My weekend there, and how it resonates
Bulgaria may not be a big country, but there are places here that feel very far away, almost unreachable. They are “across nine mountains into a tenth”, as per bulgarian folklore. If you are looking for slow travel in Bulgaria, you have to give in to a dance with the narrow mountainous roads and put in some effort and go and see Bulgaria off the beaten path of Sofia-Plovdiv-Sunny Beach.
Off the beaten path…
More often than not you end up on a journey to the hidden gems in Bulgaria by accident, or almost so. It may be a family occasion with distant relatives or just specific circumstances, that somehow brought you to the idea of visiting Vidin. For me it was the latter. Circumstances, that throw you off the beaten path of your life, so you go off the beaten path of the highway.
Vidin is located right on the Northwestern-most tip of Bulgaria, on the Danube River. The same river that first passes through great cities like Vienna and Budapest, so it can deliver their echo to the Balkan peninsula, being its geographical border. Vidin was once a great city too – it was an important military fortress, but also an entry point for cultural exchange between east and west for centuries.
A periphery that people want to leave
I say “once great” because somewhere down the road of history something broke. The big and important town with its own historical heritage and significance became what is often labelled as “the poorest region in the European Union”. From an entry point to a country, it transformed to a periphery that people want to leave and nobody really thinks of visiting.
On the way to Vidin there were a lot of signs, pointing to this statistical reality – bad roads, deserted houses, old cars, little village grocery stores which are barely operating and certainly don’t look so from the outside.
Going out of the hotel with simple, but recently modernized and very clean rooms, it was right after rain and the streets were completely empty. The stores were missing, even though the old signs from the 90s or the early 00s are still hanging. I went to the well preserved fortress Baba Vida and learned its story, then strolled through the big green park along the river and the central neighborhoods full of beautiful, but deserted Vienna Secession houses and after a little while, Vidin’s colors started to take shape.
…and after a little while, Vidin’s colors started to take shape
Its calm grayness, occasionally interrupted by an unexpected detail in a house facade, or a green dodge’s engine reminding of its Balkan character. Its history, appearing before my eyes through the old gates of the town, rhythmically situated along the moat turned into a park.
The renovated synagogue telling a story of empathy. The old mosque with a yard full of roses, carefully maintained to this day. The church next to it and them all existing together, like a statement of the equality and tolerance, which led the Bulgarian dream of independence in the 19th century. Even the tall, Brutalist building of the municipality is distinctive and far from the boring gray repetitiveness of that era.
I realized that this town is much more than sad statistics and exactly what I needed. I expected and even desired, a little bit of boredom in a world that sounds like a scream over a fast-paced beat. I didn’t expect to get this slow valse of river and memory. While the trip resonates in my mind, I hope the dance of words found you well.
Explore the map for a practical guide to Vidin: