“BULGARIA REMINDS ME OF BRITAIN, AS IT WAS 50 YEARS AGO”

Image by: Google Maps 2013

Bob Simister, purchased a property in the small village of Dolna Lipnitza in 2012. He shared with me a lot of interesting stories in our Skype conversation. I have summarised them in a 14 minute audio slideshow with images from his trip in Bulgaria. So… make a cup of tea, sit comfortably and listen to his story!

PURCHASING A PROPERTY IN BULGARIA- STILL PROFITABLE… BUT HURRY!

Photo by: Nikolai Berbatov

“Cheap properties”, “a lot of sun”, “beautiful landscapes”- this is how people used to attract purchasers to the Bulgarian property market in recent years. However, because of some economic changes the expression “cheap properties” might soon disappear from the dictionary of advertisers.

Why buy your Bulgarian property now?

Looking at the chart published by the Global Property Guide, property prices in Bulgaria plunged in 2008 because of the deep world economic recession.

In contrast to this in 2012 prices became more stable. During the past year  the property prices continued to fall, but “at a slower pace” says the Global Property Guide.

The explanation is very simple. With the rising of the life quality in Bulgaria began the rise in the property prices.

In the climate of economic recession Bulgaria has managed to continue developing its road and motorway network system.

In summer 2013 the construction of the Sofia-Burgas motorway will be completed. This will make the travel time from the capital city of Bulgaria to the coast 2 hours shorter and it will also increase property prices both on the coast and in Sofia. By the end of 2013 one will be able to travel the 345 km from Sofia to Burgas in 3 hours if one drives at 140 km/h.

Photo by: BGNES

Another factor which increased the estate prices is the Sofia Underground. Before it was build, the apartments and houses in the suburbs were really cheap, but now they are almost as expensive as those in the city centre, because the “tube” makes the distances seem shorter.

This is why, according to the European Statistical System, this October Bulgaria was ranked as “first” in Europe for construction production.

Photo by: Nikolay Nikolov

Based on the latest research one I can say that the golden years of extremely cheap properties in Bulgaria are about to come to an end. One can still find huge apartments for 30,000 Euro or beautiful traditional house in the Bulgarian mountains for 6,000 Euro, but these opportunities will probably disappear by the end of 2014.

My advice is to consider very carefully what do you wish in the New Year, and if this is the purchase of property in sunny Bulgaria, don’t waste any time, GO FOR IT!

THE BULGARIAN NEW YEAR’S EVE DANCE- DUNAVSKO HORO

Photo by: Manuil Vasilev

Spending New Year’s Eve in Bulgaria could be one of the most exciting experiences of your life, and if you want to be a “qualified” member of the party team there is something very important, that you have to know before you go to a New Years Eve Party in Bulgaria. You have to learn how to dance the “DUNAVSKO HORO”.

It doesn’t matter if you are spending New Year’s Eve at a restaurant, in the town’s square, or at a friend’s house, the first thing that you will hear after the President’s speech immediately after midnight is the melody of “DUNAVSKO HORO”.

While the music is being played, people grab each other by the hand and start dancing in a circle.

Everybody should take part in the “horo”, being shy is not an excuse. As much as you try to avoid the crowd and the dancing there always will be somebody who will grab you by the hand and force you to join the “horo”.

The Bulgarian “horo” is a symbol of the unification of the Bulgarian nation. The tradition of dancing “horo” dates back to the creation of Bulgaria and has been preserved for 14 centuries.

“Dunavsko horo” comes from the northern part of Bulgaria and nowadays it is known as the New Years Eve dance throughout the whole country.

Typical for this “horo” is that it is very live and energetic, there are a lot of “jumps” and movement of hands is in the rhythm of the music.

This video will teach you how to dance “DUNAVSKO HORO”. Don’t worry if it is too difficult for you. It is more important to have fun and to be a part of the celebration.

HOW TO MAKE THE TRADITIONAL BULGARIAN BANITZA WITH PUMPKIN

Every holiday has a  taste of its own – Easter tastes of chocolate eggs, New Years Eve tastes of champagne but Christmas tastes more special than any other holiday!

Here is an idea of how to make your Christmas a little bit more special! A traditional Bulgarian Christmas dish called Banitza with pumpkin is one of the odd number (usually 7, 9 or 11) of vegetarian dishes always present on the Christmas Eve table.

In this video I will show you how to cook Banitza with pumpkin and tell you something special about the native traditions and beliefs about Christmas.

You will need the following ingredients for the Banitza:

200 gram walnuts

1 kg pumpkin

200 gram sugar

400 gram pastry

oil

This is what the typical Bulgarian pastry looks like:

 

THUNDERSTORMS, BARGAINING AND A CAUTIOUS ENGLISHMAN IN BANSKO

Peter Burns visited Bulgaria in 2007 with the intention of investigating what opportunities exist to enable one to buy a property in Bansko.  What impressed him and what made him suspicious you can find out by listening to my interview with him.

