Bulgaria with Noodles

As regular readers of my blog will know, I am a great fan of Bosch. They make some great kitchen appliances (washing machines, coffee grinders, toasters and so on). My wife and I have bought quite a few Bosch things. However, I am now a fan of Yantra Homes as well because this estate agency gave us some excellent service when we went to Veliko Tarnovo for our house-hunting expedition.  We saw quite a few properties and most of them we did not really like. Yes, they looked great in the photos, but they were not so wonderful when you actually went to the houses and saw how they really are.  The side of the house and you can see the massive wooden gate. There was, however, one splendid exception. There was one house that actually looked a lot better in real life than it does in the photos! The bad news? Yes, there is some. First of all, it is a bit further from Veliko Tarnovo than we had wanted (50 km or thereabouts) and, at 81,000 euros, it is costing u...

My dear Irisha and I went to Veliko Tarnovo, in order to do some house-hunting. Before I tell you of the result of our searches, I am going to say a little bit about some of the "also rans" that were in the race. First of all, I really liked the photos of "the grey house", as we called it, and at 72,000 euros it seemed to be a good buy. This property was beautifully renovated, but the rooms were rather darker and smaller than the photographs had suggested. (Did they use a wide-angle lens?)  I really liked the idea of having my own vineyard, but my dear wife was a lot less enthusiastic. Emen Canyon is an amazingly beautiful place, complete with rickety wooden bridges, fantastic views, caves full of bats and a waterfall.  The bungalow was quite close to the canyon, but again we felt that it was just too small. It looked quite big in the photos, of course. The "open plan" kitchen-cum-dining room was not what we wanted. The "mountain ho...

One of my favourite photos! Recently we have been spending quite a lot of time in our apartment in Veliko Tarnovo (VT), so I thought that I might perhaps give you a little tour. (This is also an excuse for me to include lots of old photos of VT.)  Tsaravets across the river and the old wooden bridge Our apartment is in Ulitsa Patriarch Evtimy, next to the old wooden bridge. This area of the city, Assenova, dates back to the 13th century and it is just across the River Yantra from Tsaravets, the huge castle that is up on the hill. From the wooden balcony and the dining room of o ur apartment, we have some great views of the wooden bridge and Tsaravets.  The dining room The dining room is probably my favourite room, but the sitting room is also nice. We bought the leather sofa and the chair from Malcom, who originally owned the apartment, and we said, "We will buy the apartment if you sell us the sofa too!" Breakfast on the balcony We were in VT because we ar...

Our house in Kalotina, seen from the patio The big news is that we have found a buyer for our house in Kalotina! Well, we do not have the money in the bank yet, but it really does look as though the deal will go through. I am going to be meeting the chap who wants to buy it sometime in July and then we will sort out the paperwork and he will give me a substantial deposit.  Irena in action and in the kitchen When I mentioned that we were thinking of selling the house in Kalotina, I was a bit surprised by the reaction of many of our friends. Some of them thought that something awful must have happened and some of them were convinced that we were moving back to the UK! The terrace (and the water channel) Yes, it is hard to believe that we have a buyer. Of course, this means that we do not have to find an agent and that is very good news because some agents, such as Bulgarian Properties, will charge a hefty fee. The dining room, the scene of many happy (and deliciou...

Only five bedrooms and three bathrooms The big news is that we are seriously thinking about selling our house in Kalotina and buying another country house closer to Veliko Tarnovo. It has been a hard decision, as we both love our home in Kalotina that we bought sixteen years ago. We have put a lot of time and effort (and money!) into improving the house and of course we will not get back all of that cash when (and if!) we manage to sell it. A new bathroom, attic, a kitchen, a garage, a central heating system: I just do not know how much we have spent on our house over the years. Nice view, shame about the house. First we were very excited about a five-bedroomed house that was on sale for 79,000 euros. It was about 25km from VT. It was a little bit too big for us and the garden, nearly 1500 square metres, is a mess. Then I thought about a house up in the mountains. It was a lot cheaper, with an asking price of only 27,000 euros and the views really were splendid. The bad ne...

Recently a young teacher called Lou Cocker contacted me through the TES. As Lou is interested in teaching in Algeria, this gives me an excuse for including some of my old photos of our two years in Egypt. Hi Hippo, Sorry to bother you with another working abroad question. There is a job available in Algeria at a new British school. The only mention of salary is that it will be discussed at interview stage. Housing is included. But what type of salary should I be looking at for 2 years experience? Also it says 30% will be paid into an Algerian bank and 70% into your bank in the UK. Is that normal? Does that mean I would be subject to UK tax laws back home   And here is my reply. Well, you need to do some research as soon as possible. Is Algeria going to be a super-cheap place to live, with some great holiday destinations just round the corner? Or is it going to be blooming expensive? A really good salary is not so good if you are paying a fortune for thi...

WALKIES for a naughty and fat little doggie Well, the Internet connection for ZOOM was not working properly on my birthday and this meant that I gave up on my online lessons with Grade 3. It was a sunny day, with a blue and almost cloudless sky. Instead of sitting in front of my laptop, I went for a walk in the beautiful Bulgarian countryside, with my dear Irisha and Tina, that naughty little dog.  Along the River Nishava With all of the roadworks still going on in the road outside our house, we went out the back way, through "the Secret Garden", the little bit of land that is next to our garden and between our garden and the river. The Secret Garden does not seem to belong to anyone, so we have taken it over. Mostly we use this piece of land for bonfires and of course we gather the walnuts from the big tree.  A View ON a Bridge, not From It Through the Secret Garden and then along the River Nishava we went. Most of the water for the "river" co...