Tren Jaune & Andorra

March 15, 2018

The morning Tren Jaune ascended to the highest rail station in France, before descending to a little station called Sauto, where I could catch the Train back to La Tour de Carol, where my car was. The ticket taker on the train asked if I really wanted to get off here, as the station was in the middle of nowhere. I was sure, but I was glad when I saw the upbound train come along 20 minutes later.

The narrow gauge "Petite Tren Jaune" (little yellow train) climbs some very steep grades, so the decision was made to build the line with electric power. A hydro-electric dam was built for the purpose, with frequent sub-stations to step down the current from high voltage to 850 volts to avoid the loss of power associated with the transmission of electricity at low voltage. This was very forward thinking in 1903, when the line was started.

Back to the car and the ascent up the Puymoren Pass en route to Andorra. There were beautiful ski areas high in the French Pyrennies that would almost make it worthwhile to take up skiing. On the road up to Andorra, all the cars suddenly stopped for a while (1). This gave me the chance to enjoy the mountain scenery and to notice the group of about 20 people on snowshoes descending from a mountain pass. I also noted evidence of recent small avalanches. Upon arrived at Pas de la Casa in Andorra, I opted for the tunnel to avoid climbing even higher than the 6,820 feet I was already at (2).

The drive across Andorra was downhill the entire time (3). The country is like a continuous ski resort and the Cup Europa championships were being held this week. I had a late lunch in the capital, Andorra la Vella, which was filled with tax-free shops selling luxury goods, perfumes and cigarettes (4) (5). 

Upon approaching the Spanish Customs post when leaving Andorra, the officials waved most cars through, but decided to stop me, who looked rather suspicious driving a sort of truck all by myself (6); the back could have been filled with contraband cigarettes. After saying in pidgin Spanish that I was driving a rental car, I figured out how to open the rear doors, and the official seemed satisfied that I was not a smuggler. 

(1) I never found out the reason for the traffic high on this mountain pass. There is a border post on the road that cars are normally waived through. I guess they were checked for some period of time today. 

(2) I was already pressing my luck in this area in mid-March in an unfamiliar car without snow tires or chains. There was also a sign warning of possible ice on the road further up the mountain pass if I did not take the tunnel.

(3) The capital is 3,000 feet lower than La Pas de la Casa, where I entered the country.

(4) The tax haven status of Andorra (which is not in the E.U., despite being completely surrounded by Spain and France) is apparently a major driver of the economy.

(5) Judging by the large size and number of duty-free shops in most European airports,  this type of shopping appears to be quite popular.

(6) I had booked a small, 2 door car. Upon arrival at the rental counter in Barcelona, the agent was quite insistent that I needed to upgrade to an automatic transmission because I am an American. She then tried to upsell me a larger car, a collission damage waiver, and a plan to give me a 2 liter bottle of water if I spilled a 1 liter bottle when going around a curve (a). The agent punished me for not buying anything extra by giving me a vehicle that managed to combine the worst features of an SUV, mini van and delivery truck. The vehicle turned what could have been a really fun drive up mountain passes in a small car into something much duller.

(a) Perhaps I made the last one up. I stop listening to rental car people after a while.

Crossing a bridge and approaching a tunnel

The highest rail station in France

Sauto Station

The return trip

View from the Platform

Climbing Col de Puymoren in the car

Snowshoers on the French/Andorran border

Looking back into France

Note the 3 meter (10 foot) high marker post so the plows know where the road is.

 Pas de la Casa, Andorra (6,820 feet)

Casa de la Vall, Andorra la Vella

Church of San Esteve de Andorra la Vella

The suspicious car?

Malta

March 13 & 14, 2018

After a morning flight to Malta, I found a flute and Piano recital at the Augustinian Monastery in Valetta. They played a wide variety of pieces and songs, mainly from the 20th century, ending with an arrangement of the song "Tea for two." In the basement of the Monastery is a bomb shelter from World War 2, mainly dug by hand. The Maltese spent many nights in these dark, dirty, and damp shelters.

Later, Anna offered a tour of facility where the Knights Hopitaller cared for the sick, earning Malta the name the nurse of the Mediterranean. The hall was enormous but contained a private toilet facility for each patient. There was a central seeing system under the floor for waste removal and a vent hole for each location. Quite modern for 1574.