LOVE YOUR CHRISTMAS IN BULGARIA

Photo by: BGNES

You are fed up with all the cheesy songs about snow, love and ringing bells… and movies with thin and flawless Hollywood actors?! Well…then this year you can do something different, something Bulgarian!

If you have already packed and you are on the way to Bulgaria, here are some ideas about how to spend your holiday.

Feel Christmassy!

Visit a cultural event.  Bulgarians are very generous when it comes to celebrations. Many and different concerts are organized every year in each city of Bulgaria, where you can see national folk dances and listen to traditional music.

If you want to experience something more spectacular, you should definitely visit Sofia around Christmas.

Photo by: Nadezda Chipeva

I strongly recommend that you to go to the opera or ballet. “Sofia Opera and Ballet” is an old well recognised institution.

This year the are offering the ballet: “The Nutcracker” on the 21th , 22^nd, 23^rd, and 26^th.  This show will make you feel in the Christmas spirit better than any Hollywood movie. You can buy tickets directly from their website.

Photo by: Paul Ion

Before going to the opera don’t forget to have a walk around the beautiful city centre of  the Capital.

Near the opera house you can find “Rakovska street” , known as the Theatre Street or Sofia’s Broadway, full with stunning historical buildings. You can also see the Bulgarian National Assembly, the “Alexander Nevski” Cathedral and German Christmas Market near them.

Taste the Bulgarian Christmas

If you want this Christmas not only to look, but also to feel and taste different, then cook some typical Bulgarian Christmas dishes.

On the 23rd of December  Bulgarians cook a rich Christmas Eve supper. The menu consists of an odd number(7, 9 or 11) of vegetarian dishes.

According to tradition the Christmas Eve Dinner table should not be cleared until the next morning in order to provide sustenance for the spirits of ancestors who may come back to visit and eat before Christmas morning.

Here are my 3 delicious suggestions

Round loaf of bread with a lucky coin inside

Photo by: Boryana Ilieva

A special aspect of the Bulgarian Christmas Eve meal is the round loaf of bread, in which a coin is hidden. The person who finds the coin will be rewarded with good fortune for the next year.

For the bread you will need 700g flour, 50g oil, 1,5 teaspoons salt, 1 package baking powder. Put all these together and knead the mixture until you have a soft dough.  At the end put the coin inside the dough.  Bake it for 40 minutes in 220 C*.

After the bread is ready, divide it into pieces according to the number of people in your family. You can even name a peace for your house or business, so that you will have good fortune in these places.

Sarmi

Photo by: Yolanta Delibozova

Banitca with Pumpkin

When you wake up on Christmas day…

The first thing you should do after you wake up on Christmas Day is to visit a Bulgarian orthodox church and enjoy the liturgy.  The Bulgarian Christmas Ceremony is unique with its beautiful orthodox chanting. It is still a christian tradition, but you will experience it in a completely new and different way.

Meet the tradition “Koleduvane”

In some Bulgarian cities, most often in the villages around Burgas and in the Strandja Mountains you are very likely to be woken up on Christmas morning by a group of young men singing.

They are known as the “koledari” and they walk from door to door singing their songs in order to wish Good Health and Fortune to the owners of the houses which they visit and to all the people who hear them.

If  the “koledari” knock on your door you should be very happy because they will sing for the good fortune of your house.

How to travel around Bulgaria at Christmas 

One of the things which could destroy your Christmas is the Bulgarian State Railway system.

I know that people all over Europe rely on public transport and especially on railways, but never make the mistake of travelling by train in Bulgaria. They are about 30 years old and  extremely dirty and slow.

My advice is to rent a car or take the bus.

SURVA – THE BIGGEST WINTER FESTIVAL IN BULGARIA

Photo by: Dimo Dimov

While in the west on the 1st of January you can only see nothing but confetti and empty bottles rolling around in the streets, in some Bulgarian cities you still have the chance to journey back to ancient, long forgotten times and join the cruel demons of these old pagan times, rumbling and passing from house to house through the whole city.

Every year on the 1st of January crowds of old and young, men and women dress like ancient monsters called “kukeri” and perform a ritual by dancing in the streets. The whole city resounds to the ringing of their brass bells.

Photo by: Valentina Petrova

They wander through the whole city, sometimes entering the house of a complete stranger .The tradition says that people should be very welcoming to them, because if the “kukeri” visit your home they will chase away everything evil.

The costumes of these “creatures” are made from animal fur (most often the skin of a wild goat). They are made in such way that the “kuker” looks engulfed in flames blown by the wind while it dances.

