Bulgaria with Noodles

It was more years ago than I care to remember that I studied Theology at Oxford. One of the few things that I learned from my degree course is that the shortest verse in the whole Bible is "Jesus wept." He did his weeping over Jerusalem and there still is quite a lot of weeping going on right now in Israel. I do not know which was (or is going to be) worse, the appalling attack by Hamas or Israel's devastating response. Irena and I always wanted to see inside the synagogue in Sofia. (These photos were taken about ten years ago, which is why we both look quite a bit younger and even more good-looking than usual.)  The synagogue in Sofia is a beautiful and peaceful place. I felt rather at home there, as I believe that Christians and Jews worship the same God. (I cannot say that I have the same feelings in a Hindu or a Buddhist temple.) Perhaps it is because m y best friend at school was Jewish and so were most of my friends at university.  To its eternal credit, Bulgaria wa...

After I put AJ on the coach to Sofia, I went back to Daveri. It was good to see my wife and our naughty little dog. Then Irena decided that she also wanted some time in Veliko Tarnovo, so we stayed in VT for a few days.  We finally, finally paid the deposit for the loft insulation. I do not like the idea of unwrapping rolls of that horrible stuff called fibreglass, but that was the cheapest option. I am just hoping that I can get the rolls through the loft hatch. Just before we left for VT, I looked in our letterbox and lo and behold! There was a nice card from Peter and a CD of photos. Every year, he always sends me lots of photos that he has taken during his holiday in Bulgaria. He really has taken some good photos. Well, now we are back again in Daveri, having made no less than TWO visits to Kaufland. Tina is very happy to be running around the garden once again.  As for my blog, it has now notched up more than 100,000 "hits". Wow! The big question for me is why I hardly e...

Maybe some  people in the UK can remember J.R. Ewing and O.J. Simpson, so this just shows that the most reputable individuals in America always go by their initials. AJ is an old friend from our days in Shenzhen. He says that things have got a lot tougher for expats since our departure, with the Chinese government tightening the screws and making life harder for foreigners living in China. Well, AJ did not find life too tough in Bulgaria. I collected him from the airport in Sofia and then we had five or six days in and around Daveri, doing all the fairly obvious things, such as a wander around Elena, a walk around the lake in Palitsi and a trip to the Ruhovtsi waterfall, as well as playing badminton and croquet.  No, I did not bother with another touristy visit to Tsaravets, as I have already seen it so many times, but of course AJ had to see it. We did, however, manage to fit in a walk with the VT Walkers and it was good to see some familiar faces.  If you have not alr...

Have you seen this property advertised on the YANTRA HOMES website? Not bad for 65,000 euros and it comes with more than 2000 sq metres of land. I am not sure that you really need four bedrooms, but maybe one of them could be made into a library or a study or something else. It is really nice to have some spare space and an extra bathroom or two, whenever anyone comes to stay.  Polski Trambesh is about 40 or maybe 50 kms north of Veliko Tarnovo, so you will need a car (and probably a garage). On the other hand, perhaps there is someone in the village who will sell you their garage or rent one to you or else you could use one of the outbuildings as a garage. The vendors have lavished care and attention (and money!) on this property and the swimming pool is rather nice. This property really does look like a bargain!  Recently I had quite a long chat with an old friend in the UK, who is not all happy with the situation in Dear Old Blighty (more rail strikes and air traffic contro...

Dear Peter, Well, if you took your mother out for lunch, then I am sure that you will not want me to remind you of the very worst aspect of eating out in the UK: the bill! Yes, prices here in Bulgaria have gone up a bit, of course, but on the whole having a good scoffing session is not going to cost you the better part of a hundred quid. At the moment I am listening to the Steely Dan CD that you kindly brought with you. We are now in VT, as we needed to do some serious “retail therapy” and on Tuesday morning I have to go back to the hospital, to see Doctor Ivanov. The anti-inflammatory pills he prescribed are very good. I have hardly any pain and I can just get on with my life. Okay, I probably will not be doing any marathon runs in the near future, but the knee seems to be more or less normal. I even played badminton the other day and Irena beat me, yet again. We went to a really good barbecue at a friend’s house in Petkovtsi on Friday. (Petkovtsi is the first village that you come to...

Dear AJ, I have not heard from you for a while. Nothing bad, I hope? Well, your first-ever visit to Bulgaria is now less than a month away. I have a long list of things for us to do, but of course this will be subject to your approval. Lots of games of badminton and country walks with a naughty Jack Russell, in order to counter the effects of my dear wife's excellent (and very substantial) cooking. Some sightseeing in and around Daveri, as well as plenty of wandering around Veliko Tarnovo. VT is a most beautiful and unusual city. You will love it! We might also go on an organized walk with a group of people, mostly retired expat Brits, who call themselves "the VT Walkers" (yes, very original). We can also go on a free walking tour of VT. On the subject of food, you will be pleased to know that Bulgaria is a very cheese-friendly place. As well as Kashkaval , the standard cheese in these parts (it is a bit like Cheddar or maybe Edam), there is Izvara (a sort of cottage che...

. Yes, he was supposed to be on holiday, but while Peter was with us he fixed the lights in two bathrooms, mowed all three lawns and repaired the hob of the cooker in our apartment in VT.  Now he is back in the UK, having a rest.