I had been curious about the Maltese language and asked Anna about its origins. She said the basic language is quite close to Arabic, the Arabs having ruled Malta from 870 to 1091 (1). While others have ruled Malta for longer periods of time, the language has retained it basic Arabic structure and vocabulary, supplemented with infusions from other European languages, mainly Italian and French. Maltese is written using the Latin Alphabet.

The next morning included a visit to the Cathedral in Valetta. While plain outside, the church has an elaborately decorated interior with numerous paintings and sculptures. I have never understood art, but I can say that the Caravaggio painting depicting the beheading of John the Baptist was qualitatively different/better than the other paintings in the Cathedral.

I watched the noon salute gun, then grabbed a bus to the airport for my flight to Barcelona. From there, I drove to the Pyrennies on the Spanish-French border. 

(1) Malta is s very Catholic country, Chistianity having been introduced to Malta by St. Paul himself, whi was shipwrecked here, according to the Acts of the Apostles. 

View of Valetta

A peak inside the Carmelite Basilica (the large domed building visible in the picture above). 

The building is currently bring renovated.

A Japanese official in an old-school limousine passes through the center of town in a procession led by horses with riders in pith helmets.

Valetta street scene

Pianist and flutist at Augustinian Monastery

The cannon battery salutes at 12:00 daily

Ward for wealthy patients, Knights Hospitaller

Ward for poorer patients, now used for functions.

St John Co-Cathedral

Nice round number for the fine amount

Kazanlak to Sofia

March 12, 2018

The hotel owner called a taxi to take me to Kazanlak in the morning (we were able to communicate in French) (1). The Balkan Mountains end quote abruptly on the south side: steep mountains, followed immediately by broad plains. There were tanks crossing the road about 10 miles outside Kazanlak and the taxi driver pointed to some hills to the east and said "pow, pow" indicating a firng range. About 1/2 hour later in Kazanlak, I heard rumbles in the distance signalling that the tanks had begun their firing exercises (2).

A Thracian Tomb was uncovered in Kazanlak during Would War 2, while excavating an air raid shelter. The tomb dates to the 4th century B.C.E., when the Thracians ruled much of what  is today Bulgaria, Northern Greece and European Turkey (3). There was an exact replica of the tomb built a few meters away to allow visitors to experience the tomb without damage to the original (4).

On the way to the train station, I stopped by the Rosarium (rose garden), which did not look like much, as it was still late winter. The majority of the world's rose oil (used in perfumes, etc.) comes from this area of Bulgaria.

I was sharing a compartment on the train with a young woman and older man. Another man joined us, who looked like he had been hiking and camping for the weekend. He soon pulled out a long knife (with a blade about 15 inches long). He passed the knife to the others in the compartment who took a look. I demurred about touching the knife, but he insisted that I at least look at the blade, which was labelled A-K 47, CCCP (5). As he left the compartment, he asked for a high four (6). While I do not know what my compartment mates were saying, they had a look of relief (as I'm sure I did) when machete man got off the train at the next stop.

Upon arrival at Sofia, I noticed that high, snow-capped Mount Vitosha looms over the city to the south (7).

There was a show tonight at a small theater near the center of town (Serdika) (8) called Teetaneechno, after the Titanic. While it was in Bulgarian, music was also on tap, so I got a ticket. The performance consisted of a 1960s-style Jazz Quintet with a female vocalist. She sang songs (mostly in English) while video from Hollywood movies was projected onto a screen. The video included bits of the 1990s movie Titanic, converted to black and white. There were occasional monologues (in Bulgarian) that the audience thought were hilarious. I had no clue what was happening, but laughter is infectious (9). During two songs, the female vocalist left the stage only to appear in black and white interposed through special effects in the scenes from old movies. In one, she was imitating  a young Raquel Welch suggestively disrobing, but the singer did things like get her zipper caught and her boots stuck. In another scene, plates on the Titanic fall off the shelves of the sinking liner while she tries to pick them back up. The whole show was a bit odd, but great fun.

(1) I have found that most people over 50 or so in Bulgaria (who came of age during the Communist era) do not speak English, but do have some knowledge of French. The younger generations tend to speak English as their second language.

(2) From the train later, I saw more military vehicles and soldiers marching, suggesting some military exercise was going on. Bulgaria is now a member of NATO.

(3) The European portion of Turkey is often called Thracian Turkey, as distinct from Asian, or Anatolian Turkey.

