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Post by brigadier on Jan 26, 2010 20:45:31 GMT
Loving the blog. I've been to Bulgaria and I completely agree with you about everything! Tipping is the way to go! best service ever when I tipped them! The cities are awful though. I flew to Varna and it was awful! I couldn't drive there, Talk about go where ever you like! The actual resort was really nice once you were in it! You are so right Mosh- inside the hotel its so clean, the loos are spotless with every type of disinfectant contraption you can think of, and our room is well cleaned every day- its perfect until you step into the street and its soooo messy and dismal. The mountains are glorious though but they are covered in snow so dont know what it would be like in summer! |
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Post by solomon on Jan 26, 2010 21:37:40 GMT
So funny the speedos got me. Brings back memories of my husband having a massage on holiday in Northern Cyprus with a very butch Romanian 'lady'. She nearly killed him and modesty did not come into the equation. Legs akimbo! He said he enjoyed it though, masochist. He also had a turkish man shave. Not rude a proper facial treatment and shave. With a cut throat razor, slightly terrifying but said it was the best shave he ever had. On the same holiday, my friend had her eyebrows threaded. It's a form of torture where your eyebrows are plucked by a cotton thread. I was terribly brave and had a pedicure! The flippin' woman made my toe bleed tho'. All good fun to be had on hols.
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Post by mossh on Jan 26, 2010 23:06:56 GMT
Bulgaria is very "behind".
They came out of I believe it was a communist regime not long ago so they are still very poor and we are loaded compared to them!
My friend stayed in a hotel run by the bulgarian and russian mafia!! Beautiful but with a slight hint of danger!
The cities are dismal, its easy to see why people are still poor.
Think they need to revise driving tests though. You need a bloody harness nevermind a seatbelt to keep you in your seats!
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Post by racaille on Jan 27, 2010 6:57:32 GMT
Well Brig, that explains why I sit down on my skis so much  It just doesn't feel right to lean forward and anyway, you go faster. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo ............ Men and money are so odd, aren't they? My OH is unbelievably tight about some small things (unless they are for him) but hugely extravagant about some big things. Mind you, he found his spiritual home when we went on holiday last year to Fes in Morocco. Everything is so unbelievably cheap - and the train fare to Meknes (two hours) was a euro each. Old trains and cheap .... he was in heaven. The teenager and I repaid the time loitering around train yards by dragging the boys to the national stud to look at Barb and Arab stallions.  |
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Post by brigadier on Jan 27, 2010 8:48:47 GMT
Trains or stallions- not much contest is there?
Ive seen the eyebrow plucking with a piece of cotton- the result is beautiful but not sure if its worth the pain!
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Post by racaille on Jan 27, 2010 11:27:26 GMT
My OH had the Turkish shave, the works. It included threading of the fine hairs around his eyes (he was weeping), lots of lemon lotion on his newly shaved skin and, best of all (for me), they set fire to his nose and ear hair. I thought I would pee myself laughing.  |
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Post by spotti on Jan 27, 2010 13:28:46 GMT
They set fire to his ear/nose hair? LEGENDARY!!!!
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Post by brigadier on Jan 27, 2010 16:10:56 GMT
And Finally! I heard English voices in the hotel last night, a couple were booking in, I wanted to rush over and kiss them in a very un-English way. I bet after a week they feel the same! Today we headed to the slopes for the last time. We decided to just do a bit of gentle stuff on the bottom of the slope because of hubby’s poorly leg and in truth we have had enough. A week’s ski holiday is just the right length, by the last day you are ready for home! It’s exhausting with a little one, more so than doing several runs and all the beer drinking and gallivanting that goes on without kids in tow. We will definitely enrol him in ski school when we come again as its true what they say about teaching your own children, it’s impossible! Patience may be a virtue, but as my virtue disappeared many many years ago now I’ve no hope of finding any patience either! But if success is measured by a result then we had a winner as our little-un managed to ski unaided a few metres! And as for Bulgaria...... I can really recommend it as a cheap, suitable place to start skiing, but if anyone does follow my advice then heed well. Book a package and make sure your hotel is as near the gondola as you can afford. Tip the hotel staff well and guard your belongings with your life. Go with friends so that you don’t start doubting your own Nationality. Take tea bags and don’t think the coffee and tea provided in the room is complimentary- it’s not, its part of the mini bar and at mini bar prices! Will I come back? Probably not, Bulgaria lacks one thing that for me is essential for a destination. (ha ha I know you are all thinking its food!) It may have super luxurious hotels that are clean and ultra efficient. It may have decent skiing for a novice/intermediate skier. It may have good nightlife (not that I saw much but the young trendy somethings seemed to like it). But it lacks charm, from its rubbish strewn streets, to its vast unfinished building sites, to its service industry employees, its all harsh, edgy and defined. I want the Alps, the French reputedly may not like the English but at least they are charming about it, and Ive missed that! And finally below the proof of our success!  |
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Post by racaille on Jan 27, 2010 16:44:14 GMT
Ah bless!!! Glad he's wearing a helmet!! I get our kids' helmets cheap at Decathlon (I think that store should pay me a retainer for publicity!!) Interesting about Bulgaria. Nice to try new destinations but sometimes you know straight away that you won't be back (I shan't be going back to Senegal). Actually, I think the English have fallen way down the Frogs' love-to-hate list, especially if you make the teeniest effort with the language. The Parisiens are universally despised We go to the Alps for skiing because they are only a few hours drive away, but it's not cheap so we borrow a chum's flat. I do hate the crowds there though during the school holidays. As you say Brig, having small folk along makes everything harder as you can't just crash out when you get in - you have to minister to the little 'un first. Even when they are bigger it isn't that much easier LOL! Sorry! My thin teenager gets unbelievably cranky when hungry so I have to constantly think about food for her, and the boy can't tell when he's tired and should stop before he does himself an injury. (I blew the tendon in my knee like this, the pain was a million times worse than childbirth....) Hope you have an uneventful trip home. |
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Post by fleabitten on Jan 27, 2010 18:41:36 GMT
They set fire to his ear/nose hair? LEGENDARY!!!! You took the words right out of my mouth |
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Post by duckles on Jan 27, 2010 19:42:07 GMT
Brig - your little fellow is gorgeous! And he looks the part. Thanks for that blog - I totally enjoyed it. ANd for the skiing tips - maybe one day....
