Yesterday we passed through the town of Harmanli which lies between Haskovo and Elhovo. We didn’t stop, but something intrigued me. One thing I found out about it last night in the net café was that there is an inscription on a bridge we didn’t see. It runs ‘The world is a bridge across which the path of the king and the poor man passes’. A popular writer, Gencho Stoev, wrote ‘Harmanli does not need to travel because the world goes through it’. Very complimentary to the town, and, though it refers to the past it may be apposite in the future too, if EU road plans are carried out. A north/south route from Romania to Greece is planned to run near here as well as the east/west motorway to Istanbul. The thunder of road traffic replacing the plodding of camel caravans along the  Silk Route (the romantic version for tourists) or an infrastructural project to ease congestion along what is now a traditional guest worker route to and from Istanbul and points east (realist version).
We also got some mail last night, one asking me if I knew about Agatha Christie’s book The Secret of Chimneys, which deals with the Balkans, an imaginary country called Herzoslovakia. I ordered it. Later I reached the section in Todorova’s book which mentions it too… This sort of coincidence frequently happens with L and me too, we both arrive at certain questions and issues almost simultaneously, but by very different routes.
Our hotel is located on a headland and is built with access to the rooms via an outside balcony that runs the length of the building. |
|
Each room also has a private balcony opposite the entrance. That means that if we open the door we have a double view towards the south bay with the bulk of the town and the marina on one side and, on the other, a view of the north bay with sandy beaches stretching round to Villa Shivkov, a large, white bunker-like complex on the far side.
|
