Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

[Jack Black]

I thoroughly explored the small lanes, but didn't go inside any of the churches, some of which could be entered for an admission fee, (while others were closed). The only time I sat down, I got pestered by a team of women trying to sell bracelets, but otherwise it was friendly enough, and fairly quiet.

Before long, I found that I was simply walking along the same lanes, and after an hour or so, when I found myself back at the entrance, and noticed a bus waiting to leave, I decided to abandon Nessebar, and return to the hotel in time for lunch. The buses are notorious for pickpockets, but this one was empty, and the only excitement along the way, was when a German woman was complaining about the bus-route, and the Bulgarian conductor, who would have played a good Rosa Klebb, told her, in no uncertain terms, that she should have got a taxi!

 

[Jack Black]

The hotel and holiday company had promised evening entertainment, but there was none in evidence, except for an unadvertised 'pop quiz', where the clientele, with an average age of, at least, 60, were invited to identify some particularly foul-languaged 'Gangsta Rap' songs, played very loudly, by the teenage "animation team", and an hour or so of karaoke, which proved more popular, but was possibly even more unpleasant to the ear However, one evening, while some of us were still eating in the restaurant, a troupe of Bulgarian dancers appeared, and put on a display. I took a short video with my phone, but then bolted to my room, for my camera, and took a few photos, before being dragged around the room between two young Bulgarian girls, and a line of others

 

[screened porch]

The hotel and holiday company had promised evening entertainment, but there was none in evidence, except for an unadvertised 'pop quiz', where the clientele, with an average age of, at least, 60, were invited to identify some particularly foul-languaged 'Gangsta Rap' songs, played very loudly, by the teenage "animation team", and an hour or so of karaoke, which proved more popular, but was possibly even more unpleasant to the ear However, one evening, while some of us were still eating in the restaurant, a troupe of Bulgarian dancers appeared, and put on a display. I took a short video with my phone, but then bolted to my room, for my camera, and took a few photos, before being dragged around the room between two young Bulgarian girls, and a line of others

Tough job they've got. Seriously.

 

[Jack Black]

Just having a break for a Sunday Sausage Sammich!

 

[Jack Black]

Tough job they've got. Seriously.

I remember seeing a documentary about Bulgaria under the "old system" (they really don't like to talk about). Women there had a really bad deal, as the state demanded 'equality of labour', so there were women working down coal-mines, and carrying out all sorts of other industrial jobs, but because Bulgarian society was fiercely patriarchal, when they came home exhausted, they'd have to clean the house, cook the food, and everything else, while their husbands put their feet up, and got drunk!

 

[Jack Black]

In addition to the main buffet restaurant, where the food wasn't actually very good, the hotel claimed to have an a la carte restaurant, which guests could visit, at least once, during their stay. This proved to be another untruth, and the 'restaurant' was just a conference room, where meetings were held, and where the kitchen staff had their breaks. Despite considerable difficulty in booking places, a few of us decided, we should go there, and with Herculean effort, were eventually presented with a printed sheet, giving a couple of 3 course choices, for the following even. I splashed out for an expensive bottle of red wine, which since my fellow diners, mostly didn't drink wine, I mostly consumed myself! I was glad to have a drink, because the experience was something which would have caused Basil Fawlty to blush! Despite the fact that there were 6 of us, the clueless waitress brought in 4 starters, and seemed unable to comprehend that she was 2 plates short! Two of the plates had some cheap, frozen calamari on them, which we had been served at lunch. After some time, and much angry ranting, and foot-stamping from the waitress, we managed to speak to the chef, who didn't seem to understand what was wrong. I patiently explained that we were 2 meals short, and he suggested there might not be any food left now. One of the ladies said she would share her sister's starter. I had been told that they had served some sushi rolls in the buffet restaurant, and said I would be quite happy with that as a starter. The waitress then brought in 4 main courses, and I sat there waiting for my starter, which eventually came in the form of 3 sushi rolls. They had managed to find a piece of fish for the other diner, and the chef said he would make something especially for me. What he eventually appeared with tasted suspiciously like leftover sushi rice

Earlier, before going into the restaurant, we had been stung for some souvenir photographs, which turned out to be not worth a shilling. I christened the photographer/waiter 'Robespierre' , on the grounds that he cut virtually everyone's head off! One of my fellow diners took a photo with his phone

 

[Jack Black]

The final day of my holiday finally came, but the flight wasn't until 9.45pm. so it made for a longish day, even though I paid extra to occupy my room until our transfer coach arrived at 5.30pm. I took a final short walk with Wee Staggy, tipped the hard-working cleaning staff, and a few other individuals, said goodbye to my new friends, and boarded the coach to the airport.

