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Even though no one ever bothers to write any comments on my blog, my article for The Daily Mail attracted more than 700 hundred comments. As might be expected, most of these comments did not have much in the way of punctuation, correct spelling, common sense or anything else, but a few of them were quite witty and perceptive. 

As usual my comments are in italics and I have added some photos that were taken by my old friend Peter, when he came to stay with us in the summer. Let's start with this rather sad comment.

I loved where we live, but the town is increasingly being built on. We can’t get a doctor’s or dentist’s appointment and the roads are gridlocked. Everyone is miserable, but I think that other countries have their own similar issues.

Here is a rather different perspective from Kent. 

It’s all OK when you are fit and well, but if you become unwell, requiring family and social support, then that changes everything After twenty years, if you decide to return to the UK, you will have to initially support yourself and wait months for any benefits, social care and rehousing if needed. That can be very stressful, especially if you are in your 80's.

Here is a rather negative comment from Southampton.

This article is a false declaration, as the prices in Bulgaria have risen like everywhere else. But interestingly enough, prices are not really now too dissimilar to the UK. Just the weather is better. I am leaving after 20 years here, as it won't be long before it will be the same as the rest of Europe.

"Not too dissimilar"? Well, you can still buy properties in Bulgaria for 20,000 euros or less, but you will not get anything for that money in the UK. Here is an even more negative comment from Piddle Hinton. 

It is a bit tiring. Of course you are going to be better off if you sell your UK assets and move to a country where the minimum wage is £400 a month. You are not going to learn their language, be part of their culture and as a pensioner you are not really contributing anything to their society. That is the reality.

And a different perspective from someone in Brighton.

Not being able to speak the language after nearly twenty years, it really is the cliche of the British expat living in a foreign land in a little expat clique - quite shameful. The £20 council tax shows how bloated and inefficient our government services have become though.

A person from Derby has a different way of looking at this language question.

Plenty of people have lived here twenty years plus and don't speak the language. That's why 111 and the NHS constantly run late, as they are trying to get hold of interpreters. I worked for 111. Over 50 percent of calls had to be done via telephone interpreters.

Yes, okay Bulgaria is wonderful, but what happens when you get old and ill? This was a recurring issue.

All these places are great while you are young enough to carry on. If you get old and frail, who is going to look in on you? Arranging care in a foreign country is a nightmare.

I'm not sure it's any better here in the UK. Millions of elderly live in lonely isolation and health and support services are in collapse. The best way to protect yourself is work really hard at preserving your health and then hope for a sudden death!

Another commentator called "looking good" had more to say on the cheerful theme of being old and ill in Bulgaria.

I have some friends who lived there for twenty years, visited them a few times and it was really nice. Unfortunately, one of them got seriously ill and they came back to the U.K. as most do in those circumstances.

Terry, on the other hand, was pretty upbeat.

I love Bulgaria which where my wife is from. There is so much space, large properties, even the apartments in Sofia are large compared to here, empty roads, large gardens, pharmacies, GPs and hospitals everywhere, an excellent health service. You can park your car just about anywhere, kids playgrounds on every block and there is very little crime (except corruption). Fresh food is cheap, property cheap. There are very hot summers and beautiful winters. You can buy LPG at less than 50p a litre, so filling up your car is cheap. Yes, they still use LPG there, as they have not been scammed into stopping using it. The only disappointment there is the Black Sea that is so polluted that really it is not great for swimming.

Yes, I am not a fan of the Black Sea. That is why we go to Greece instead. Mandyjane was not so enthusiastic about the joys of driving in Bulgaria.

The reason the roads are empty is because they are inundated with craters deep enough to bury your average three-piece suite.

Goodguy1313 makes what is probably a very valid point.

Yeah, it is nice living in Bulgaria with a British pension. Living in Bulgaria with a Bulgarian pension? Now that's another matter. As an Eastern European, I know that Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

There were also one or two comments from our American cousins, from the other side of the pond.

I will be retiring to another country. Have already bought the place, I speak the language, and because my wife is from that country and I have no issue with residency. Only problem is that I will have to carry on doing my US tax return.

The privilege of being an American - the IRS follows you everywhere.

Sounds wonderful. Bulgarian people are generally very friendly. Obviously with those low utility charges you are not being ripped off, like we are in the UK Enjoy life and good luck to you both.

I have to say that I have a lot of sympathy for migrants and refugees, probably because I am one. Someone called Shipley is less sympathetic.

The only issue with the UK is who they keep letting in. Stop that and everything else would eventually fall back into place. No need for never ending taxes, ugly new build houses in their thousands, jam packed roads and mega aggressive drivers. Theft, sexual assault, armed burglaries. I don’t care what any do-gooder says. It should all get back to what used to be normal.

Oh yes, the Good Old Days. I wonder if they really were so good. I certainly do not think that it is true to say that everyone in the UK is an animal-lover. The RSPCA would agree with me, most probably, but unfortunately Bulgaria does not have a good reputation when it comes to animal welfare.

Sadly, the animal welfare in Bulgaria is almost non-existent. A friend moved there to retire, but she now spends her whole life helping abandoned and injured animals, particularly hunting dogs who are treated appallingly.

Someone from London replied.

How sad! What a lovely person your friend is to help them! The Bulgarian people are clearly not as nice as stated.

So is moving to Bulgaria good idea or not?

We bought a load of stuff from a couple who sold everything and moved to Bulgaria. That was about eight years ago. They came back after five years, as they said the crime rate was high. They were broken into and did not feel safe. There are an awful lot of pickpockets too. They also found the language barrier a big problem.

In my defence, I CAN speak some Bulgarian and of course I have a first-class translator, namely my dear wife, whose Bulgarian is most impressive.

It is easy to take language classes. He is a retired teacher, so I’m shocked that he hasn’t learned conversational Bulgarian.

So they have lived in Bulgaria for 20 years almost and still don’t speak the language? This is exactly the same reason why some right wing groups in the UK don’t welcome immigration: you either integrate yourselves or segregate and become alien to the locals. I worked in Greece for nine months and learned enough to be welcomed with a smile from everyone I spoke to. I moved to Italy with work and the locals loved speaking and practising their English. We would sit and eat and mix the languages and by the end of the year I could watch tv, read the paper and fully converse in Italian. A little piece of England in Bulgaria is like a little piece of Pakistan in Yorkshire. This reads like a community within a country and it is not healthy.

My family considered Bulgaria around the same time. It was in the news a lot, being hailed as the new Costa.

They ended up going to Portugal because the Bulgarian language is Cyrillic, so it is impossible to read and hard to speak. They had been to Sofia in the past, so they knew that already.

I remember reading that a Mayor in Bulgaria was delighted with the British because she said that first they renovate their houses, then their gardens and pavements, and then the roads.

For my family, being in a more modern European country meant that many Portuguese speak English and I know we should learn the language, but we are mainly bad at it.

Also, when you retire you are not with other people to learn the language (as having a job and so on) and a few hours at a school is lost without proper practice.

Well, actually I have NOT been living in Bulgaria for twenty years. It is only since we retired that we have been here full-time. 

And here is what is probably my favourite comment.

Many younger Bulgarians speak excellent English, far better than some who were born in England!

Yes, and their written English is probably better too.