This is not a joke !

 Mishenden (Mouse Feastday); St Nestor’s Day. Name day of everyone named Nestor. The day is honoured by women. They are forbidden to do any household work, otherwise mice will harm the house and the grain. They sew up the front and the back of their skirts – resembling the symbolical “sewing up” of the mice’s eyes. It is strictly forbidden to talk about mice.

Budget airlines for Ruse ?

The airport in the Bulgarian Danube city of Ruse is ready to be offered on concession to be used for low-budget flights, the Ruse District Governor, Plamen Stoilov, informs Monday.
Stoilov said the "Shtraklevo" airport will benefit from the fact the airports of the Romanian capital Bucharest are experiencing a traffic overload.
According to the Governor, the previous two attempts to concession the airport failed not because the offer is not lucrative but because the proposals have been poorly prepared and the conditions unrealistic.
Stoilov reports he has already advertised the concession with 10 major airlines in Europe and on other continents, adding in addition to the concession, he would seek other ways for the use of "Shtraklevo" such as public-private partnerships.
The airport was built in the distant 1967. It has 2 000 decares of land and a 2 500-meters long runway in good condition. In addition, the location offers opportunities to combine flights with railroad, road, river transportation, and air cargo.

Ski value

Bansko, Bulgaria's biggest ski resort, is the second-cheapest resort for British skiers in the world, according to new research by the Post Office.
Poiana Brasov in Romania came top in a study comparing costs at 12 of the cheapest resorts. At GBP 259.53 for six skiing essentials, including a week's ski pass, ski hire, evening meals and drinks, Poiana Brasov was six per cent cheaper than Bansko in Bulgaria and up to 20 per cent cheaper than Slovenia's Kanin resort.
The news comes just days after Bansko was named the winter capital on the Balkans at an international tourism exhibition in the Serbian town of Novi Sad.
The little town bordering Pirin National Park, about 160 kilometers south of Bulgaria's capital Sofia, offers a stark but nice contrast between the cobbled streets and churches of the old town and hundreds of millions of euros poured into hotels, ski runs and bright blue gondola bubbles in its modern part.
Supervising all this is the roughly 2,800-meter Todorka peak.
The formerly off-the-beaten-path destination has recently gone mainstream, but it is very rarely that tourists see the vistas doom-sayers warn against - construction cranes and gaudy mutrobaroque hotels, favored by the nouveau riche and organized crime mobsters, known as mutri, with which they try to prove their wealth.
Tourists need to spend no more than 25 euros a night in those hotels, which exemplify Bansko's ambitions best – quite chic, but without the ridiculous attempts to be consmopolitan often found at Bulgarian resorts.
The old town, where the prices are lower even than the capital Sofia, is a collection of ski and souvenir shops with cozy, dimly lit taverns and restaurants. It is not unusual to see an entire lamb or pig roasting on a spit in front of one of the eateries.
The alternatives are the pubs, frequented by British, Irish and Greek tourists, who, together with the Russians, have until recently been the driving force of Bansko's prosperity.
Critics say Bansko was built to meet the standards of not that wealthy tourists, who do not bring lots of money to the country. As the global crisis bit, however, the number of these tourists, who out of fears for their jobs, decided to skip the holidays altogether, drastically decreased.
Bansko's long-term attraction will be limited, unless what is on offer complies with the highest standards, they say.

Uncle's Comment: It may offer good value for money, but a recent report in the Financial Times described investing in property in the winter resorts as a 'disaster'

Well at least the Romanians are coming !

BULGARIA TARGETS ROMANIAN TOURISTS AT BUCHAREST FAIR
Bulgaria's Economy Ministry is planning to present the country as a destination at the Romanian Tourism Fair 2010.
The international tourist expo will take place in the Romanian capital Bucharest on October 21-24, 2010.
It is usually attended by over 30 000 businesspeople from the tourism sector.
Bulgaria will take part in the Romanian Tourism Fair with an information pavilion of 110 square meters.
A total of 16 Bulgarian tour operators, travel agencies, tourism organizations and municipalities will be presented in Bucharest.
Romania is rapidly turning into one of the top sources of foreign tourists for Bulgaria together with the traditionally important German, Russian, and British tourists.
An estimated one million Romanian tourists visited Bulgaria in 2009.

