I never planned to spend the past weekend in Romania, let alone in Bulgaria. But, there I was – in Romania with my best friend Katie, a little over an hour away from the Romania-Bulgaria border. It was our second full day in Romania [see post: In Search of Dracula: A Weekend in Romania]. We were off to Bulgaria’s historical capital Veliko Tarnovo, located a little less than three hours away from Bucharest. Prior to arriving in Romania, I booked the “Day Trip to Veliko Tarnovo Private Tour” with Cristi on ToursByLocals. Given the close proximity, it would have been a shame not to have visited Bulgaria, even if just for the day.

I had just crawled back to the Little Bucharest Old Town Hostel and up the 60-something steps that separated me from my bed. And now, we were leaving the hostel again. Cristi picked us up at what had felt like an hour after getting back from the bar crawl. I stared out the window praying not to throw up in his car. The road was spinning. The trees were spinning. The sky was spinning. I closed my eyes only to see that my thoughts were also spinning. I was absolutely miserable. Tired, nauseous, and miserable.

The barely three hour drive felt like an eternity. After crossing the border, we briefly stopped at the St. Dimitrie Basarabov Monastery to break up the drive.

I could not have been any happier when we finally arrived in Veliko Tarnovo. We left the car and started the day with a walk across town, up to a restaurant overlooking the city for lunch.

As in Romania, the food looked absolutely delicious and I was quickly reminded of why I do not heavily drink alcohol. I could not stomach anything.

Instead, I sat there staring at the Art Nouveau buildings, Eastern Orthodox churches, and Soviet Modernist structures aligned at the edge of a cliff overlooking a river.

Nostalgia. Veliko Tarnovo immediately reminded me of Tbilisi, Georgia [see post: Two Days in Georgia]. Cobblestone streets. History. Diverse architecture. Such a charming city.

After lunch, we walked over to the Tsarevets Fortress – the main attraction and inescapable symbol of Veliko Tarnovo.

We wandered around the ancient ruins, between the fortress walls, and up to the church atop the hill. Running on practically no sleep, I struggled climbing the stone steps.

We explored the grounds of the medieval fortress before leaving for afternoon tea in Arbanasi Village, and later returning to Bucharest for our last night in Romania.