Bulgaria is a juxtaposition of being in Europe, an EU country, fiscally poor yet encompassing awe-inspiring natural beauty. An ancient history is known to date back 60,000 years and blessed with its beautiful warm-hearted people. It has survived 500 years of the Ottoman Empire and the heavy-handed rule of Communism. Now it’s finding its way into the modern world albeit one small step at a time.
The first sights of the Bulgarian countryside were an eye opener.
When I first visited Bulgaria I caught a train from Sofia. During the three-hour trip despondently noticed the crumbling facades of empty buildings and old communist-era factories. Survivors of the past dotting the landscape. It was late February, patches of snow on the ground, the landscape was bare. The old villages looked tired and empty as the ancient electric-powered train trundled slowly along. Arriving at my village by taxi from the train station I could see the smoke rising from chimneys, I at least wasn’t the only one here.
I SOON PUT ASIDE THESE FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
The locals are I found, all incredibly warm-hearted and helpful, local food and wine (and Rakia) appeared almost daily. Spring soon arrived and over the coming months into Summer the landscape transformed. Here I was, now surrounded by vineyards, lavender, poppy and sunflower fields. Warm days, clear blue skies, my garden now planted with tomato, cucumber, peppers and many ornamentals was turning on a show. Next doors cat had adopted me and became a regular visitor often taking up a spot under the front garden’s grapevines. He was doing a good job of keeping any mice at bay. Hence I named him Mishka, the word for mouse in Bulgarian.
My evenings were spent out on the front patio, fireflies flitting around the yard between the vines. Food and wine served on an old wine barrel I converted to a table. Talking and laughing well into the night with my now regular visitors, all was well, and I knew why I was here. It wasn’t just one thing; it was the sum of all I was now experiencing.
So much to explore.
During these first few months, I hired a car and set off with a friend of mine, who had come from Australia. We headed out on a tour to the Black Sea and then to Veliko Tarnovo. Later we returned to Kazanlak for the Rose Festival and Shipka Pass. If you visit Bulgaria one thing to know is that there is so much to see that even a year would not do it justice. A word of advice, plan your trip before visiting and don’t rush.
Bulgaria deserves so much more attention, it’s slowly regaining its feet. Maybe that’s why I connect with life here. It’s a country that has survived many hardships and it’s now finding its way forward again.
Could you live in Eastern Europe? 2 years ago I had no idea where Bulgaria was and now I’ll gladly call it home.
