Schipka Golden Sands

... 1921)

... 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.

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.

... There were crops planted but we saw only a few cows and sheep with what looked like a shepherd in attendance at one point. Here was the impression of utilitarianism which seems to be the inevitable consequence of being post-communist, an impression reinforced by our travels in Ukraine and even more so in Sochi a few days later. There is a blunting of public joie de vivre and a grimness of public attitude which must reflect the oppressive ...

... 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.

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>In addition to the miles and miles of beach, Varna is a charming little city with a few other things going for it, like a huge park that runs along much of the beach, with a planetarium, a dolphinarium, and some stages for local performances. We stumbled on one of these performances, mostly high school aged children in traditional costumes doing some dancing and singing. Priceless.

There are natural hot springs that come out to meet the Black Sea, so there are ...

... strong of a word, the door was opened by someone. Into the common room we finally found ourselves, "Hi". No answer from the locals. Well great this seems like a really great place. In writing you may not be able to tell that this was sarcasm. Both toilet/showers were busy so even though we both needed to go to the bathroom we had to wait to use the filthy things. Finally Dave the owner showed up ...

... years ago) and we would have to go around. We found our way to the other side of the landslide and then asked for more directions ... we were on the right track ... just up that way. Our third enquiry had us just up the hill, turn right, then left, then right where we finally found it but the sign was written in Cyrillic lettering. We checked in to the old but comfortable multi storey hotel, complete with pool and ...

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 ...