Bulgaria with Noodles

Peter Adams is one of my oldest friends. When we first came to Bulgaria from the UK, Peter came with us and did most of the driving. Peter and I were at teacher training college together, more years ago than I care to remember, and he has recently retired from teaching at Littlegarth School. Well, it was good to see him again after nearly three years. We discovered a very good Bulgarian restaurant in Elena and we also got out our old inflatable kayak, in order to do a spot of boating on the reservoir near Elena. Vincent and Mariana kindly invited us round to their house for a swim. And yes, we did have quite a few good meals in some of the restaurants in Veliko Tarnovo.

Yeah, life's a beach, baby. Cue The Sloop John B or I wish They All Could be California Girls. I have to be honest: we did in fact spend quite a lot of time on the beach.  The good news? The water is gloriously clear, perfect for snorkelling. The bad news? Nearly all of the beaches are pebbles, there are no corals and the fish were not up to much. There is one beach that is supposed to be sand (really it's just smaller pebbles) and there we had lunch at the seaside taverna. Well, just about everything in Greece is flipping expensive, once you are used to Bulgarian prices. Lunch was nearly sixty euros for the two of us (ouch!), but hey, we were on holiday. The Greek salad was good and Irena's fish was HUGE.  My calamari was pretty good. They even allowed Tina into the taverna.  Although the beach was decidedly pebbly, the water was beautifully clear and actually quite warm. Now, despite popular demand, here is yet another video. Sorry about that.

The Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothraki is the island's No. 1 must-see site for Archaeology and History fans. It really is quite extensive and covers a surprisingly large area. (Dogs are not allowed, so poor Tina had to stay behind by the entrance.) So who were these "Great Gods"? Well, no one really seems to know. They were not the standard Olympian ones. However, the fact that no one knew their names did not stop Samothraki become a religious centre in ancient times, with Philip of Macedon (the daddy of Alexander the Great) meeting his future wife during a visit to the site.  No, it is not quite up to the Parthenon, as only six or seven columns are still standing, but it is all rather impressive nevertheless. It is also enjoyable to wander around the ruins more or less on your own, as there were only a few other people who were visiting that day.

I am a big fan of Auntie Bulgaria , Claire Ruston's excellent blog about all things Bulgaria-related. She wrote about her little holiday in Greece and where did she go? Samothraki.   It is an island, maybe thirty kilometres long, in the Aegean (that is the bit of the Medi in the corner, between Greece and Turkey). There is no airport on the island, so a ferry from the port of Alexandroupoli is the only way to get there. The crossing takes about two hours. The bad news? Our ferry was leaving at eight in the morning and so we very unwisely decided to drive through the night. Not a good idea. On the return journey, our ferry got back to Alexandroupoli at about seven in the evening, so that meant another night drive back to Veliko Tarnovo. I think that we finally came back to our apartment at about two in the morning. Our accommodation was the top floor of Xenia's village house. We were surrounded by olive groves. There was plenty of space, lots of cats for Tina to bark at and wond