Brits in Bulgarian elections

The British community in the village of Avren, municipality of Varna, fed up with what they see as the failure of local government, has decided to take matters in their own hands by appointing their own candidate in the local elections, the private Bulgarian television channel bTV reported on October 18 2010.

About 20 British families permanently reside in Avren, one of the largest British communities in the region. The community has apparently grown tired of their pleas falling on deaf ears, so in accordance with the Lisbon Treaty, they have decided to act.

The Lisbon treaty is an international agreement amending the two treaties which comprise the constitutional basis of the European Union – the Treaty of Maastricht, and the Treaty of Rome, or the initial treaty of the European Community. It stipulates that every citizen of a European member state country is allowed the same rights in his adopted country as local citizens.

The treaty, which was signed by EU member states on December 13 2007, and entered into force on 1 December 2009, states in some of its provisions, that it ensures greater economic, social and territorial cohesion as well as "common safety concerns in public health matters, for the aspects defined in this Treaty".

The British in Avram are upset because the locals keep on littering. They say that they want to keep the place as tidy as it would be in the UK.

Like other residents of Avren, the expats are also concerned at the poor state of local infrastructure. Hence they have formed – in a move unprecedented for Bulgaria –  a foreign club that will have a say in local politics.

Uncle's Comment :This I think refers to the creation of an NGO or political party.Previously British residents have stood for the local councils, even some for 'Nationalist' parties.Obviously they didn't win.

No British airways flights to Varna

Yes,unbelievably it has just been announced that BA are withdrawing the London-Varna service, it is an incredibly backward step but blamed on unprofitability.A Varna-Budapest-London service is being offered in partnership with Malev but it will mean a transfer and hanging around at Budapest.So Wizzair is the best alternative.

Sofia property prices even out

Prices of properties in Sofia have been stabilized, according to data from Bulgarian real estate agency "Bulgarian Properties" and credit holding "Creditex & Hypocredit."
According to the data, the main reason for the stabilization of prices is the reduced construction of new apartments. The National Statistics Institute has announced that construction permits have decreased by 1/3 in the last year.
Another reason is the resumed crediting, which makes sellers more relentless during negotiations.
"Two months before the end of 2010, we can conclude that this year did not show any substantial change in the volume of deals or in prices of properties, in comparison to 2009," the Operation Director of "Bulgarian Properties," Polina Stoykov, said.
According to her, reaching a level of stability was important after periods of high prices, followed by a drastic drop of real estate prices in 2009.
"Bulgarian Properties" has registered that the average price for sol apartments in Sofia in the third quarter of 2010 was EUR 840 per sq.m., which is BGN 30 per sq.m. less in comparison to the second quarter of the year.
Stoykova pointed out that this is a minimal change in the property prices for the past months. Compared to the second quarter, the drop of prices is 3,5%, while compared to the first three months of 2010, the drop is 16%.
The lowest real estate price in Sofia, as registered by the company, was in August – EUR 740 per sq.m. In September, the demand for luxury apartments in the Bulgarian capital increased, which led to the increase of the average price - EUR 997 per sq.m.
At the same time, the number of sold apartments in Sofia in the third quarter of 2010 increased by 10% compared to the previous three months.
"The market was more active this summer, in comparison to previous years," Stoykova said.
According to "Creditex & Hypocredit," prices for small apartments have been stable in the past few months, which in their opinion is the first sign for a forthcoming period of increased prices in this segment of the market.
The conclusion has been based on calculation of the current profitability of residential properties, which is the ratio of the sales price and the potential rent price. It is indicative of the trends in the property market.
The credit company has stated that at present the sales prices are stabilizing faster than rentalprices, which leads to a drop of the current profitability to 4,29% for the first half of 2010,compared to 4,51for 2009.
The drop is felt most significantly in apartments up to 50 sq.m. The company believes that it would soon be felt for bigger apartments as well.
"Apartments in Sofia are already reaching their lowst levels," Krasimir Gumnishki, manager Business Crediting in "Creditex & Hypocredit", said.

