Another letter to Markoi

Dear Markoi,                    

Imagine my disappointment when I get a message from Malcolm Cooper, aka the Gibbon or the Capon, telling me that you are in fact still alive. As you can probably imagine, it really spoiled my day to receive this news. Well, maybe they have not put out all of the fires yet, so there is still hope!

Of course, you are absolutely useless at replying to emails, so I am not surprised that I did not receive a reply to my last missive. In fact, it rather encouraged me to hope that you might perhaps have been burned to death, but now I have accepted the unpleasant fact that probably are still alive.

You might be surprised when I tell you that Bulgaria used to be cheap. That was one of the reasons that we decided to retire here. The bad news is that Bulgaria is becoming more expensive. A lot of people say that this is some sort of preparation for joining the Euro. Perhaps you, like me, are just old enough to remember when we had decimalization in the UK. Prices went mad and everyone is saying that the same thing will happen in Bulgarian when we get the Euro.

As for the cost of electricity, I am expecting a bill from our electricity company, ENERGO-PRO, for about 300 leva for January. That is about a hundred and fifty pounds or maybe two hundred USDs. Well, this is for the heating, cooking and hot water, so maybe it is not too bad. On the other hand, the price of electricity in Bulgaria has gone up by nearly 9% recently and that is not good news. On reflection, it means that I really should get on with the loft insulation and I do not care what my dear Irena says, as she seems to think that insulation is a waste of money. 

And what is going to happen to insurance premiums if and when these fires are finally put out? Homeowners all over America are going to be paying more because the stupid people in California wanted their houses made out of all kinds of flammable materials, right next to woodland that was one big tinderbox. I am not a construction engineer, but I am sure that there are plenty of materials that do not easily catch fire (glass, concrete, steel) and installing a few sprinkler systems around your house would not have been too expensive.

On the subject of things American, I cannot quite make up my mind whether Trump is a genius, a scumbag or a complete nutcase. Or maybe all three. For example, Trump was totally against the gas pipeline going through the Baltic. Four or five years ago, he rightly guessed that if the Europeans were to pay lots of cheap gas from Russia, Putin would then use that money to get his army ready for war. (Remember that this was at a time when most European countries were spending 1% of their GDP on defence.) Well, now most Europeans are spending a lot more and the Ukrainians are paying an even heavier price. So is Trump going to make peace between Russia and Ukraine? I hope so. My wife has not been able to visit her family for three years.  

Lots of people in the UK are fed up with these boats coming across the Channel and all of the illegal immigrants. Trump has promised to do something about illegal immigration and so far he is keeping his promise. A politician who keeps his promises! Like the dodo and the woolly mammoth, I thought that species was extinct.   

It looked as though we would be going to another Greek island in the summer, but now my dear wife seems to think that Turkey would be a better choice. Istanbul is supposed to be an amazing city and of course Turkish food is super yummy.

We are still in our apartment in chilly Veliko Tarnovo, but perhaps I might be able to persuade Irena that we should go back to our country house in March, if the weather warms up a bit. I am sending you a few photos of VT, as well as some of a fat little dog.

Best wishes from a strange little country in Europe,

Simon