Traditional Bulgarian home for sale with large plot. 6000 Euro's.

Traditional Bulgarian house for sale.

It is situated in Harsovo 25k from Novi Pazar, 30k away from Pliska and 45k away from Shumen.

House has beautifull mountain views 4 rooms and one smaller in main building. Each room is aprox 10-14 sq mtr each and the smaller would make a good wetroom/ shower room.

Entry is made from a wooden terrace into a kitchen area.

There is a cellar aprox 40 sq mtr and would make an excellent games room for the person with good imagination or an very large sitting area with stone walls.

There are 3 outbuildings sitting on the plot which are currently used for storage.

The property has water and electricity and is liveable, with little work it would make a lovely home.

Harsovo has a doctor, school, chemists, shop and all local ammenities found in a town.

We are advertising this property for a friend who has no internet and we are not estate agents.

More photos can be mailed upon request please mail us at info @ the-rocking-chair-ltd.com for more details or any questions.

Diving Black Sea

Good weather, very warm water and good visibility made for a good day today.
We kitted up on the beach 2 yards from the water, this was Anatoli's first dive in the sea after finishing his Open Water course with us at Reefers and Wreckers in Lancashire, England, last year.

We only had a 7ltr cylinder each and wasn't intending spending so long underwater. But.

The temperature was around 36 surface and 28 underwater.
I was in 3mm Aqua Lung shortie and Anatoli in 3mm Typhoon full suit.

Anatoli used my OMS wing and I had to use my Cave diving sidemount harness as I only have 1 BCD here in Bulgaria. No worries I just needed to remove some weight from the belt and all was good.

We spent 1hr 20 min at majority 5mtrs underwater and saw many "Hermit crabs" about 1" homes and there was millions of them, Some larger crabs with strange hair cuts, like mine also.

There was this crab with a Mohican and one with with hair on either side of his shell, these were funny to see.

We then stumbled upon a mussell bed to which I instantly thought "mmm supper" so I started placing the larger of them under my shortie legs and when I had no more room upon looking like I had a muscle problem on my legs I placed a few into Anatoli's BCD pocket. I collected 2 plastic bags and Anatoli a 2ltr coke bottle, these were taken to shore in the name of  "Project Aware" we need to look after our oceans.
We exited the water at 20.30 and it was still warm water, super dive.

Anatoli loved his first diving in the Black Sea and I am sure while he is here we will be doing more dives with him. He is good on air and loves being underwater.      


A good day Diving the Black Sea ( Cherno More)

A day on the Black Sea

We started from Pliska around 11am. It usually takes fifty minutes or so to reach Varna. We decided on finding a beach a little further north than Varna so the drive took another 15 minutes. We parked at St. Constantine & Helena a very nice and calm tourist area, excellent for sightseeing in Bulgaria.
The weather was superb and not too hot for this time of year, the beach not overcrowded and there was space to place our umbrella & our bums.

This is Katya's father Anatoli who is here from Belarus and will stay with us for a month or so.

Natalia, Katya's mother is also here for a month and will travel back by train on the 20th to Minsk, Belarus. This journey is on a sleeper train and takes 3 days.

We made this photo of Milana and Natalia taking it easy on the beach loungers further up the beach.

We will go back here again as it was a good spot for swimming and next time I will be taking my Scuba Diving equipment as the Black Sea visibility this day was fantastic.

Hopefully I may even get chance to see a few seahorses that frequent the Black Sea areas.
I am allready a Scuba Diving Instructor and will be helping out a dive centre here in Bulgaria called "Deep Blue", they have numerous dive centres here in Bulgaria. Good and friendly staff and I am looking forward to Instructing with them.

Black Sea coast has many oppotunities for all sorts of watersports and fun for all ages...

Bulgarian restraunt

My mum and step-father came on 16th to stay with us for one week.
It was my step-fathers birthday on the 18th and we was going to eat out, but where do we go.
There are loads of traditional Bulgarian restraunts near us and all looking beautifull.
Traditional decoration, good food and excellent servive. We needed to choose.
We did and we decided upon "Karatchka" quite close to use located just outside Kaspichan.
We have eaten there before and the food service and staff are superb.
Katya and I invited our friends Stanimir & Vesselina, a Bulgaria couple and good friends of ours who own the karting track in Shumen http://www.karting-shumen.com/ to join us.
They hadn't eaten here before but had heard of its good reputation.
John who is now 72 years old really enjoyed himself, eating Bulgarian food, having "Happy Birthday" sung to him by the owner Stefan & dancing with a Bulgarian singer who came to sing to him.
What a good night out and a very nice place to go. Totally reccomended to anyone who is near to Pliska.

There is entertainment there most evenings, a group of girls came for and was enjoying dancing to Bulgarian music in the traditional way. Even Vesselina, Katya and my mum joined in. Milana my daughter was also having a go at the dancing...     

Good dancing all, Hope ya have many more John...

Wine and spirit Oak cask making

Making Oak casks for maturing fine wines & spirits is a very specialised process, today I was one of those making them.

This is making the rings tight while the fire is burning inside allowing for the Oak to become softer for shaping.

Casks here in Bulgaria are made from very old traditional methods used by professional coopers for centuries.

At "White Oak" in Bulgaria the professional coopers have been making casks, and other items over 3 generations.

This was a very interesting adventure in how this process is done & I can tell you as an Aerospace engineer that it was fascinating that they don't use sealants, glues or other chemicals to keep them watertight.

Casks, Buckets, Barrels, Garden Furniture and other items can be purchased online at very competitive prices, posted almost worldwide at http://www.viastars.eu/shop 

Thanks to the guys for allowing me loose on a handmade cask.

Wildlife in Bulgaria

There is a diversity of wildlife in Bulgaria as many people know.
It is said that if a town or village has nesting Stork's that it is a good place.
Here in Pliska the first capital of Bulgaria we are lucky to have such a large and beautiful bird.

Stork on its nest in Pliska centre.

The bird now has young which are quite big already, probably soon to make homes of their own.

Dogs in Bulgaria

We was taking a walk with one of friends Salim, he is turkish and local Maestor of Pliska. His work is excellent.
A dog that we have called "Foxy" that frequently sits outside our home was talked about briefly. Why does he come everyday etc.
We know that he comes because he gets some food sometimes, of course he will come.
The animals in this country stayoutside and it seems that they dont have homes, they do its just that they are street animals, quite unlike UK where we will make sure they are inside, warm and cared for.
20 minutes after returning home we look outside our front gate to find

who we allowed into our home looking skinny, uncared for and neglected.
Our intention was to take him to a shelter close to our area hopefully in Shumen.
It was 3 days until we had chance to check this properly, but by now Butch was making himself at home here in Pliska.
We now have decided that he is a cute dog and will take him in for good.
We didnt want a dog as we have two cats.
But here he is.....
I hope people read this tale and care for animals that are left to fend for themselves.