We had arrived in darkness, but driving to the airport, the pot-holed roads, and the half-built, and abandoned buildings, sometimes built in the middle of nowhere, could not be missed. The airport itself is quite small, with only a few facilities, and the prices are as expensive as airport prices anywhere else. After sitting on a hard chair for a couple of hours, I was glad to board the return flight, which it turned out was only a third full. I had a seat, with extended leg room, at the front of the plane, and the row to myself. Unfortunately, since it was dark outside, little could be seen out of the window, until we flew over Leeds, and I was reminded of what a large city it actually is. I wish I'd taken more video, on my phone, but I wasn't sure it was recording very well. I eventually got home around 1.00am, and not without some difficulties, but I sure was glad to be home

 

[Onebigbill]

Over the next few days, a few of the small tourist shacks began to open, but they sold the same tat, cheap fridge magnets, and forged items of every description, but mainly clothing. I was wary of buying spirits in a country, which so very openly, excelled at counterfeiting branded goods. The shops all sold the same things, with at least every other, displaying a near identical display of cheap extendable batons, plastic knuckle-dusters, and unreliable-looking switchblades and butterfly knives.

At the hotel, another guest told me that I must have made a mistake about Flower Street, and that it extended for over a mile. I went back to explore it anew, but I had not been mistaken, and most of the tourist bars, tattooists, beer and cigarette stores, and strip clubs, remained closed. After, maybe, a quarter of a mile, the street narrowed, and become a grotty back-street, where ancient alcoholics sat drinking from half-hidden bottles, and prostitutes propositioned the few tourists who strayed that far.

(Yes, that's an 'Erotic Bar' and children's toy shop!)

I had met some pleasant and interesting people at the hotel, and enjoyed conversing to the hotel staff in my rudimentary Bulgarian. Unfortunately, on my first night, I got talking to one of two elderly Scottish sisters, who quickly adopted me as their butler/servant/lackey, and were both rude and demanding, as well as being snobbish, and poor company For several days, I was not alone in constantly trying to give Pinky and Perky the slip, but they would appear unexpectedly, and throw a cloud of misery over our enjoyment. I suspect I will remember them for the rest of my days!

One morning, I decided to escape to Nessebar, and set off immediately after breakfast, walking through rough-looking streets, with my camera hidden in my bag. After nearly being savaged by a rabid chihuahua I dubbed 'Spartacus' to some amused taxi-drivers, I continued into the run-down communist-era bus-station, devoid of information, and festooned with dishevelled people, who looked like they had nowhere else to go. In conversation with the Englishman a few days before, I had remarked that he must have seen a lot of changes in his 15 years in Bulgaria, and he said that there had once been gangs of beggars, but that "We got rid of them." I suspected that this meant that the Bulgarian police had driven them off, not wanting the rich tourist trade jeopardised by free-lancers. Unlike, in Britain, where I see it constantly, I never saw any homeless people encamped in shop doorways, and few beggars, but I saw a lot of very poor people, bedraggled, and carrying their belongings, and others drunk in bus-shelters, and sitting asleep on benches. The bus-station looked like it might be somewhere a person might sit, with some apparent legitimacy. A group of drunks passed a bottle discreetly, a woman with a dirty face, and matted hair, eyed me repeatedly, old men nodded on narrow benches. In an hour, only 3 buses passed through the bus-station. The Bulgarian holiday rep had told me that I could catch the 1 or 5 bus to Nessebar, but when I boarded the #5, I was told it didn't go there.

A group of middle-aged German women arrived with suitcases, and waited for a while at one of the bus-stops. After some time, they spoke to someone who pointed them out of the bus-station, and they walked back towards the main road. I began to wonder if I would ever get a bus, so shortly after, I decided to also head to the road, which I knew buses ran along. The German ladies walked along, pulling their large wheeled-suitcases behind them, but with little apparent clue where they were going. One of them spoke to me in German, but what she told me was beyond my comprehension, and we shared no other common language. A younger man spoke to me in a language I couldn't determine, but he was able to speak English, and I advised him of what I knew about the bus numbers. There was little to no pavement alongside the busy highway, and the bus-stop was a long walk, but eventually everyone was there, and joined by a few others.