Autumn comes

Unseasonably cold here, it's 10 C at the moment about 10 C lower than last week !.It's always a shock that the seaons change so rapidly in this region, the UK is slower but I have always said that Bulgaria only has two full seaons, Winter and Summer, the other two are too short to mention.

I see the advantages of Spain where it only gets to 13 C even on Christmas Day, but the snow has a certain allure here and I would not give it up for the world.

Norman Wisdom

So farewell then Sir Norman Wisdom, slapstick icon of several generations.When I was a kid, afternoon tv was never complete without one of his films.In Albania he was a national hero, since his work was the only western films allowed on the dictatorships tv.

As a child I never found him remotely funny, but as you grow older the skill and comic timing come across.Another thing was the sheer longevity of the man, 95 years old and,until recently,physically fit.

Great Early holiday deals

This is one of my favourite hotels and all inclusive for a week is from 350 pounds.This year we will be doing day trips from Albena and negotiating discounts with one of the leading beachside restaurants in the resort.We will be taking guests to the races near Balchik, to Cape Kaliakra and to the Mussel Farm, amongst other offers.Pick ups will be from Golden Sands as well.
Airport drop offs and pick ups are offered too.Just e mail me at info@gobg.co.uk for further details.Click on the title for the link to the Hotel Gergana.

Spotted Dog Pub Barking

The headline has a link that takes you to my local pub in Barking, Essex.The Spotted Dog is very old pub, dating back to the 19th century with wonderful decor.The manager,Russell,is a great bloke who works very hard to make the pub a great place to go.I miss it alot, moreover the really great regulars.

Why Bulgaria ?

I get asked alot by people on this blog and on my website this : 'Of all the places you could go and live and work, why Bulgaria ?'.

I gave been here full time since July 2004 and have loved it here.Living here full time rather than the holiday/holiday home experience is rather different and more challenging.However the very varied hot summer/cold winter climate make it almost like two countries and the pattern of life is very relaxed.

Living close to the sea is a very wonderful positive, but the hinterland is lush and verdant in the summer and snow crusted at the height of winter.

Day to day living expenses here are still very cheap, but have increased significantly since I first came here.A meal in a restaurant with wine still costs only 10 pounds, but petrol and electricity are relatively expensive.A weeks shopping for one should be about 15 pounds.

Generally the people are friendly and getting around is pretty easy with plentiful and cheap public transport.

Moving to Bulgaria is basically a quality of life move and I recommend it to anyone.Property remains very cheap here, prices have fallen by 30% since 2007.

French thieves steal entire Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard !

Thieves in France have broken into a vineyard and stolen an entire crop of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, say police.

They struck in Villeneuve-les-Beziers on Sunday night, taking advantage of a full moon and using a harvesting machine to seize 30 tonnes of the crop.

Farmer Roland Cavaille said similar crimes had taken place before in the Languedoc-Roussillon, one of France's best-known wine growing regions.

He said the theft amounted to a year's work and about 15,000 euro (£12,900).

"They used a harvesting machine to gather grapes. This means there was no need to have lots of people, two people would have been enough," Mr Cavaille told Le Parisien newspaper.

"The area was quite isolated, it is a a few kilometres from the village and near a river. So the thieves were able to work safely."

One witness reported hearing engine noises in the early hours of the morning and police have been examining footprints left at the scene, said the newspaper.

But Mr Cavaille said the thieves were clearly professionals who could easily sell on the grapes.

He said there had been a similar grape theft had been reported in the area four years ago and that another complaint had also been filed this year.

While his vineyard was insured, it did not cover the loss of the grapes themselves.

Mr Cavaille told Europe1 news he had no idea who had taken the grapes but that he was angered and surprised by the theft, as he believed there was a "degree of solidarity" between winemakers

Another health minister bites the dust

Bulgaria has moved onto its third minister of Health in two years with the resignation of Ana-Maria Borisova.She was appointed as a breath of fresh air, but that really meant she knew nothing about Bulgaria's underfunded and creaking healthcare system.Proposals to close smaller hospitals in small towns have not gone down well and staff struggle with low wages and outdated equipment.

