Travel & trips
A change of scenery (and some news)
Back in bleak old January, we booked a little something to look forward to for August – a week in a small guesthouse in Sinemorets. By March, when we went into lockdown, we were already resigning ourselves to the fact that we probably wouldn’t go. By June,...
A trip up Vitosha
One of the many things I love about Sofia is how Vitosha mountain hulks beside it. We’ll often stroll down the streets and comment how unusual it is, in a capital city, to see a ruddy great mountain squatting at the end of the road. But we’ve never really...
Samothraki (smug holiday slideshow alert)
Ever wondered where all the beautiful young (and young-at-heart) Greek hippies go on holiday? Ever fancied holidaying in Man Bun Central? Ever longed to wear your bum bag, bucket hat and ugly sandals with pride, in a totally non-ironic way? The answer is...
172. Sozopol and Sinemorets
Yes, we went to Sozopol and Sinemorets on holiday. Again. I know, I know. We’re getting a bit stuck in our holiday ways as we get older. Every year we say, ‘Let’s go somewhere we’ve never been before. Albania! Macedonia! Georgia!’ Yet we nearly always...
163. June!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but it’s June. Already. June of 2018. Yesterday it was 1998 and I was sitting my a-levels, driving a knackered orange Fiesta with a broken speedometer, and planning an award-winning career as a foreign correspondent (or stage...
162. Budapest
Armed with a bumbag full of plasters and my one foreign language (which unfortunately isn't Hungarian), we trundled off to Budapest last weekend. We’ve always wanted to go and our upcoming anniversary (12 years – I’m not sure which one of us deserves a medal...
152. The one where we go to a Bulgarian football match
We had family staying last week and their big wish was to go and see a Bulgarian football match. I’m not a football lover, as you might have guessed, but I’m up for anything that creates good blog fodder. And, as luck would have it, CSKA Sofia were playing...
146. Autumn love, preserving like a boss, and a trip to the Rhodopes
Autumn is my favourite time of year – specifically that dreamy early September period when the evenings are cold enough for a sweater but the days are hot enough for shorts and flip flops, and the leaves are *just* starting to turn. And the food! Oh my, I love...
144. Adventures in Melnik
I hate to be a ‘Look at my holiday pictures’ bore, but that’s essentially what this post is. Just think yourself lucky I haven’t invited you round for a full-length slideshow accompanied by cheese and pineapple on cocktail sticks. That’s how we still do it in...
143. Courgettes. Walkies.
Freaking hell, it’s August. How did that happen? Here’s a not-so-brief rundown of what we’ve been up to lately. For those who are short on time, this post can be neatly summarised as follows: courgettes galore monastery fun death walk from hell For those who are...
142. Weeds, gore and sightseeing
My God, the weeds have been rampant this year. All that heavy rain, followed by scorching sun, followed by more rain, then sun, sun, sun… The veggies and flowers have loved it. But so have the weeds. We’ve got a ridiculous problem with bindweed in our garden, which...
141. Krushuna Falls and Devetashka Cave
I don’t know why we don’t get out more. Aside from nipping to the shops or market, popping round to see the neighbours or going for our sporadic Bulgarian lessons, sometimes weeks and weeks go by without us really going anywhere. Is it because we’re content...