shipping and support vessels, the city landmarks, the Sea Garden and beaches to the point of the headland which I have never seen before. Spectacular. Shipping is dwarfed by the sheer size of the bay. Yachts look like toys as they sail past.
We had a stroll around "Port Varna" the other day. Now I can see the sheer size of the place as there are several grain transporters in the dock and they are big! The refuelling tender can be seen at the end of the supply pipe running from the tanks, is that a tank farm, I cannot remember? Bare in mind that there are the Varna lakes behind this port with its two canals giving access to the sea. This was once a major ship construction and industrial area in communist times.
Have a look at the
"Perspectives" photo album which now contains the photos from parts 1 & 2. From this perspective the area we covered yesterday can be seen in the hinterland of Varna city. It also conveys how deceptive it is when heading out of Varna towards the north-west, I did not appreciate how high we actually were or, conversely, how low Varna is in comparison to the surrounding countryside. No wonder it formed a strategic position in days gone by and probably still does today. Now it is the entry port for the New Chinese Silk Road into Europe and may, in the future, play an important part in the NATO defence of the Black Sea shipping and undersea pipelines.
Regardless I enjoyed the view, the photographs and the journey. My neighbour tried out my camera which is why some photos appear to be very similar but taken with a different eye. Perspective! He was keen to compare cameras and it reminded me that my very first SLR was a Praktica, made in Russia or one of its satellites exported long before the fall of the "Iron Curtain". Will my next one be "made in China", who knows?
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