(4) The tomb is rather small and even well-intentioned visitors would have difficulty not touching the walls which would damage the original paintings. Scholars can visit the original tomb.

(5) It did not make sense to me that a long knife would be labelled with the name of an assault rifle. I subsequently discovered that the knife was not a relic from Bulgaria's days as a Soviet ally; they are made in China and can be bought on Amazon.

(6) One of his fingers was missing, presumably from a knife accident. 

(7) I have been to Sofia twice before, but it was always raining or snowy, obscuring the view to the south.

(8) Serdika was the Roman name for Sofia. The city adopted its present name from the most prominent church on the city.

(9) "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people" - Attributed to Victor Borge.

Cats await breakfast at hotel restaurant window at Shipka

Bridge with Thracian Design, Kazanlak

Entrance to Thracian Tomb

Design on ceiling of Thracian tomb

View of Balkans from Kazanlak.

The tank firing range is between the city and the mountains.

Inside small church in Kazanlak

Jewish Synagogue (1909), Sofia

Christian church in Sofia from Ottoman era

 They had to be lower than the mosques

Russian Orthodox Church (20th century), Sofia

This evening's entertainment

At Serdika Metro station

Shipka Pass

March 11, 2018

There were three changes (4 trains) to go from Svishtov to Gabrovo, at the foot of Shipka Pass. The first train descended from a modest summit into Levski, affording nice views of the snow covered central Balkan Mountains. 

To ensure I was on the correct platform for my next train, I asked a woman whether the destination was Varna? The woman said "da, da" but shook her head as if to say no. I was a bit concerned until I remembered that Bulgarian head gestures are backwards. Shaking the head means yes, nodding means no.

I settled into a compartment in which the window was stuck open, letting in the warm late-winter air. A woman from the next compartment came and tried to speak to me in Bulgarian. She was quite insistent and with pantomime asked if I were getting off at Gorna Orjahovitsa (I was), and said she needed help getting all of her bags off the train, but she was fretting that the closest door to her compartment was stuck, and if the platform were on the left side of the train, she would need to go to the other end of the carriage, or perhaps walk through to the next carriage to get her bags off (1). As I carried her bag through the station, I determined by its weight that the bag must contain lead bars.

As we ascended the Balkan Mountains up the Yantra River valley, I enjoyed an unimpeded view by lowering the window from the top and enjoying the fresh air, like some others I could see down the train. A tap in my shoulder from the conductor roused me; perhaps she was scolding me? No, she held up two fingers, signalling 2 minutes to my stop. Upon arrival at Tsareda Livada, she pointed at the connecting train to Gabrovo.

At the top of Shipka Pass, there is a large Monument commemorating the battles between the Bulgarian/Russian (2) (3) and Ottoman forces at the pass in 1877-1878. The Bulgarian/Russian forces controlled the area north of the Balkan Mountains, except for the besieged Ottoman stronghold at Pleven. Three times from August to December, the Ottomans attempted to force the pass to relieve Pleven. While the Ottomans boasted superior numbers, the Russian/Bulgarian forces controlled the high ground, and repulsed the attacks. When Pleven fell in December, 1877, the combined Bulgarian/Russian forces, augmented with their comrades from Pleven, took the offensive at Shipka Pass. In less than two months, the Russian forces were on the outskirts of Constantiople (Istanbul) and the independence of Bulgaria (along with that of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro) was recognized by the Treaty of San Stefano on March 3, 1878. March 3 is still celebrated as the National Holiday/Liberation Day in Bulgaria (4).

(1) Yes, you can pantomime all this, although it did take some time. My responses were "da" about getting off at the same stop and "da," I would help her. 

(2) The Bulgarian forces were officially volunteers, as Bulgaria was still part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. 

(3) During World War 2, Bulgaria was allied with Nazi Germany, but resisted German pressure to declare war on the Soviet Union in gratitude for the Russian assistance 65 years earlier in securing Bulgarian independence (a).

(a) This refusal to declare war on the Soviet Union did not prevent the Red Army from invading Bulgaria as they swept across Eastern Europe towards the end of the war. In the post-war era, the Soviets installed Georgi Dimitrov as leader of the soon-to-be-proclaimed People's Republic of Bulgaria. Todor Zhivkov consolidated power after Dimitrov's death and ruled Bulgaria with an Iron Fist as a reliable ally of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1989.

