Nothing can prepare you for receiving a tour of a 3rd century Bulgarian fortress from a middle-aged guy who thinks he's a werewolf. A raving Jehovah's Witness? Sure. A male Elementary School principal? Alright. A song-struck transvestite? Why not. A werewolf? Noo. Lets backtrack a bit. We: Nick (who seemed to be stuck with us, poor guy), Sander, and I ended up in Belogradchik as a convenient stopping point on the bus journey to Romania. It turned out that the town was teeming with cuteness, friendly people, and delicious Bulgarian yogurt all topped with one of the coolest ancient strongholds of all time. The initial fortress was constructed in conjunction with the unique rock formations in the area during the time of Roman occupation. A Bulgarian tsar extended the fortress in the 14th century, adding fortified garrisons and making it one of the most important strongholds in the region. Just like everything else, the Ottomans busted in and manned it in 1396. In the 19th century the Ottomans expanded it further, and used it as the hold that helped crush the Bulgarian uprising on 1850. It was used in warfare as recently as 1885. Phew, thanks for letting me nerd-out just there. That's the information I knew before we headed up to check out the site. After walking up a rather steep hill on the way from our quiet hostel, the three of us took a quick beer and snack break. That's when the hairy guy at the table next to ours offered to leave his friends and give us a tour. How could we say no? He walked us through the fortress, up to the tops of the towering rocks, telling us all of the local legends. Almost every rock is rumored to be a person, who, in one gruesome way or another got themselves turned to stone. The air was calm, and the sky a cobalt grey with wispy fog twisting through the trees far, far below; it was a perfect day for such stories. That's when our guide admitted that the previous night's full moon had found he 'and his pack' in the woods below, howling. I giggled, thinking he was polishing off the last of his legends. Continuing as if he hadn't heard me, he explained that he was 700 years old, and I distinctly noted Sander and Nick nodding vigorously. We left the fortress unharmed, which means that he was either the nicest werewolf ever or extremely delusional. To this day, I'm still trying to decide which.
We only stayed one night, which the three of us spent dining and drinking at a local cafe/B&B. A 'born-and-bred' Belogradchik family runs the place, called the Castle Cottage, and I would recommend the accommodations and the food to anyone headed that direction. The best part about Bulgarian cooking is their obsessive use of local cheeses and yoghourt. Everything is fresh and filling, and leads to such a delightfully regular digestive process, that I'm convinced a single 'Bulgarian Cleanse Cookbook' could be forerunner of the next diet craze. Needless to say, it was time to move on. Time to visit Dracula and the Carpathian forest ... time to re-invest in black clothes, red lipstick, and plunging necklines. Nick and Sander are gonna look so GOOD!
Slaughter.
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