The first bus was a number 2, which the German ladies boarded, while everyone else continued to wait. After a while, a man began speaking to people, and eventually approached me. As I suspected, he was a taxi driver, and offered me a ride to Old Nessebar for 15 Levs (about $8), which I agreed was a fair price, as people going from the hotel to Nessebar were paying 25 Levs or more. We walked to his car, and as we reached it, I saw the #1 bus coming, but a deal's a deal I figured. Both before our arrangement was agreed, the taxi-driver had told me, in his very limited English, how honest he was, and how straightforward, but then kept trying to encourage virtually every pedestrian we passed to get into MY cab, so he could be paid again! The bus beat us to Nessebar by some minutes, and of course, he then didn't have any change, so I paid 20 Levs, instead of 15, and he still insisted he was a paragon of honesty. Sadly, just as every guide book, airline rep, hotel manager, and police chief will warn you, this kind of behaviour is endemic in Bulgaria. Prices in bars and restaurants are subject to arbitrary change, taxi drivers are crooks, counterfeit goods are sold openly, hotels fleece their clients, illegal money exchanges flourish, the whole place is as bent as a $9 bill!

Your experiences with the "sisters of the damned" reminded of the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar and I'll paraphrase one of the lines...The good that men do is oft entered with their bones; the evil liveth on forever... Actually your vacation in Bulgaria will probably be indelibly imprinted on your brain.

 

[Jack Black]

Your experiences with the "sisters of the damned" reminded of the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar and I'll paraphrase one of the lines...The good that men do is oft entered with their bones; the evil liveth on forever... Actually your vacation in Bulgaria will probably be indelibly imprinted on your brain.

Very good Bill! A few people have asked if I went anywhere nice for my vacation, and I had to tell them, "No, I went to Bulgaria!"

 

[Onebigbill]

Good morning Guardians. Just kicking back today. Mother's Day. My HHB in the pocket today.

 

[SteveC]

Thank you David, cool background in your fine photo

Thanks Vince, hoping to get the rest of my pics posted today

Many thanks my friend, I went there, so you don't have to!

That's a beautiful photo JJ, I love the way you have caught the etch

Good morning Guardians, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend, and that y'all have a lovely Sunday Carrying my Eric Albers Lamb again today

Great picture of a beautiful Lamb !

 

[Jack Black]

Good morning Guardians. Just kicking back today. Mother's Day. My HHB in the pocket today.
View attachment 2185223

I've just been using clips like that to secure my Kona coffee, cool pic Bill

 

[Angry Waiter]

Hi Jack, sounds and looks like quite the adventure you’ve had. Thanks for sharing the commentary and photography.

Disheartening to hear of the vast difference between the sale pitch and the ground truth.

Hope everyone has a great day

 

[r8shell]

I remember seeing a documentary about Bulgaria under the "old system" (they really don't like to talk about). Women there had a really bad deal, as the state demanded 'equality of labour', so there were women working down coal-mines, and carrying out all sorts of other industrial jobs, but because Bulgarian society was fiercely patriarchal, when they came home exhausted, they'd have to clean the house, cook the food, and everything else, while their husbands put their feet up, and got drunk!

This makes me wonder how many of those husbands mysteriously died in their sleep...

 

[Rsmith_77]

This makes me wonder how many of those husbands mysteriously died in their sleep...

"Mysteriously"

 

[Jack Black]

Hi Jack, sounds and looks like quite the adventure you’ve had. Thanks for sharing the commentary and photography.

Disheartening to hear of the vast difference between the sale pitch and the ground truth.

Hope everyone has a great day

Thanks Pete, hope you're having a good day too

This makes me wonder how many of those husbands mysteriously died in their sleep...

 

[Tyson A Wright]

Very good Bill! A few people have asked if I went anywhere nice for my vacation, and I had to tell them, "No, I went to Bulgaria!"

Your after action report made for entertaining reading, but now I'm pretty sure I don't want to go to Bulgaria on vacation anytime soon.

 

[lambertiana]

LOL! Thanks my friend, maybe it's very different in the small villages, and other parts of Bulgaria, but there's no hiding the poverty, neglect, and innate corruption where I went, and if it is like that in one of their most popular tourist resorts, I suspect that it may be considerably worse in other towns and cities. Have a great day Bob

Now I really want to visit Bulgaria!

 

[Rufus1949]

It's a great day for chilling on the Jersey shore. May all of you stay out of trouble (Jack gets into enough of it for all of us ) and enjoy your Sunday.

 

[Jack Black]

Your after action report made for entertaining reading, but now I'm pretty sure I don't want to go to Bulgaria on vacation anytime soon.

I hope I don't do to Bulgaria, what Midnight Express did to Turkey!

Now I really want to visit Bulgaria!

I get you cheap taxi, very honest, very stand-up guy!