At the old capital of Bulgaria Veliko Turnovo we walked around the amazing Tsarevets walled fortress on a rocky hill. Then, as night fell we assembled on an opposing promontory and watched a 20 minute ‘son et lumiere’ presentation involving 2,000 lights, miles of cables, four lasers and two computers! An amazing spectacle depicting the history of Bulgaria.

We visited a beautiful traditional Bulgarian house from pre-communist times with its separate women’s quarters where a new mother was literally ‘confined’ with her attendants for six weeks after giving birth.A whole day was spent wandering around the traditional buildings at Etera open air museum watching real craftsmen at work turning bowls on a water-powered lathe, making bells, knives, leather goods, pottery, copper, silver and iron wares, carving, baking, sweet-making and weaving.

We sampled locally-made ‘white jam’, a sugary mix kept under water, Turkish delight and Turkish coffee cooked on hot sand. Several of our number discovered to their cost that it is not wise to drink the dregs of this very strong brew!Lunch was traditional salad, ‘Mish-Mash’, ‘Kadiaff’ and enormous loaves of bread . . . most enjoyable on a warm day ‘al fresco’ under the trees.

It was here that we found some of our most interesting translations. (For breakfasts, read snacks)