Bulgaria with Noodles

Another national treasure, shopska salad. The Rila Monastery is the No. 1 tourist hotspot in all of Bulgaria. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and, like quite a few places in Bulgaria, it has been almost completely destroyed several times. When it was last rebuilt, in 1833, one wonders whether the reconstruction was the result of the people’s pious devotion to the Christian faith or an expression of the resurgent Bulgarian national spirit that was leading to the country’s final liberation from the Turks. John and his dark beer Rila Monastery is about two hours’ drive south of Sofia, on the main road that leads from Sofia to Greece. As with most things that have been recently repaired in Bulgaria, EU funds have been used to upgrade the road, so driving the main highway south of Sofia is a pleasure. Then things get a bit narrow and twisty and dramatic once you leave the main road and turn off for Rila, heading up into the mountains. Lunch was at a very good (and reason...

Oh dear. Right, no more silly kayak jokes. I have been looking at inflatable kayaks on the Decathlon website and it looks as though you can buy a very good two man inflatable kayak for about two hundred euros. The pump, the paddles and life vests will cost a bit more.   “But why buy an inflatable kayak?” I hear you ask. Well, an inflatable one can of course be deflated and packed into quite a small and convenient backpack. Solid, non-inflatable kayaks are a complete pain when it comes to transporting them. A car's roof rack is not really secure enough, so really you would need a trailer. With an inflatable kayak, you just deflate it, put it into the backpack, put the backpack into the car and drive home.  I have watched a YouTube video about the Itiwit inflatable kayak and it only took six or seven minutes to inflate. Stability is also very good, as there are two main air pockets, one on either side, as well as three small keels on the bottom. Probably it...

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...

 We found a parking place! Yesterday we were at Da Peng fortress (well, really it is a sort of fortified town, so I suppose that it is the Chinese equivalent of Veliko Tarnovo). Bill and Julia very kindly took us there in their car. Normally it takes about an hour to drive there, but yesterday was a Chinese Public Holiday, so it took us three hours to get there. Finally finding a place to park was a cause for celebration. Then it was another four hours to get back to Shenzhen. Cockles and mussels alive alive-o! Unlike the ultramodern SZ, the historic Da Peng fortress is hundreds (if not thousands) of years old, with some impressive ancient fortified gateways and crenelated old walls. It is a massive tourist trap, with every conceivable piece of tat for sale to the endless throngs that fill up the narrow streets. There are innumerable restaurants, cafes, bars and street food sellers. As Da Peng is a seaside town, Molly Malone would have been impressed with the bucket...

Alona Beach on Panglau Islan It was of course J.R.R. Tolkien, in The Hobbit , who wrote, “It is a dangerous business going out of your front door.” The truth is that more and more Chinese people are not just going out of their front doors: they are heading overseas for their holidays each year. Should we be celebrating the adventures of these Middle Kingdom (not Middle Earth) Bilbos?  In the Philippines, the waves of Chinese tourists that invade the archipelago, especially during the Chinese New Year holiday, bring lots of tourist dollars. The problems that Mr and Mrs Chen and their children bring with them are not so welcome. (Those who have read An Unexpected Party may recall that Mr Baggins was rather put out by the large number of uninvited dwarves that appeared at Bag End.) For example, the Chinese young men in the next hotel room to ours were talking and laughing loudly on their balcony until after 1am.    Although Chinese children are so well-behav...