Romania and Bulgaria with Tradesco Tours

The 2-week trip that my wife and I took with Tradesco Tours (3372 Woods Edge Circle, Ste. 104, Bonita Springs, FL 34134; phone 239/495-5076 or visit www.tradescotours.com), July 8-23, ’05, was not set up to be a private tour, but in fact we were the only group members. The land cost was $1,199 per person for the week in Bulgaria plus $1,553 for the eight days in Romania.

We thoroughly enjoyed both countries. The people were friendly, the food and drink were great and the sightseeing was excellent. We were struck by the dramatic differences in the houses and dress between the two countries and even between regions within the countries.

Our guidebook told us to expect the food to be boring, so we were very specific at each meal that we did not want generic “eurofood”; we wanted regional food. Every meal was great. Our guidebook also said that Romanians only drink wine. While Romanians make lots of wine, they also make great beer. I think the plum schnapps is an acquired taste, however.

The most enjoyable part of the trip was our time in Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria. We stayed in the Old Town in the very small Hotel Gurko. On a hillside, it was tall and narrow, about four stories high, with about 10 rooms plus, on the ground floor, a small dining room.

Our room was beautiful. The bath was spacious and had just been redone with the best materials. We had our own air-conditioning unit (which we didn’t need due to the cool weather but would have given our eye teeth for at some other times).

We were supposed to eat dinner the first night in the hotel and go to a different place for the second night. The first dinner was so good, we talked the guide into letting us eat at the hotel the second night too.

— DAVE & JEANNE SMITH, Irvine, CA