Bulgaria travel blog
I bought my sleeping bag way back in 1998, shortly before buying a four-wheel drive and heading off on an around Australia adventure. It was the best I had ever owned, lightweight and toasty warm and made in Australia. For over twenty years my sleeping back kept me snug and warm on hikes, four-wheel drive and remote motorcycle trips, overseas adventures, and just crashing on a mate’s couch. It had a few minor repairs over the years, and a little…
A GLIMPSE INTO BULGARIA’S COMMUNIST PAST Close to the centre of Sofia, in an ordinary, non-descript housing block, is a unique time capsule. The Red Flat is an apartment that has been set up to replicate a family residence typical of 1980s urban Bulgaria. I went along for a look, and found unique museum providing a fascinating insight into life in communist Bulgaria. After buying my ticket at a shop around the corner, I buzzed the Red Flat from the…
Sofia, Bulgaria I like to walk. Whenever I book accommodation in a new place I try to find a central spot from which I can explore on foot. You get to know a place better when you walk around it, and I like the feeling of becoming familiar with my new little neighbourhood of streets, alleys and parks. City Garden was only a short distance from my apartment in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, and I found myself walking through it many…
Sofia, Bulgaria After arriving in Sofia, Bulgaria, I spent some time trying to find out where I could get my second covid-19 vaccination. Even after translation, the results of my internet searches were not particularly helpful. Most advised that I should attend one of the vaccination points, without providing any information about where these points actually were. So I had the same plan as for my first vaccination in Varna (see First Covid-19 Vaccination): just turn up at somewhere medical…
TREKKING THE TARNS After a few dramas travelling from Plovdiv to the small town of Sapareva Banya, I was pleased to plonk my bags down in my accommodation for the night. Plovdiv to Sapareva Banya isn’t so far as the Bulgarian hooded crow flies, however the direct bus I had planned to catch turned out not to exist, so it was a two train and one bus dogleg via Sofia instead. I arrived just on dusk, and was a little…
AIRSPACE AND THE SPACE RACE I’ve always been a bit partial to aviation history, and when I heard that Plovdiv was home to Bulgaria’s National Aviation Museum I was keen to have a look. After a few dramas trying to find the correct platform for my train, I rode to Mavrudovo Station and piled out. A short walk and I arrived at the gates of the Aviation Museum, which had a decidedly Eastern Bloc feel. When I arrived at the…
WRECKED AND SCUTTLED IN BULGARIA’S BLACK SEA We jammed the cars full of diving gear, and squeezed in for the hour’s drive south from Nessebar on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. For once I was usurped for the front seat; a massive Latvian bloke who had 10cm of height over me and about 25kg of weight was rightly granted the extra legroom. The Black Sea has a long maritime history, and we were off to spend the day diving shipwrecks in…
Hatchback In The USSR Right next to Varna’s bus station is the city’s Grand Mall; a modern shopping centre full of brand name stores and teenagers whiling away their summer school holidays. Somewhat strangely, it is also home to Varna’s Retro Museum, a treasure trove of soviet-era cars and memorabilia. Now that’s gotta be worth a look. After handing over my Lev I entered the museum, and I have to say it was pretty impressive. There are over fifty cars…
I heard that the Bulgarians were willing to vaccinate tourists against Corona, so the day after I arrived in Varna I set off to find out if it was true. I found the location of a local medical centre, and after a short walk arrived at the address. There was a chemist adjoining the clinic, so I thought I would ask there first. Using a translation app on my phone, I explained that I was a visitor from Australia and…
After six weeks in Turkey I was starting to put a Turkish vocabulary together. Shamefully, the last time I was in the country I had only picked up three words. I had ‘thankyou’ plus two others – which I learned whilst searching for sailboat parts in Tuzla’s marine supply shops – which meant ‘yeah mate I’ve got some out the back’ and ‘nah mate can’t help ya’ respectively. But after meeting a friend on my latest visit who is a…