(4) There were a large number of commemorative wreaths still at the monument left over from the commemorations 8 day before my visit..

School in Svishtov dating from the Ottoman Era

The local train to Levski

The station dog at Tsareva Livada. 

Every train station in Bulgaria seems to have at least one resident dog.

Bas-relief at Shipka of soldiers defending the pass in the Winter of 1877-1878.

Shipka Monument, view from Eagle's Nest

Snow-covered mountains West of Shipka

View of the Eagle's Nest lookout point.

 Beyond is the Valley of the Thracian Kings (a.k.a. The Valley of the Roses).

Buzludzha, Bulgaria's crumbling Socialist meeting hall is located east of Shipka. The building resembles a flying saucer/UFO

An earlier monument

Fading light at Shipka

Svishtov Ferry

March 10, 2018

A warm spring day as I rode the train from Craiova to Alexandria, with a change at Risiori Nord. I was expecting to take the train all the way to Zimnicea, but the station master said something that sounded like "Zimnicea  dorma." The route of the train was recently cut back, with its last stop now at Alexandria (1).

I was hoping for a taxi to take me from Alexandria station to Zimnicea, but there were no taxis at the train station. I walked a few blocks to where I saw a tall steeple, and found a taxi stand. Despite my best miming skills, it took a minute for the driver to realize I actually wanted him to take me (2). I said "bacul Bulgaria" (Bulgaria boat) to let him know where in Zimnicea I needed to go.

Upon arrival at Zimnicea, he took a left toward the middle of town, I knew he was going the wrong way, so I said again "bacul Bulgaria." He turned on his GPS, which was actually not necessary; I had seen signs for "ferry boat" (3) and directed him (by pointing) to the ferry landing (you basically drive toward the Danube and stop when the road ends) (4).

While waiting for the ferry, I shared a large pretzel I had in my pocket with some stray dogs that were milling about. The Iranian truckers who were also waiting for the ferry gave the dogs some of their very flat, dry bread. The Danube here is quite busy with large barges plying the river. 

I cleared outbound immigration and boarded the ferry. One truck (of the 3 waiting) drove onto the ferry, then the deck hand took off the dock lines. This seemed odd, but I realized the boat was simply moving back the width of one truck to line up the space on the deck with the loading ramp. Simple, but quite effective, and no doubt easier than trying to maneuver the 18 wheelers on the boat. 

Upon arrival at Bulgarian immigration, they seemed happy (but a bit surprised) to find an American walking off the ferry amidst the Iranian trucks. I greeted them with my best "zdravete" and "blagodaria" (thanks) and the official said with a big smile "have a good day." I gingerly walked through the truck scale, made my way past the cranes unloading coal off barges, climbed the bluff into town, and found my hotel.

(1) Less than two weeks ago, there was an unusual snow storm in this area. Somehow there was a hole in the floor of the train coach from Zimnicea, which filled the car with blowing snow. I don't know if this is why the train no longer goes all the way to Zimnicea.

(2) He understood Zimnicea just fine. I had to point at myself, tap the taxi trunk and point in the direction of Zimnicea before he understood I wanted him to take me.

(3) Perhaps this is why he did not understand initially when I used the Romanian word for boat (bacul), rather than the English word "ferry boat" (a). I don't think the cabbie even knew there was a ferry at Zimnicea. 

(a) This phrase is one of at least three English phrases that are in very common use in Romanian. The other two I have frequently noticed are "non-stop" (applied to restaurants that are open from breakfast through dinner) and "second hand," as in used cars.

(4) Coincidentally, but unknown to me at the time, Zimnicea to Svishtov was the route used by Russian troops to cross the Danube at the outset of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which is the theme of tomorrow's visit to Shipka Pass

At Craiova Train Station

Book vending machine at Craiova train station

The local from Risiori Nord to Alexandria. 

Note the antediluvian water spout to the right for watering steam engines back in the day.

An Iranian trucker and I feed the stray dogs at the ferry landing

The Svishtov Ferry

Ferry lined up to load second truck

Crossing the Danube

Russian troops crossing the Danube at Svishtov upon the start of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877 (drawing at Shipka).

Approaching Svishtov, Bulgaria

Russians landing at Svishtov, 1877

The Cyrillic letters at the top spell out the Bulgarian word for ferry boat. 

The pronunciation of the Bulgarian word is  "ferry boat."