Hi folks,
I said earlier I would tell you all about my experience in Bulgaria so here goes, first of all I won't bother you all with the buying process because I think you will have all heard various stories of good and bad, however I will mention that mine was a walk in the park. Anyway lets move on, once I had bought the house I returned to the uk for a short while which was back in the end of 2006, once back in the uk I thought oh well I've done it now so now what am I going to do with it ? The house was only 7 years old and at the end of the village and quite private but this wasn't intentional, I just happened to like everything about this house and the village it is in. After a few months I decided to return and see what I would like to do i.e what changes if any I would want bearing in mind I had only seen it in the winter. I decided to drive to BG as I loved driving and thought it was a great way to see a fair bit of Europe which I did. As I arrived into the village and was approaching my house the dear old lady who must be very close to 100 was sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine as I got closer she got up and stopped me and started to go on about something ? and not speaking Bulgarian I hadn't got a clue what she was saying to me but I did detect the smiles which led me to perhaps believe that I wasn't in any trouble. Once I moved on, I came to my house which I have to say looked very different in the summer, in fact to me it was my worst nightmare, I unlocked the gate and my first thought was Oh my god !!! and this is what I was greeted with .

I could see Green stuff growing in the garden from the gate I thought I was in the Amazon Rain forest
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And as I got into the garden there was even more
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I wondered down the garden to investigate and to see how I could resolve this unwated growth
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For me, it was a problem there was all sorts of food growing in my garden because my neighbour had been looking after it for me and said he thought I would need as much as possible for the winter, he had even tended the beehives, well what could I say to him but thank you although inside I was thinking what do I do with all this veg ? On that first day, I spoke to Angel that's my neighbour and asked him if he could show me where to turn on the water and one or 2 other questions I had for him but he simply waved his hands at me in a nice way so it became obvious that he didn't know what I was asking him? Silly me, so I tried with hand signals to explain what I wanted to know and slowly after about 2 hours I found out how to turn the water on. This made me think I am in trouble here one of the things I hadn't considered was the language, anyway later that day I decided that I should do some shopping so I drove off to Yambol so I thought but found myself in Stara Zagora emmmmm don't know to this day how I did that? Well I found some shops there so now all I had to do was to get some shopping, well that was easier said than done ? You guessed I was back to the language barrier ? I eventually left with some tea milk and sugar but no food as I didn't know what I was buying, this was slowly turning out to be a bit of a challenge. I needed to get some food or I would go on a diet ? Anyway once I got back I thought I'm going to have a nice brew and just chill and gather my thoughts, but I couldn't do this as I didn't have a kettle so it was decision time. When I was looking for my house I stayed at the Murcury hotel near Yambol so that's where I went for a cup of tea as I knew that some of the staff did speak a little English and I might get some much needed information, all I had to do was make sure I went in the right direction because I knew that once I was almost in Yambol I would find the hotel easily, so I asked the neighbour who doesn't speak English how to get to Yambol and he phoned his daughter who is actually an English teacher wooooopppeeeeee I thought. Anyway Krassemera thats Angels daughters name gave me the directions after about a 25 minute chat welcoming me to Bulgaria which that was great. I then set off to Yambol and got to the hotel and got myself a much needed brew. After sitting there for a while, I decided to ask some questions and the waitress I chose didn't speak English so she fetched another waitress who did speak some English, anyway I asked her various questions and at the end of it I decided the best thing for me to do was to stay at the hotel until I get myself and my house sorted so I booked in.

To be continued ...........

Looking forward to part 2!

I to am looking forward to the rest what is all the green that is growing is it corn ?

Wow.........

Hope you like honey.

