Hi everyone
I hae been in Bulgaria since June last year,so this is my first winter,the summer ,,,,mmmmm fantastic but with all the renovation work did not get the chance to relax to much,the only down side was the mozzys lots of them tried cream,spray,eletrocution,everything,ate loads of garlic,but i guess the answer is no shorts long trousers like the locals,and the local Rakia rubbed on the bite works wonders,
The winter has started in earnest now temp in the next 4 days will be minus well into double figures,but with 3 wood burners i think we will cope,its -2 today and our inside temp is 22 nice and steady,the only hard bit is going outside to get the logs,then sit down and have coffee and brandy,also we have a german sheppard and i think its to cold now to leave her outside,but as soon as shes indoors she wants to go back out,she loves the snow,but the wife is not too happy when she comes back in and shakes herself,such a mess,but its a great life so far,the water so far has not been a problem with freezing,but we also use bottled water for drinking,in the summer we will get our well water tested to see if its drinkable,the local who had our house before us always drank it,but i think it may be very high in mineral content,so we will have to see,we have our house plumbed into the well but can also use the mains water if we need to,although the mains water is cheap,well water is free which is better,and if we find out in the summer that its drinkable that will be great.i will keep everybody updated on my progress through these tough winter months,and any tips that you have please let us all know

Mike

Hi Mike well your story sounds great so far I'm hoping you'll continue and let us know how it goes

This has the makings of a good topic

Nice write up so lets see what heppens next it will be good to see how things pan out here for us who are still green

sarah

Look forward to reading more Mike keep it coming

Quick update been to Yambol today top up on some groceries roads in the villages very bad compacted snow now solid ice,apart from that main roads very good,no problems in Yambol even had time to go to KAT for the wife to get the forms in for her Bulgarian licence cost about 40 lev in total,plus an eye examination medical ect ect should have it within a month.returned home to be greeted by my neibour,went to his house or as they call it cushta,there he promptly poured a Rakia and his wife produced some nibbles,after about an hour i thought thats enough,they will keep topping your glass up.although very nice,i have invited them around tonight for some english whisky,sorry scotch whisky glenfinig,my favourite,and i will try him with a glass of john smiths see what he thinks of that,well thats all i have managed today,apart from stocking the wood up,lets see what tomorrow brings



Mike

Small tip Mike ... never empty your glass at a neighbours house ... this is a sign you want another one ... and they carry on forever!

Leave a small bit in the bottom and they stop topping you up.

Good luck with the John Smiths ... gave our neighbour a draught Boddington's yesterday night and he was amazed with it.

Cheers!

Tip noted great life here dont you think




Mike

Nice little blog this Mike its going to be one I will be checking

ChrisQBG wrote:

Small tip Mike ... never empty your glass at a neighbours house ... this is a sign you want another one ... and they carry on forever!

Leave a small bit in the bottom and they stop topping you up.

In fact the same applies to anything on offer, so if you totally finish a plate of nibbles or a bowl of salad be prepared for seconds! Don't forget Mike that Bulgarians don't do 'mixers' for their spirits, except ice, so have the lemonade bottles AND glasses ready when you pass the scotch.

It's our first full winter here too Mick, so we are learning too! I write a Wordpress blog about our new life here and add all the little tips and things we find out to it to help those who are even newer than us as it is all new - customs, culture, food - and hopefully you will keep giving us your take on BG. Look forward to reading more.

Karen

Hi Karen

Nice to meet you,yes i think its nice to share information,and as we are all learning as we go along maybe a mistake we have made will help others not to do the same,we have been lucky so far.

Mike

Nice to meet you too, and yes, we too have been lucky so far. Forums like this are great for trading both the good and the bad experiences!

Also, lots of laws have changed since Bulgaria joined the EU, so even older hands can learn something too as newbies like us are effectively updating information as we do all the KAT, residency permit etc rounds, so I think it's all valuable information. Keep posting!

Karen

Hi Mike

It's great hearing about your experiences. I am going to start looking at houses in BG at the end of this month so it's all good info for me.

Keep it up

McSam [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hi Mike
Keep posting, enjoying your views of life in Bulgaria.

I've got a couple of houses in Inzovo that cant be too far away from you. Maybe our paths will cross one of these days!

McSam
Enjoy your trip to Bulgaria. Hope you find what you are looking for!

Caroline