With this dance people believe that they will scare away all the bad spirits, ghosts and illnesses. It looks like a carnival of the ancient pagan demons. This tradition is called “SURVA” and is more than 1000 years old.

Photo by: Valentina Petrova

If you happen to be in their way it is very likely that they would “attack” and “fight” with you. If this happens, don’t try to run away… because they will catch you.

Of course not only because of that, does the tradition say that if you get in a fight with a “kuker” it means that all the bad luck, thoughts and ghosts will be exorcised from you. In the end you are expected to pay the “kuker” between 1 and 5 lev for this complex ritual, otherwise they will not leave until you do.

Photo by: Valentina Petrova

The “kukeri” also are followed by other people, who are given the freedom to dress as ridiculously as they want.  If you want to be part of them, just use your latest Halloween costume and start walking and dancing with them.

They are not likely to start a “fight”, but they will try to perform their crazy tricks on you and they will try your patience. For example there might be people dressed like crazy doctors,  policemen or barbers.

The doctors may try to “cure” you by giving you a glass of “rakia” which has to be drunk immediately. The policemen may try to fine you for something that you haven’t done, and the barbers will try to shave you in the middle of the street.

And guess what you have to do in order to make them stop – you have to pay again of course. But don’t forget that it is all worthwhile, because this ritual will protect you from all evil.

Photo by: Neli Tomova

Where you can see “kukeri”?

The best place where you can see the dance of the “kukeri” is Pernik. Apart from the traditional “kukeri” dance on the 1st of January there is a big festival in Pernik each year. It is also known as the biggest international festival of masquerade games in the Balkans and has a 46 year long history. The festival has a competitive character, since you can see “kukeri” groups not only from Bulgaria, but also from other Slavic countries. This year the festival will be held on the 1st, 2nd and 3th of February. There is a parade which last all day through the city centre.

Photo by: Neli Tomova

In the past “Surva” has been celebrated in every Bulgarian city, but nowadays only some cities have preserved this old tradition. It is more popular in south- west Bulgaria in cities of Pernik, Blagoevgrad, Bansko, Sandanski, Petrich, Rila, Kiustendil, Razlog and others. You can see “kukeri” on the streets even immediately after midnight, as the New Year begins, and they will continue their rituals until sunset on the 1st of January. The more modern cities like Sofia and Burgas have long forgotten this tradition.

Of course nowadays the celebration of “Surva” is much different from how it used to be in the past. It has become more a way of entertaining people and mocking Balkan culture, but it still guarantees you to have fun and feel the spirit of Bulgaria.

GUIDELINES FOR ESCAPING TO BULGARIA

How to prepare for the trip

If you come from the UK, before you drive about 1600 miles and spend 36 hours in your car, and if you want your travel to be easy you should keep in mind a few things.

Despite the fact that you are travelling through Europe, every country has its different set of rules which you should consider. If you want to avoid being fined check that you have all the equipment necessary and required for travelling legally in different European countries.

First make sure each person in the car has their own hi-viz jacket, take two warning triangles, spare  bulbs, a fire-extinguisher, first aid kit, two breathalyzer kits. In the end it might turn out that you may not need some of the items listed above, but it always pays off to be well prepared.

Choose the best route

There are three main routes from the UK to Bulgaria. The easiest and quickest one is through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Serbia. Everyone who has travelled all three ways recommends the one through Serbia. If you are going that way make sure that your insurance covers you in Serbia since the country is not a member of the EU.

Travelling should be relatively easy, because France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Hungary are in the Schengen borderless zone, but you must arm yourself with patience when you cross both the Serbian and Bulgarian borders.

You should also consider that the closer you get to Bulgaria the more pot holes you will find in the roads and the more unpredictable drivers you will meet.

Some people choose to go through Romania instead because it is part of EU and you have full EU coverage there. If you make this choice you have to be very careful, because you will spend hours there, avoiding millions of pot holes, which can ruin your wheels or rip your tyres. On top of that you might find yourself trapped and waiting many hours for the ferry across the Danube.

Taking into account the distance, you will definitely need to rest and spend at least one night somewhere. The best place to do that is Germany or Austria. Vignettes are required for Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Austria and Hungary can be bought as 1 Vignette. This costs about 20 EUR and Romania costs about 5 EUR.

When you come back remember that last country where you can buy cheap fuel is Austria.

There is another route via Italy and Greece. It is much longer, but many people find it more pleasant. This route has been often been chosen by people who want to enjoy the scenery, but it is time-consuming and expensive.

 How much will it cost?

When you add together the cost of fuel, vignettes, insurance, breakdown cover, ferries etc., the total turns out to be around £400. During your journey try to not use cash (by withdrawing money from an ATM), but rather use your bank card because of the better exchange rate when making purchases with this.