Bulgaria with Noodles

In many ways Veliko Tarnovo, also known as V.T., is a much nicer city than Sofia. It is smaller, less polluted and the traffic is nowhere near as bad as it is in the capital. Every year, we go and spend a week or so in our apartment in Veliko Tarnovo.  The balcony of our apartment in V.T. For I don't know how long, Irena and I have been saying, "When you retire, we will move in V.T. and that is where we will spend the winter, as it won't be much fun spending the winter in Kalotina." The main problem with this plan is that we have not retired yet. Well, I was retired for six months, but then I started working again and now we have started to put down roots in Sofia, not in V.T. This trip to V.T. was rather different, as it was dominated by the presence of Tina. Yes, it was a lot of fun to have her delightful company, but she was also seriously ill. Several trips to the Vet were needed, along with quite a few injections and a course of antibiotics. Firs...

At last I have found one the right size! I don’t really enjoy going back to England any more. Last year it was RTD’s memorial service and last month I went back to try to sort out what to do with my lump sum from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.  Well, why don’t I enjoy going back to my own country? First of all, I think that it is because I just do not belong there. Bulgaria is my home and therefore, more and more, I feel that my roots are in my adopted country. Bulgaria is “home” now. Secondly, there are the practical issues of going back, as I have no place of my own in the UK, no car, no nothing.  Peter hard at work in the kitchen My old friend Peter Adams was very hospitable, as usual, and we certainly enjoyed some splendid scoffing: lots of roast beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pud and all the trimmings! This was then followed up with the inevitable crumble and custard. Then we also had a good lunch with Peter’s mum (fish and chips), followed by a delicious Chine...

My old car is being repaired (yet again), but Stefan has cheered me up. This has to be one of my saddest and most painful posts on my blog so far. Stefan has died. He was our first Bulgarian friend and in many ways our best. Irena and I got to know him soon after we bought our villa in Kalotina, about fifteen years ago, and we have stayed in contact with him and his wife Poly over the years we have been coming to Bulgaria. Stefan and Irena Stefan had a great sense of humour, a wonderful laugh and a fund of silly jokes that showed an appreciation of the comic and ridiculous element in life. He would sometimes come out with that very old and dreadful Dick Emery catchphrase, "You are awful, but I like you!" A widely-travelled businessman and diplomat, Stefan spoke French and Russian fluently. He loved the Russian language and he liked to sing old Russian songs, often with my wife Irena.  Like many of the older generation of Bulgarians, Stefan was pro-Russian and he ...

Introducing Tina to the unsuspecting readers of my blog   We actually had another reason for going to Plovdiv. Yes, it was great to go on the excellent (and free) Walking Tour with Pavel, but there was an additional motive for visiting the city: our new doggie. No one ever feeds me or takes me for a walk. For a long time, Irena and I have been talking about getting another dog after our return from China and finally (finally!) we have done it and taken the plunge. At first Irena wanted a poodle, but poodles are few and far between in Bulgaria, as well as rather expensive. We did not want another Fox Terrier like our dear Zoika, so we settled for a Jack Russell.  She is beautuful (and the dog is quite cute too) The eyes have it. Her name is Tina and she is now two and a half months old. She is quite a stubborn young lady, with a lot of character. As you might expect, we have been trying to persuade her to leave her little messages outside, but so far we have...

Plovdiv is the second-biggest city in Bulgaria and, even though we have been coming here for fifteen years, we had never been to Plovdiv. It takes about two hours to drive there from Sofia. The road is pleasantly scenic and there are a lot fewer dupki than usual. Blogger and our guide, Pavel Regular readers of my blog will know that I am a fan of the free Sofia walking tour. Well, the Plovdiv-based version is equally good. We met Pavel, our loquacious and very knowledgeable guide, outside the city hall, next to the rather splendid fountain. The tour took about two hours and it covered the central parts of the city: the main square, the street that follows the layout of the Roman stadium, the Kapana district and the Old Town. On the way, we heard some of the many stories about Milo’s statue and yes, we did whisper in his ear and rub his knee. As for architecture, there are plenty of charming and elegant buildings from the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, but Plovdiv ...

After we drove back from Greece, we had a few days to get things ready. On the Sunday we had lunch at the cheap but rather good Chinese restaurant next to the church. Dave and Beth Kanelos of IBC had been running a Christian camp in Macedonia, so they wanted to say “thank you” to their co-workers and we were invited to the lunch as well. Lunch after church, with Dave, Beth and lots of IBC people My old friend from our teacher training college days, Peter Adams, has come to stay. Peter arrived on the Tuesday. I collected him from Sofia airport and we had a late lunch, followed by a wander around the huge park that is just across the road from our flat in Ulitsa Kozyak. Then on the Wednesday we went to see my school, St. George’s. Peter was suitably impressed by the amazing gym and the penthouse suite, complete with the fully-equipped bar and spectacular views of Mount Vitosha, but my security card does not give me access to the theatre and the swimming pool. Bother! Out on ...

Absolutely lovely, and the view is quite nice too. There are supposed to be some amazingly beautiful caves on Zakynthos, the famous “Blue Caves”. There is also the most photographed beach in the whole of the Med., the Shipwreck Beach. (Why a rusty old boat should be regarded as so photogenic is a mystery.) Well, we were supposed to be going on a boat trip around the island to see the caves and the beach, but we were not collected from our hotel. In the afternoon, we went to the offices of the company that had promised to collect us from Agoulos Inn and take us on this wonderful trip.  On the beach, with a shipwreck and about 500 tourists. Then they promised to take us the following morning. This was the last day of our holiday on Zakynthos. The same thing happened. No one came. We persuaded the nice   lady who owns the Agoulos Inn to phone the company and this time they promised to come at twenty past one. Twenty past one duly arrived, but they did not. After we we...