Blogs from Bansko, Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria, Europe

Bansko (Bulgarian: Банско) is a town and ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 925 m above sea level. Bansko is the birthplace of 20th century Bulgarian poet Nikola Vaptsarov and Bulgarian enlighteners Paisiy Hilendarski and Neofit Rilski.... read more

Je parné bulharské odpoledne. Právě jsme projeli Sofií. Po pravé straně za sebou necháváme kopce pohoří Vitoša - místo víkendové rekreace mnoha Sofijčanů. Za pár kilometrů u jsou vidět vrcholy nejvyššího balkánského pohoří Rily i s její majestátní Musalou. My však míříme dál na jih po silnici spojující bulharské vnitrozemí s řeckým pobřeím. Po pravé straně se nám podél cesty poklidně klikatí řeka Struma na své cestě do Egejského moře a po levé ruce začínají vykukovat vrcholky Národního parku Pirin, jeho nejjinější cíp je naším dnešním cílem. Rádi bychom strávili dva dny v okolí městečka Melnik a ochutnali tak jedno z nejvyhlášenějších vín Balkánu, prošli se mezi unikátními pískovcovými pyramidami a dali zapomenout starostem v prostorách pravoslavného kláštěra - Roenského monastýru. Melnik, kt... read more

Bulgaria: - A land of just over 7 million people. It has been strange moving from London which has the same population. - Still a couple of steps, well maybe quite a few behind that of Western European countries. - Vesso (who I work with) said to me; ‘so is this your first trip to Bulgaria?’ and on replying yes he said ‘well you will be surprised’ -about what I said? “everything” This has proved to be true on more than one occasion. Bulgarians - Probably the most proud people I have ever met. Especially old Vesso. He is such a character. He keeps going on about how those “fucken Greeks” they stole Feta from us and then patented it even though it is a Bulgarian creation! He is always trying to educate Stu and I ... read more

So my day off. Once a week. Let's explore. So I jumped into my good friend Nadezdahs beat up old Volkswagen and off we went. Razlog first. We parked the car, not without Nadezdah ramming the car into a flower pot and laughing it off. She is such a happy go lucky girl and so so sweet. We wondered the streets which I love to do more than anything when I get to a new place. Stumbled upon a large street market which was so fun. They were selling everything from rubber soled shoes to hand made brush brooms and turksih delight. Next thing we knew we were in an old old Orthodox church. SO beautiful, it truly was. The lady inside was astounded that I was from Ujena Afrika (south africa) She was so lovely ... read more

Bankso, Bulgaria - where to begin. Well it’s a bit of a long story as to how the hell I ended up in this country selling investment properties to buyers from the UK but hey here I am. The flight on the Air Bulgaria flight from London to Sofia was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. The outside of the plane looked just fine but once you walked in and saw what was going on it made you think “shit, this could be it’. It was a bit like going back a couple of decades in time to the time of the Iron Curtain. The seats were that plastic blue faux leather, the cabin crew were all dressed differently, there were dirty tissues stuffed between the seats, all the signs were in that ... read more