Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria - Initial scenes before hotel check in

Back in November I spent some time touring through Bulgaria and Romania. The trip started with 2 nights in Plovdiv. From there it was on to Veliko Tarnovo, a culturally and historically important city in the central/north part of the country. The drive from Plovdiv is a bit less than 3 hours and only semi-interesting. My notes on the drive were that parts were as stimulating as the stretch from Chicago to Inidianapolis (i.e., not very stimulating), while others were like driving through the northeast during near-peak foilage season. Not much whatsoever in the way of roadside pitstops. Mostly agri-industrial businesses best I could tell (a John Deere dealership stood out). Some vineyards. Some very small towns with a couple dozen houses with red tile roofs. Not unattractive at all. Many of the houses seemed to have trellises set up for a bit of homemade viticulture. Reminded me of the driveway or sideyard vines I'd see in Taunton, MA back in the 80s (could still be there, but I'm not current).

Even after the 3-hour drive I still arrived a bit before hotel-check in time. So I parked the car and got to walking around the center. I started on the 'main' level along ulitsa Stefan Stambolov, which featured a contemporary mix of relatively upscale shops, boutiques, and restaurants.

Then, knowing most of the rest of the day would be focused on the historic lower level and Tsarevets Fortress, I spent some time wandering around the 'upper' level, which is more residential, a bit rustic, and home to some suprising sights.

For example, this big, sharp looking building is a local high school.

And this next one is a monument outside the house / museum of Petko Slaveykov, followed a couple additional shots of the surroundings.

All in all, an interesting start to the day in Veliko Tarnovo.

Scenes from our current Saturday routine: Paskwarho & Bazar San Ángel (CDMX)

Coming out of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 we were looking to find a spot to feature our pottery from Capula, Michoacán. We thought we had an outside chance of getting one of the temporary stands that surround Plaza San Jacinto on Saturdays. That never came together, which turned out to be a good thing. Because we soon learned of spaces opening up within Bazar San Ángel (not Bazaar Sábado, which is maybe 100m or so down the street). We signed up and starting in June 2021 "Paskwarho" had a little bricks and mortar location, with a couple of modest shelves tucked way in the back. The whole Bazar has gone through some serious evolution since then. It's now on par with any other shop in the area and we find ourselves with a few more shelves in the front room.

Since June 2021 I've spent virtually every Saturday there, manning our stall from 11-7. Just recently we have worked out an arrangment where I can get most of my Saturdays back. So I pop over there at 10:30-ish, bringing some pieces to restock the shelves.

Then around 11:30 -12:00 I cut out for the day. Still getting accustomed to the feeling of having some extra time in my week. Today we used a bit of it 'turisteando' in the area, like we first did back in 2007 during a spring break trip from Chicago.

Quick Review: Mangiatorre (Del Valle, CDMX)

Mangiatorre has been on the list to try for a while now. We walk by it often enough, as it's only 350m from our apartment. Yesterday we got ourselves together and went for dinner. It started strong. Friendly welcome, nice space, calm environment.

The positive impression continued when the burrata starter arrived.

We were so pleased that we were thinking ahead how Mangiatorre might become for us the Mexico City version of Francesca's, i.e., the Italian place right next door that we probably ordered from 1-2x/month for 12 years. (Side note, while looking up Francesca's I see it closed due to the pandemic. Reading that article and seeing also that the Starbucks and Nookies closed makes me wonder how sad that strip of Bryn Mawr now is. Ugh.).
However the mains disappointed.

I got the spaghetti cacio e pepe. This could be me, but it felt almost more like a quatrro formaggi, with the cheese being a bit of a heavy sauce. I was expecting -- maybe wrongly -- a lighter touch with the cheese. This version from Bon Appétit looks more like what I had in mind. Judy's linguine frutti di mare, on the other hand, was just not good. Mushy pasta. And something else was off. Couple hours later we were concerned about possible food poisoning. Luckily it didn't quite rise to that level, but it definitely did not sit well. She was cursing the restaurant and swearing we won't even go back to try the pizzas. Maybe with time we'll come back around. But there are so many options around the city, I don't see us going back there soon.
Burrata starter, two pastas, one glass primitivo, and a topo chico: $1003 MXN pre-tip

Scenes from our recent Thursday routine: Tianguis Napoles

We have known about the tianguis Napoles (lo de jueves, que es distinto de lo de los domingos) for about 9 years. And we have lived within a 12-minute walk from them for almost 3 years now. But only in maybe the past 3 months have we actually started taking advantage of their proximity. (You can find them on along the southern, eastern, and northern edges of this park.)

My work schedule leaves me with Thursdays open. And Thursday is currently the day when Judy is free from her various racket sport commitments. So we have started combining a quick shop for fruit and veg with a casual lunch.

First stop is for the aguas de sabores. Alfalfa has been a revelation (tastes like an agua version of jugo verde). And limón y chia is a great standby option.

Then it's quesadillas. Usually pollo c/ queso but sometimes picadillo. All in it's $50 MXN for for the aguas, and the quesadillas are $23 c/u, so $142 MXN for a tasty lunch. Nada mal.

And on the way home we pick up a bola chica de queso Oaxaca from the Productos Oaxaqueños truck that is always on the corner of Patricio Sanz and Torres Adalid.

Scenes from a mid-January Monday / Tuesday in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

After finishing the big chunk of our pottery run in Capula we continued on to Pátzcuaro for the night, staying at Hotel Casa Encantada, like usual. Car parked and checked in, we went out for dinner. One of our usual places right on the southeast corner of Plaza Vasco de Quiroga had apparently changed its name since our last trip in October. What used to be La Surtidora is now going by Obsidi-ana or something like that. Hasn't even been updated in Google Maps yet.

Look is slightly different inside. Menu appears to be exactly the same. But the execution this night was disappointing. Especially since we were literally the only customers in the place. Usually the papa rellena clásica is a little charolita of cheesy deliciousness. Tonight it was overdone, and the mesero overheard us talking about arrachera but not actually ordering the arrachera, so we got a few bits of overdone meat on top of the papa.

By contrast my sopa tarasca was decent, if a bit salty. And the porter from La Bru was a welcome addition to the menu. Good to see the regional support for this craft beer from Morelia.

After dinner we took the usual walk through town, up toward la plaza chica, which is where you can find some perros callejeros to feed. They understandably hover around the various food stalls. On this night it was good to see we weren't the only ones sharing a bit of food with the hounds.

Next morning just enough time for a spin through the main plaza, grab some cash from the Santander ATM, and head back to Capula for part 2 of the pottery pick up.