The real problem is a lack of cash in the system and a lumbering healthcare bureaucracy.

Buying to become more transparent...er..

New rules that envisage that all property transactions in Bulgaria must be carried out via bank transfer have been attacked by opponents, who say they serve the interests of banks and notaries.
"The law will trample on the interests of a large number of Bulgaria to the benefit of banks and notaries," comments Nikolay Pehlivanov from the nationalist Ataka party as the legislative amendments are about to be moved to parliament for their conclusive approval.
According to him the new rules mean more fees for the clients without any guarantees for their safety.
The rules that envisage that all property transactions in Bulgaria must be carried out via bank transfer were proposed in the hope that they will help reduce property fraud and money laundering, as well as ensure that all fees and taxes owing to the state are paid.
As well as reducing corruption, it also aims to ensure that all fees and taxes owed to the state are paid, through the creation of a State Depositary Bank which would serve as a guarantee for all payments in the form of the state acting as custodian for deposits.
The legislative changes will require that both the vendor and the buyer specify their bank accounts for conducting a property deal. Alternatively, they could use the account of their notary public.
The conditions for depositing money into bank accounts as part of the deal will be specified by the respective sides in written agreements.
There is also hope that the new laws may inspire more confidence from overseas property buyers.
But, there are risks to this new system, as sellers and buyers may want to avoid the new fee charged by the bank for servicing the transactions.

Bad News for travellers

Wizz Air, the largest budget air carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, is shutting down its Sofia – Varna service for the winter, according to a Varna Airport media statement on September 22 2010.

There will be no flights during the winter months, and according to the carrier's website, no flights can be booked currently past the date November 1 2010. However, for the moment, there is no official statement from the carrier itself that the flights are being ceased.

Wizz Air launched its Sofia – Varna service in July 2008, with tickets averaging between 60 and 80 leva, while some tickets were as cheap as 20 leva, depending on reservation. With that, Wizz Air started competing directly with coach companies in Bulgaria which operate on the Sofia – Varna route, charging passengers about 30 leva for a one- way journey.

According to Wizz Air CEO József Váradi, the company has 35 per cent of the budget air travel market in Bulgaria and 19 per cent of the market in Central and Eastern Europe.

Wizz Air expects that by the end of 2010 about one million Bulgarians would have used its services.

Independence Day

Wednesday, September 22, is a national holiday as people across Bulgaria are celebrating the 102^nd year since the country's formal declaration of independence from the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Even though the third Bulgarian state was technically restored in 1878, for the first 30 years of its existence it was a tributary principality to Ottoman Turkey, until complete independence was achieved on September 22, 1908.

