The Black Sea stretched out in front of the city and the port is to the left of me. The water’s calm, despite the cold air and freezing winds. The weather has improved, on the whole, but it’s cold.

Samsun has an important role in Turkey’s history. In 1919, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk landed in a boat here, setting up the Turkish Independence movement and traditionally marking the start of the Turkish War of Independence. This fact is celebrated in a number of monuments and statues around the city.

There are half a million people here.

A statue in the centre of the city.

I googled a few hotels in the area and settled on Grand Atakum Hotel facing the sea. It is a little more expensive here, and I am not aware of a change in season. I will plot my route for tomorrow after getting something to eat. My room is a little less impressive than the pictures on the website, but it does breakfast and has easy parking.

Tarnovo in the warmer months

Tarnovo how I found it.

This is at the north side of the mountains, which loom, menacingly to the south. The Balkan mountains, in all their spender, run 560 km from the border of Serbia on the west to Cape Emine on the Black Sea to the East. Botov is the highest point at 2,376m (7,795 ft) and is part of the Central Balkan National Park.

The Veliko Tarnovo fortress

The Tornovo art gallery