By the way, eyebrow threading isn't that sore - I got it done once and I thought it was just like plucking my own eyebrows, pain wise. The results are really good.
Mind you, I think I will stay away from massages abroad given all those horror stories.
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Post by solomon on Jan 27, 2010 21:14:24 GMT
Brilliant blog Brig! Don't say that when you're drunk! Seriously tho' really enjoyed it what a hoot.
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Post by scattymare on Jan 28, 2010 10:11:15 GMT
Oh my goodness, how did I miss this masterpiece. I have just copied and pasted this post into a word document in the attempt that my boss will think I’m working rather than surfing the net. I think I gave myself away however by spontaneously snorting followed by loudly guffawing at some of the remarks. Thanks Brig you have really brightened the start to my day.
How it brought back memories for me of mine and OH’s trip to Bulgaria about 6 years ago. We were doing the beach side of things, but it doesn’t sound as if it has changed a bit. You have described our resort but with snow! We went at the end of September to ‘Sunny Beach’ Well I think we saw the sun for about 3 days of the 2 weeks we were there. And the beach was littered in, well litter (and other things you didn’t want to know what they were) and jelly fish! Hundreds of the things. The resort was closing around us – for the last two days we were restricted to one – yes only one - ‘restaurant’ (think café with a half burnt candle on the table for effect) which served a fine selection of pizza, beans on toast (but I think they were Heinz so plus point) or spaghetti bolognaise. Oh and the bottles of house vinegar that they tried to pass off as wine.
The locals were, well Brig you have already described them to a T. The English language was very broken there at that point but you could go to a remote shack in the midst of nowhere (our one and only attempt at trying to see the ‘cultural side’ of Bulgaria) and use the world known phrase ‘Nescafe’ (I don’t think it was Nescafe they served you but it was hot and coffee!)
Breakfast at the hotel, oh I miss that warm ham, frankfurters and bread that would not even make a value loaf over here.
The highlight of my trip had to be spending the day hooked up to a drip in the hotel room (the food got me in the end) – the doctor attached the bag to the lamp above my bed and ordered me to not move anywhere, he would be back. I’ve got a flippin needle stuck in my arm, I’m not moving anywhere! About 3 hours later and me fully hydrated he returned and released me from my living hell and asked if I was insured – thankfully yes – how much was my excess? (£50) so the bill was £150 – he even had the gall to tell me he had added an extra £50 to make it worth my while claiming!!
So yeah, fond memories of Bulgaria….if I think really hard, we did have a nice day trip in a hired car to see the Blue Mountains. It was raining, the mountains looked more Grey than blue and the highlight that we had gone for – the cable car ride – yep it was closed!!
Would I go back – no. Would I recommend it – no. But if you still decide you reeeally want to see it for yourself, follow Brigs words of wisdom above. On second thoughts, change your mind and go somewhere else!
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Post by spotti on Jan 28, 2010 12:12:23 GMT
Brilliant blog Brig! Don't say that when you're drunk! Seriously tho' really enjoyed it what a hoot. I can't even say it when sober without having to really concentrate hard, so I'd be horrendous if drunk! Thanks for that Brig - it certainly made me giggle  You looking forward to some child-free Basil time now? |
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Post by brigadier on Jan 28, 2010 20:35:27 GMT
Really looking forward to seeing my other two boys, Basil and Scruffy-Dog!
Scatty- Im so glad I didnt do a beach one, if the rubbish is as bad in the winter I would just gag in the summer! Im so glad we stayed relatively healthy, we all have a cold and the hubby has a sore leg, but it certainly closed in around us and we are sooo glad to be home!
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jane
Novice Willy Washer
Posts: 954
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Post by jane on Jan 31, 2010 12:08:29 GMT
Haha - I have only just found this, absolutely wonderful. Apparently skiing and horse riding use the same muscle groups in very much the same ways. I had a holiday in Slovakia a few years ago and have to say it felt very similar to what you describe. We stayed in someones house rather than a hotel. The scars of the communist regime very much in evidence eveywhere we went. It was interesting to visit, I would recommend it but won't be rushing back just yet. |
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