Wow Nets: I have just found your posting and only read a few lines, can't wait to get stuck in, looking forward to reading it tomorow - if this is your house it looks really nice and all those behives wonderful

Oddy

Lovely post and great pics Netsniper....waiting for the next installment

cant wait for part two eileen les

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Loving it Nets, waiting in anticipations for the next chapter


Oddy

I am looking forward to the next installment to and your house looks lovely

sarah

Ok Guys as promised here is a little more

The next day at Breakfast I met some other English people who had already bought a property or was about too, which was all good because now I had someone to talk to the only problem I found is that those who had already bought a property were so eager to tell me how good their builder was Well with all this information flooding in at once I didn't know what to think? I know I needed a little bit of work done to the house but nothing major as the house was only a few years old, anyway I came away with a few telephone numbers so I thought I would give some of them a call only problem I had? was yes you got it "
The language"
except for 1 builder I called whose name was Chris? And he spoke English as well as I do so I arranged for him to meet me at the house so we could discuss what it was I wanted which was a quote for various little jobs inc a new Kitchen, anyway he was very eager and called me back and offered to meet me that day which I agreed to, I got to the house and he was waiting for me which I didn't know what I should think ? is that good or Bad that he was there so quickly well on first meeting he seemed like a very nice person and very capable, and spoke excellent English, we walked round the house while I told him what I wanted he wrote it all down in his little note book at the end of the walk round we just sat chatting about all sorts of things including why I came to Bulgaria, any way off he went saying he would call me to arrange another meeting to discuss his quote great I thought a few days latter he kept his word and called me for a meeting which we had in a big hotel in Yambol? Can't remember the name of it but it was near the courts, well again when I got there he was waiting for me this time with a kitchen fitter who also spoke amazing English we sat and talked about everything except the work and the quote we also had dinner, at the end of the night it was time for me to return to my hotel he handed me the quote and said look at it and call me if you have any questions? Well I was so tired that night I just went to bed, the next day I was reading his quote over breakfast and it all seemed very good but I wouldn't say it was cheap nor expensive? Although at that point I had nothing to compare it against, I then got another couple of quotes over the next few days but they were much cheaper so I decided to go with Chris I gave him a call and he said thank you but he couldn't start for about 3-4 weeks which I thought was ok, but that meant I had to live in the hotel ? so the work I wanted done was to have a new Kitchen complete with Hobs, Oven and a new sink and taps with additional power points, the log burner removed,the 3rd bedroom totally gutted which included plaster removing and re-plastered, floor levelled and tiled and a new window, all this because this is where the previous owner kept his beehives in this room in the winter, I wanted all the doors in the house replaced along with the frames, the staircase made secure and covered completely, all the light fittings replaced, and then for all the woodwork internally to be varnished and all the walls repainted, so nothing major, the only thing I had to do myself was to go and choose and arrange delivery of the Hobs and Oven, along with other white goods, this turned out to be quite something? It wasn't just a simple case of going to Comet and picking what I wanted and that was it? No I had the same problem yet again "
Language"
what should have been a day at the shops/suppliers turned into almost 2 weeks !!! once I had chosen what I wanted and made it clear that they were to be delivered to my house I had then to get myself back to the house before them as they were delivering the items immediately so off I went to get back to the house in time for the delivery, which again they were there before me! And everything was delivered as I had asked for and all nicely boxed, well the day came for Chris to start work and he arrived at 7.30 am as he said he would, with about 6 others in tow, before he started I told him that I also wanted to do something with all the green stuff in the garden, I explained that I haven't come to Bulgaria to be a farmer and that in the uk I covered my garden in Gravel, at which point he broke out into laughter saying you can not do this in Bulgaria!! I asked why and he said because all your neighbours will think you are crazy ! so I said well that's what I want "
I will let you know in a couple of days what the cost will be"
he said.
before we get to how he worked, I thought this would be a good point to show you some more pics of how it was inside and out, so here they are.

[align=center:ufi1v0z1]More of the Amazon rain forest

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The Dinning area

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Archway to Kitchen/Living area

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More of the Kitchen/Living area

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Note the Mural

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The original Kitchen

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Part of the Ktchen/Living area

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The original staircase where you take your life into you own hands

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View above the Balcony

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The top of the Stairs

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View from the main Bedroom

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To be continued................

Very interesting netsniper,
Can't wait foe the next episode.

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Thanks for that Nets I look forward to reading that tonight [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oddy

Lovely Jubly netsniper looking forward to reading more

Oh my I can't wait for the next chapter Nets [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] loving it quick hurry up

Oddy

This is looking good what with oddy and you all this information is helpful to us that don't know what to look forward to