Bulgaria versus Georgia

Sofia...you beautiful city, you... My passion and love for Bulgaria rivals my obsession with Georgia. What a gorgeous country, thick with traditions and history. Fresh and delicious food, cities and rural areas teem with hospitality and kindness.
Bulgarian tree below. Could anything make Bulgaria more lovely, more perfect? Sure, a lil' sunshine would be nice, but this country of yogurt everywhere, cheese, flavorful and fire-grilled veggies, wine & fine brandies sets me off into heaven, and happily dizzied by the cyrillic alphabet. Dill, walnuts, garlic, eggplant dishes abound. Much like Georgia. (And I don't hide my affection for any place that is called Georgia).
Folk music and traditional village style dancers beam almost artificial smiles from multiple national TV stations.

But something to note about Bulgaria—shaking your head no here means yes, and nodding means no. To add to this super confusing phenomenon, there is also the Indian head wobble here, tilt chin left, tilt chin right, continue, wobble. I’m totally thrown off by this.

Alone in my extremely cheap yet somehow "boutique" hotel, which rules (and it is low season), I am loving it here in Veliko Tarnovo, aka VT.

Exploring the Tsarevets fortness and its ruins from the 5-12th centuries is a pleasure, and I'm equally overwhelmed and impressed. It is snowing here in Bulgaria, and the smell of wood burning stoves carries throughout the narrow cobblestoned streets of the old city of Veliko Tarnovo, winding like the two rivers in the towns, and wafting up the gorge the town sits in.
And just when I thought things were perfect (and after an extremely pleasant pizza meal and an appetizer of roasted red peppers with traditional cheese (by the way, I've gone heavy on yogurt and cheese, eating as much as I can), I came home to the hotel, luxuriously walking through the light snowfall. Upon arriving, the famed "light and music show" on the old fortress began. Similar to what I'd seen at Chichen Itza (or was it Uxmal), but way cooler, because a much better view, more extensive, and definitely less cheesey. (ok, the picture doesn't do it justice...at all!)
Bulgaria, I will be back.