Hotel Flamingo Grand Albena

... realised in the morning was actually a rubbish dump. Despite the surroundings and the Gypsy who was screaming at his horse to go through a puddle for half an hour we cooked a wonderful dinner. It was nice to camp in a small group, I slept better.<br><br>The next morning we left our cozy dump in search of coffee, found it, boiled up water and ate some delicious bread and cheese. It was lunchtime before I bid my southerly farewell and wished my friends a safe westerly course.<br><br>

We woke up to find ourselves moored at the quay in Varna with a long breakwater wall on which people could walk, a Captain Cook office and fish restaurant in a harbour-side building, and quite a few small vessels tied up nearby. <br>Our first stop was at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin where there was commerce going on both inside and outside the very ornately decorated building with high walls and domes painted in predominantly ...

... She tries to visit once a year and I begged her to let me tag along. She was gracious enough to conceed and we had a wonderful time.<br><br>Her husband Rick was very jealous that he could not get away from work to join us, the beaches were wonderful the weather mild, and the prices cheap. We were in heaven.

A very nice place and quiet resort, is ideal target for family with kids, food and drinks very cheap and the people are friendly. About the security reasons I saw all the time the officers from Security companies -armed- and Police patrols on the street, here you need just to choose the proper location and enjoy the time.<br>

... where the hot, fresh water and the cold(ish) Salty water meet, and the kiddos splash around and the old people soak their bones. Cute. There is also a natural hot bath along at the end of the beach where I went one night for a soak. Its the little things in life. <br><br>A strange tradition that we stumbled on in Varna is called July Morning, which is based on a song by Uriah Heap by the same name. Apparently, since the end of communism, everyone in Varna, and along the ...

... us all out at 9.30 to go and drink on the beach together. <br><br>We really haven't seen anything in Varna just sat on the beaches during the day and drunk at night time. We have in the end enjoyed our time here in Varna just there aren't many stories to tell or write about, it was just like hanging out with our mates from home. We didn't even manage to take a single photo. <br><br>To Istanbul we go.

... breakfast for the grand total of $24A for the night &#8211; bargain! We had lunch and then walked down to the beach via the usual souvenir shops. The specialty here seems to be old fashioned dress-up photos and to have your portrait drawn (they were actually very good). We arrived at the beach and wandered along the water's edge (it was too hot on the sand) past the many umbrellas and chairs set out for rent. We ...

Due to the Cold War being over and the world seems to a much more settled place now, Russia has an over abundance of FSB officers with nothing to do. So, as not to have them wandering about the workplace with nothing to do, the Russian Government has rented out these ...

Woke up to a great sunny morning after a good night's sleep. Damyan and Erina were already up, planning our trip. We decided to go to Balchik, a small town on the Black Sea coast where a Summer Palace was built for Queen Marie of Romania in around 1926 when Romania had control of this region. Beautiful gardens also surround the Summer Palace covering an area of about 65,000 square metres and has over 2000 species of plants growing ...

Finally got to Varna and caught up with Damyan, though was tiuch n go as my mobile battery was just about flat and \damyan did not yet know where the bus would drop me at. Finally we meet up, and we head back to his place, say hello to his parents, and wife and then we head out for dinner at an \italian pizza parlour. After dinner had an early night as \i was completelly exhausted and was looking forward to a good night's sleep.