Bulgaria with Noodles

Belogradchik is in north-western Bulgaria. It is quite a pleasant and prosperous little town. Its two claims to fame are Pri Ivan , an excellent Serbian restaurant that gets rave reviews in Trip Advisor, and Belogradchik rocks, some amazing geological formations just outside the town.  Tripe soup, a sovereign remedy for hangovers There was, however, one small problem: getting there. From Kalotina, we had a choice. We could drive to Sofia and then go round the ring road, before taking the main road to Montana and then on towards Vidin, before branching off to Belogradchik. The other route was to hack across country to Montana, as this seemed to be a shorter way. We chose the latter and it was a big mistake. I thought that the drive would take about two hours, whereas in fact it took three and a half because the roads were so narrow and twisty. Lots of roads works did not help much either. In the restaurant "Pri Ivan" Finally we arrived in Belogradchik and w...

No blade cuts blade - a forlorn lawn is waiting for me There are now 45 days to go, to the end of my teaching career. Well, it has been quite interesting: the UK for about twenty years, followed by my misadventures in foreign parts: Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Romania, Qatar, the UAE and now China. On Thursday, 14 th June, 2018, I shall be teaching my last-ever lessons at Green Oasis School and then on Monday, 18th, we will be flying to Bulgaria. "The Tear", one of the Rila Lakes As you may have noticed, this blog is called “Bulgaria with Noodles” because Irena and I are still in China, but in many ways our hearts are already in BG. But what will we do, once we have settled down in Bulgaria? A lot of travelling is fairly high on the list of priorities. The Rila Lakes (there are supposed to be seven altogether) A Church with a View, aka Asenovgrad The truth is, we really do not know most of Bulgaria. Sofia, Kalotina and a Veliko Tarnovo: that is abou...