A Wet Day in Bulgaria's Ancient Capital

We're holed up in Veliko Tarnovo, waiting for the persistent rain to let up. This was a capital of Bulgaria back in the 13th century when "little" Bulgaria was actually a big deal -- its empire included all of the Balkan Peninsula and stretched from Greece all the way to Ukraine. I show this clip for two reasons. First, to address the concerns from our viewers that it never seems to rain in our TV shows. (It does. We just do everything we can not to film when it's raining.) And, second, to look at that ugly communist-era hotel, built to greedily take the view, mindlessly obliterating the view of almost everyone else in town.

This is Day 51 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I'm reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.