It’s been a little while since my last effort and much has happened in the last month. Sam’s mum Wendy and her fiancé Bob have been to see us, our roof has been ‘completed’ and I have had my first bout of proper dihorea; apologies to those reading this at lunch… too much information.
We hear that most of the uk is now underwater and that there is no point in us coming back without an ark. I only really get glimpses of the news on Bulgarian TV but from what I can work out, some Scottish man with webbed feet and gills has taken over the country and is steadily flooding those parts of the nation under opposition control… sounds like a good idea for a film, maybe I’ll see if big Kev Costner is available?
We have had no such difficulties here. The current Bulgarian premier may rule with a iron, well at least Pyrex fist, but even he has been unable to do any work in the near African heat. Today it was reported that it was 44.5 degrees in Sevlievo making it the hottest town in Bulgaria – as if with me and sam here it wasn’t already. It is possible to convert that into Fahrenheit for those of you who don’t speak European, but it involves maths; take it from me it was hot, unbearably so. As such I have spent the last couple of days with heat stroke, which wasn’t pleasant, and Burya (the village where the house is) has been without water for about a week. As yet, I am pleased to report there has been no infighting at the village shop and it may well still be possible to buy a drink without the need for a police escort.
Crikey, I’ve just read the above and it sounds as though I’ve become a political in my not quite middle age. I will try to reel it in a bit – only had one glass of wine and everything.
So… Sam and I had our first trip to the black sea coast to meet Wendy and Bob. First up was Varna, the ‘big’ city on the coast which apparently has mafiosa connections, but in fact is more like a small, down market version of Barcelona. That may be hyping it up a bit, but after 3 months in middle Bulgaria, a city with shops containing things that you might want to buy, a beech with some cool looking bars, a few museums, a big park and a couple of roman ruins was quite exciting. The roman ruins are generally not well protected as they would be at home, modern roads, houses and blocks of flats seems to have been built over and in some places into the ancient remains of the city. From what I have read the place was in it’s heyday around 568BC, well before the Romans arrived to conquer and rebuild the city. So I guess in many ways, the city has continually evolved to suit its current inhabitants without much regard for their predecessors; a trait common throughout Bulgaria I suppose. We also introduced Wendy and Bob to a number of Bulgarian delicacies at a funny little restaurant and had a great evening polished off with a rakir and a night with air con... ooh what I’d give for that tonight! We then went down to Sozopol, another historic town on the black sea coast. It was one of the places Pete and I visited and the first we really liked last time we were here and it is still a great little town, although it’s growing at rate of knots. Thankfully the old town cant grow any bigger, it’s sat on a peninsular between 2 beeches and the old harbour. We wandered about the old town, sat on the beech and drank beer in little courtyard bars… what more do you want?
It was the first time Sam and I had met Bob so we thought we should get him a little present to make him feel welcome. My sister tells me that the internet is becoming more user generated and interactive so here goes: The back of Bob’s present said:
“Product feture: The easy self-colleet **** ***** cleaner we devised is elaborate made from abroad material, it is the requisite to modern home kitchen. This product own clean **** ***** easy, safety and healthy, lightness and durability. The Best You Used”
The first person to identify what this is wins 100 stotinki and a kilo of salty cheese of their choice. The winner will be revealed in the next edition of dull quiz monthly. PS: the grammar and spelling errors are not mine for once.
I have finally stuck some photos onto Flickr as well now. Only a couple cos it takes me 5 years to upload them here, but I’m sure you will agree the gratuitous shot of me working was well worth the effort!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94644729@N00/
HOUSE UPDATE
I didn’t update on the house last time cos nothing much was happening. However, we now have a roof (which only needs minor work from us to put it right… which is a miracle here apparently) and it looks pretty good.
In finishing the roof, the builders put on a final theatrical flourish for us… kolyo (aka Colin) collapsed one day with a suspected heart attack and was ambulanced off to the hospital… turns out to be ok and is back at work 3 days later. No problem we are told, he was a bit hot.
Pete, Sam and I are currently trying to fit a ceiling before she and I return to the uk for a month or so. No doubt you will find out whether we succeed when we see you. We also have mr purple and his wife from up the road digging a big hole for our septic tank which will eventually look after our grey water.
The tomatoes are looking good although I suspect our drought will kill most of them so here is proof that we nearly grew something to eat.
I‘m off to eat some more of Sam’s delicious lemon drizzle cake,
Ciao Ciao za sega
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