Bulgaria with Noodles

Every summer since we were married, Irena has gone home to the Crimea for a month, to see all of her family and friends. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Hmm. Well, she simply must go to see her parents and friends every year. I cannot argue with that. Both Mamulichka and Papulichka are rather elderly and not in the best of health. Irisha’s visit is in many ways the high point of their year, something for them to look forward to. There is, however, a more practical reason for Ira’s visit and that is that we do give some financial help to Mamulichka , as pensions in Russia are a bit of a joke (about 80 euros a month). Mamulichka has her datcha and her chickens, so in many ways she is a bit better off than many old people in the Crimea. There is, nonetheless, one little drawback to Irisha’s yearly trips home: I miss her terribly. Yes, this summer I have had Peter and John, two old friends over from the UK, to stay for a while. We have had a good time, going kayakin...

Yes, here it is. A real Russian visa! With the news about the poisoning in Salisbury still making the headlines, I was a bit worried that the Russian authorities would not allow British citizens to go to the Crimea, but hey ho! As well as the hassle of getting the Bulgarian residency cards, the Russian visas cost us 100 euros each, plus two trips into Sofia and the medical insurance (in addition to the medical insurance we already have for Bulgaria). In order to apply for the visas in the first place, Papa (my father-in-law) had to complete (and pay for) a special invitation and then we had to fill in two very long online visa application forms and print them out. When we get to Moscow, we will have a long taxi ride between the two different airports and that will not be cheap either! On the subject of fruit, a neighbour from across the road heard Zlatka complaining to Irena. It seems that I may have broken the window of her old Lada three years ago, when she gave me a l...