Europe by van Day 13

Last night paid a chap €5 to stay on his bit of field which was adjacent to a car park by a lake. Mr C did not venture from the van as a pack of mongrels lay around the van. I had a stroll but was forced back by midges. Then when it got dark cars started roaring into the car park with music thumping. This went on till fireworks in the village started at midnight. By 5 am all the dogs in the area started barking so it wasn’t a restful night and we both felt a bit lacking in oomph when it was time to leave.

I never thought I’d admit to being pleasantly surprised to find that most of our journey south to Vidin and the Bulgarian border was on a straight smooth motorway. It was a joy to speed along after the days of twisty mountain roads. We filled up with LPG which was very cheap.

The crossing was tedious but not as bad for us as the miles of queuing lorries - although both countries are in EU, neither are Schengen. We bought our vignette for Bulgaria and changed some money then crossed the Danube, now much wider than the last time we crossed.

We parked by the old ruined city walls of Vidin and After a bite to eat in the van we had a wander. I had read the synagogue was in a poor state after being used as a warehouse in the past but it had been refurbished 2 years ago and is used as a conference centre and meeting place. I don’t think I have been in a synagogue before. It was very shiny with everything white and blue coloured though the old wooden pillars remained plainly varnished.

Everything was very quiet. It had rained heavily. We walked along the ramparts of the old fortress to view the Danube then decided where to go next for the night. A place about 3/4 hour away near some caves and overlooking a lake an extinct volcano appealed. The site is very basic but it’s very quiet - nobody else here. We’ll stay 2 nights.

179 miles today