Viva Hotel Golden Sands

... a really strong north easterly wind which was being exploited by hundreds of wind turbines to make pollution free electricity, what a beautiful site!<br><br>Southward I found myself atop of white cliffs overlooking the ocean, they looked just like Dover's. As soon as I could I descended down to a beach and discovered a near abandoned campsite, set up camp, made a fire on the sand and cooked dinner for a young German couple and their infant daughters. Good company and good ...

... under which the newly democratic states must have existed under communism. Those at the top of the political food chain got the perks and those under the heel got on with their lives in a suppressed sort of way, all the while looking over their shoulders to make sure that they were not coming under surveillance or bringing themselves to the notice of the authorities. It must have taken a lot of courage or foolhardiness to have spoken ...

... 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>

... Black Sea coast gathers on the beach on the night of June 30 to party all night and watch the sunrise on the July Morning. We joined in the festivities, but didn't wait for the sun. It was fun to be in a town where everyone was so excited about a somewhat random tradition. <br><br>So we won't be staying for 3 weeks, or 3 months, as some of our fellow travelers have, but it has been great here, and we feel refreshed and ready to take on Turkey for the last few weeks of our trip.

... 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 ...

... to stay for a while and so rented our umbrella ($6A) and enjoyed a couple of hours swimming and relaxing by the Black Sea. The whole area is the Surfers Paradise of Bulgaria with massive high rise luxury resorts, carnival rides, allocated beach areas, parasailing and masses of cafe&#8217;s, bars and restaurants. Later we walked back to the hotel and had a swim in the pool before ordering a pizza to have on our balcony.

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 ...

... restaurant on the beach and then made our way back to the car. Went for drive after that through Varna city centre, grabbed some lunch and went for a walk along the garden boulevarde that follows along the coastline. Even had one Bilgarian recognise me from working with the Stella Maris in Australia though I could not actually place him, I must have made some sort of impression on him so that he remembered me. Finally got some nice ...

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.