A recent trip to Bulgaria
Day 1 in Bulgaria
Flew with John and Ellie on a night flight from Heathrow with British Airways who lost our bags! The night flight was a good idea because it meant we got to Bansko for breakfast, but we were exhausted from hardly having slept. We collected a hire care at the airport with Bulgarian Autos (Create link).We shared the 2 1/2 hour drive to Bansko which was a beautiful drive following the Stuma River. We arrived at the Emerald Hotel which was lovely and the staff were really friendly. We shared a two bedroom apartment which was obviously privately owned as an investment and rented back to the hotel covering the cost of the mortgage whilst the value goes up.
Day 2 in Bulgaria
Brushed up on our skiing and the sun was out, it was fantastic and now Sheila won’t shut up about going skiing again. We walked to a construction site where John & Ellie have bought an off plan ski apartment. It’s due to be completed prior to the 2009 ski season, and the price they paid was so low that is bound to be worth a lot more by the time it is finished.We had a fantastic Bulgarian meal in a very nice restaurant, the meat was mostly lamb and really good. Excellent wine, we had bottles from Melnyk which we were told is a famous wine region with a lot of history.
Day 3 in Bulgaria
We took a fifty minute drive down to Sandanski with breathtaking views, lush greenery continuing to follow the Struma River and railway line that is cut into the rocky gorge. We arrived in Sandanski and checked into the Park Hotel Sandanski. We visited the site of another project in Sandanski where John and Ellie are working on the construction of 14 three bedroom houses with a communal swimming pool and spectacular views of the valley and mountains.
We let the girls go loose in the high street while we had a sneaky pint of Zagorka Beer. Sandanski is a lovely city with history, shops, bars, night club, hotels, swimming pools, hot mineral spas and it is famous for having the healthiest climate and air quality in all of Europe. We could feel the temperature getting noticeably warmer as we had driven south toward the Greek border. Not surprising as Sandanski is only 18 miles to the Greek border, and another 50 to the Mediterranean sea coast.
We met up with Iavor and Ira, John and Ellie for an Evening meal in a restaurant in Sandanski at the top of the high street near nice parks and a scale model of the Pirin mountain range. Iavor is John and Ellie’s associate. He knows every property in the area that is available and more importantly he knows the legal status of each property that is being sold through Bulgaria Property Agent Ltd. Ira is the Lawyer that deals with establishing limited companies if you want to buy land or a property on it’s own land. She also deals with the notary to complete the purchases. Ira also gave John and Ellie the good news that she had obtained planning permission (regulation) for the 14 houses one month ahead of her target, so there was plenty of wine being drunk because they didn’t have champagne.
Day 4 in Bulgaria
Our last day. So we took a drive to a village called Melnyk to sample the wine. Melnyk is a beautiful village with people little shops selling homemade wine. There are hotels and a museum which I think was once the palace. So we had a tour of the museum. The cellars are full of tunnels for storing the wine and act as an escape route from previous invasions. The main cellar was very impressive take a seat and the guide brings samples of the local wines. We bought several bottles very nice wine because you can’t buy that in Tesco!
Then it was a nice drive back through lovely countryside to Sophie. We had no intention of buying a property in Bulgaria because we have been planning to buy in the Philippines. Now we want a ski apartment in Bansko because it is such a fantastic investment that it will make far more money than I can earn working! We are also considering a house that needs fixing up, but at £20,000 who cares! It has beautiful views and is in a small little village just ten minutes drive to Sandanski.