After the medieval Bulgarian empire was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1396 AD, Bulgaria was formally restored as a nation-state on March 3, 1878, as a result of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78 brought about by the bloodily crushed April Uprising of 1876.
Under the San Stefano peace treaty between Russia and Ottoman Turkey, Bulgaria was set up as a state on a territory of 170 000 square kilometers encompassing the three historic-geographic regions traditionally inhabited by Bulgarians - Moesia, Thrace, and Macedonia.
Three months later, in July 1878, the Great Powers from the so called "European Concert" revised the San Stefano Treaty in the so called Berlin Congress, an outcome of their conflicting great power interests.
As a result, the Principality of Bulgaria was set up in most of Moesia and the Sofia region on a territory of 63 000 square km. About half of Thrace, or Southern Bulgaria was made an autonomous Ottoman Province called Eastern Roumelia, with a territory of 36 000 square km. The rest of the Bulgarian lands under the Berlin Treaty - including all of Macedonia and half of Thrace - were left in the Ottoman Empire. The Principality of Bulgaria was a vassal state, while Eastern Roumelia was technically an Ottoman province.
Bulgaria's entire political and social life in 1878-1944 was marked by the desire to unify all Bulgarian-populated lands in one nation state - leading the country to participate in five wars in that period. First, the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia in 1885, and the declaration of full independence in 1908 were hailed as crucial and successful but only partial steps towards this goal.
On September 6, 1885, the Principality of Bulgaria unified with the autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Roumelia, a few years after its liberation from Ottoman yoke.
The historic proclamation was made after a march by a handful of Bulgarians from the small town of Saedinenie  ("Unification") to the town of Plovdiv, removing one of the gravest injustices imposed in the wake of the Berlin Congress. The Unification was prepared by a network of secret revolutionary committees in Eastern Roumelia, and was backed by the then Bulgarian ruler, Knyaz (King) Alexander I Batenberg.
Great Britain had been the primary protagonist in downsizing Bulgaria during the Berlin Congress because it feared a large Bulgarian state with access to the Mediterranean would be under Russian influence. However, in 1885-1886, it backed informally but rather noticeably, Bulgaria's Unification, seeing that the Russian Empire at the time was against this move, which stirred diplomatic tension in the Balkans, and seized the chance to demolish Russian influence in Bulgaria.
As other Balkan countries objected to Bulgaria's Unification, Serbia attacked Bulgaria in November 1885. In a grand national effort to defend the Unification, the young Bulgarian Army, which had just been left by its senior Russian officers, repulsed the attack, and defeated the Serbs on their territory, thus making the Unification of Northern and Southern Bulgaria a fait accompli.
But it was not until 1886 when the Great Powers recognized the almost doubled state of Bulgaria with a Bulgarian-Ottoman treaty.
After the Unification of 1885, Bulgarian efforts were focused on making Macedonia and the rest of Thrace part of the country. Thus, Bulgaria backed the VMORO (Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization) and its staging of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenia Uprising in 1903 and several other revolts in then European Turkey in that period.
As the uprisings of the Bulgarian populations in Thrace and Macedonia failed, the Bulgarian leadership decided the only way help its compatriots still living under Ottoman yoke was to wage a war against Ottoman Turkey. To do this, Bulgaria had to be able to enter international alliances, and to declare war as a sovereign nation state.
Thus, the Bulgarian Cabinet and ruler declared the country's independence on September 22, 1908, in a historic ceremony in one of the nation's medieval capitals Veliko Tarnovo. They used the fact that one of the European Great Powers broke the Berlin Treaty – Austria-Hungary had declared the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it was supposed to rule for a period 30 years, under the Treaty.
The actions of the Bulgarian leaders were in fact coordinated with those of the emperor and government in Vienna. Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following day, ushering into the Bosnian Crisis (or Annexation Crisis) of 1908-1909 creating diplomatic tension among the Great Powers that served as a preview of the Bosnian or Sarajevo Crisis of 1914 leading to the breakout of World War I.
Thus, as a result of Bulgaria's declaration of independence, the Bulgarian ruler Ferdinand I, who until then had been a Knyaz (the Slavic equivalent of “King”), became a Tsar (technically the Slavic title for emperor). Under international diplomatic pressure, Ottoman Turkey reacted to Bulgaria's declaration of independence only with diplomatic protests, without military action.
As it became independent, Bulgaria subsequently took part in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, World War I (1915-1918) in seeking to regain all of its national territory (and in World War II (1941-1945)), being ultimately unsuccessful.
The celebrations of Bulgaria's Indep Day are traditionally held the night of September 22 in Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire that in 1908 Tsar Ferdinand and Prime Minister Alexander Malinov chose as the site for the proclamation of independence.
The Independence Day has been celebrated as an official public holiday since a decision of the Bulgarian Parliament from September 10, 1998.

A national disgrace !

A total of 238 children have died in state-run homes in the country over the past decade, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee said in a report Monday (September 20th). According to the document, three quarters of these deaths could have been prevented: 31 were caused by starvation, 84 were the result of exhaustion and two children died as a result of violence. In some cases, children were tied to their beds or wheelchairs or were given strong tranquilising medicines to be "chemically immobilised". Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev told reporters Monday that investigations are under way in connection with 166 of the reported deaths. "In these cases there is enough evidence to suspect criminal negligence," he said.

Europe According to Bulgaria

This is a Bulgarian designers humourous take on how Bulgarians see the rest of Europe !.

Domingo update

The latest news from Balchik Council is that the concert will be next year.When further information is available it will be posted here.