EDM #135: Draw a salad (Shopska salata)

This drawings is in my sketchbook from last summer holiday in Bulgaria .
Cuisine of Bulgaria is a special subject. Because of its geographical position and long history Bulgarian cuisine is a mixture between the best parts of the Slavonic, Greek and Turkish cuisines. This country is one of the world leaders in number of long-livers. And the reason of such high life interval is first of all a healthy food. Bulgarian cuisine is quite heavily centred on salads, which are varied and tasty.In every restaurant in Bulgaria the first thing you will notice on the salad menu is Shopska salad which is Bulgaria’s most famous salad. It is named after the Shoppi, or natives of Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria). This salad is perfect in the summertime, when all the ingredients are freshly picked from the garden, but it is tasty and easy to make the whole year-round. It was my favourite meal during hot day.

Shopska salata is nothing more than diced tomatoes, cucumber and grated cheese (rather like Greekfeta) . Bulgarians have their own white cheese, Sirene . Sometimes is added baked and peeled pepper and onion,too. Salt, vinegar, oil to taste . Top with black olive. Enjoy !

Drawings is done in watercolor and inkpen in my sketchbook

Bulgaria, Nessebar

So , I am back from my vacation, which we spent in Bulgaria, on the coast of Black Sea.Primary, we was on Sunny Beach(Slnečné pobrežie), but the very first day there was so big waves (this year´s up-side-down weather! ) , that there was still a red flag and swimming was no allowed. Fortunatelly, right opposite the beach is a small rocky peninsula and a lovely town on it :
That was very good idea, because that was not only interesting, it became literally "a feast for me and my sketchbook". This old town is ancient city of Nessebar, one of the oldest towns in Europe.
The more than 3,000-year-old site of Nessebar was originally a Thracian settlement (Menebria). At the beginning of the 6th century B.C., the city became a Greek colony. The city's remains, which date mostly from the Hellenistic period, include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, an agora and a wall from the Thracian fortifications. Among other monuments, the Stara Mitropolia Basilica and the fortress date from the Middle Ages, when this was one of the most important Byzantine towns on the west coast of the Black Sea. .
The peninsula itself is not a big, you can walk around in about 30 minutes. But hey, what a treasures ! There is about 9 churches or remains of churches . On this quick sketch her is church of St. Johan Aliturgetos . It starts like watercolor sketch, but there was so hot, that paints dry almost immediately.

Oh, I found some fire hydrant :-) and fulfill my promise from EDM 66 :
Wooden houses built in the 19th century are typical of the Black Sea architecture of the period.







Nessebar´s abundance of historic buildings prompted UNESCO to inscribe Nesebar on its list of World Heritage Sites in 1983.