Keeping Fit in Bulgaria

It has been said that moving to Bulgaria and having loads of free time due to retirement can lead to becoming an alcoholic.  Many expatriates could quite easily fall into that trap with the cheap alcohol widely available here and lots of free time.

CYCLING

So, what can you do day to day to keep yourself occupied being without funds from my small teachers' pension to splash out on regular travelling and holidaying. This is a problem I foresaw prior to settling down here and made provisions for this which are now being practiced. I do not have a farm to manage this time round so spare time is plentiful.

FISHING

Also, how do I to ensure I will still alive to get my UK State Pension in 7 years? (You say that I look after my health out of spite not allowing the UK to reward me with the National Insurance I  have paid into my pension working for over 33 years there.)

My answer involves Jogging, cycling, walking, and to keep mentally healthy fishing and practice the piano, (after laying this dormant of over 20 years.) In addition to this writing, which will increase as the days get shorter. In the winter months which are fast approaching, there is a local Gym where I will work out if the weather prevents outdoor pursuits. I have already done the research on this on times and costs the latter nominal.

So all is now in place. The problem is keeping fit is like a drug; if I miss a day or two I get quite agitated with my mind filled full of regret by not plunging into it. Nice to have a routine to follow and set goals on each activity seeing progress. My heartrate has now fallen to less than 50 beats per minute resting which gives peace of mind on my health as a result.

Four Months in Bulgaria and Counting

The Safe Streets of Yambol

Well it was April this year we we arrived in Bulgaria now four months into the life here. Getting used to Bulgarian ways didn't take long as we had basically been living like Bulgarian in the UK in terms of lifestyle and habits.

Now retired from work the main issue is planning what to do each day. When working you know what the routine is 6 days a week. The only plan is what to do on the days off and that wasn't difficult, it was mainly catching up with things you couldn't' do on the days of work, i.e. go to the launderette, get groceries and housework. Working 6 days a week, it was not an issue knowing what to do. Here we have to plan 7 days a week and that is difficult.

Needless to say all is going to plan here. I have a car, so we can go anywhere we want although I tend to shy off using it as I don't enjoy driving anymore. But it does cone in useful as we are by the Black Sea in a place called Pomorie right now on a three day break - We decided to go on Friday at 12:30, by 16:00 that same day we have booked it up online, packed out bags and were in the apartment! How many years has it taken to be able to do that?

Many things here I'd forgotten about, the simple things such as not having to worry about being mugged when walking the streets. Going fishing and bringing home the evening's meal. Picture of the result shown here.


Next post will given more detail of our home and how a simple abode can give such comfort.

Fishing for Nothing In the Cold

It was forecast a cold weekend in Bulgaria, but most of us had fogotten what cold was as winter was such a long time ago. We have had a hot or very warm six or seven months and it was with that in mind we decided to go fishing for a few hours.

The journey to the next village of Ovchi Kladinets, which means sheep well was our destination as we were told that there was good fishing in this village. It lies 7 km west of our farmhouse in Skalitsa, but as we were to find out that was only half the trip.

We had been given instructions on how to get to this reservoir which was meant to hold very large carp. Although the place is technically in Ovchi Kladinets there was a further 4 or 5 km to travel over rough ground to reach the fishing area.

After reaching the village we turned onto the initially stone track which is designed for horse and car not ladas and made out way, slowly and carefully. With pot holed and subsidence ridden tracks it was an exciting route to take in this wild area of Bulgaria.

3 or 4 km later we entered into a deeply wooded area and followed this through, it was magical ovoiding trees as we made out way to the sight of a little clearing about another kilometre on. As this was reached we could see this massive expanse of water and wandered how many people knew of this place. It would be hard if not impossible to reach after rain as the track to the reservoir would be a mud pit and the rises and fall of the tracks far too steep to negotiate for any motor driven vehicle; even tractors would find this hard to reach on this track with rain.

We had arrived as the car was parked right next to a sandy shore with much wildlife around from the floral and fauna kingdom. We still had to walk a little way beyond some rocks that sttod in the way of the 'beach' type shoreline. It was while waliing through swamped brush that most of the thistly seeds decided to come with us as we swept past! Removing these was a very painful process without gloves and we were without gloves!

The fishing postion setup and we cast our lines and waited. There was a strong wind coming off the water, often whipping up a little wave or two, so repositioning out lines was frequently done with the floats wandering quickly out of place. It was hard work as the first half and hour wnet by and no bites made. It was now cold as the wind was consistently blowing in this open position we had taken up. All the time in our heads were the thought of just one big fish for dinner tonight on the barbecue, the cold was a minor inconvenience with this in mind.

We endured another hour or so and still not one bite was made. The cold now was becoming unbearable as we shivered our way through each regular casting; time and time again we had the same result; Nothing!

Finally, the fanstastic views, the massive variety of waterfowl that shared our environment and our love of fishing was no match for the cold. We packed up and made out way back to the windcheating inners of the Lada. That was a lovely moment when we sat down out of the wind, but not before another rich picking of thistle type seeds off out trouser and socks (ouch!)

The journey across the open countriside track was enjoyed to the full in the warmth of the car as we all relaxed knowing that there was a wood burner and rakia waiting for us at home to warm us up even further, but no barbecued fish today.

I must add that this is the first time I have been fishing in Bulgaria where I ended up with absolutely nothing!

Bulgarian Toundzha Fishing

So I have eaten fish from the Toundzha before and that was a wonderful event. It was now time for me to turn hunter and provide for the family but this was no chore I love fishing but never seem to have the time for it!

This was a family affair as Galia's two sons teamed up with me to form a team of fish hunters prowling the Toundzha and their experience in fishing here, finding the right spots, using the right tackle and bait was the key to success. We all traveled by bicycle cutting even further costs on the free meal we were to catch and very much in the tradition for most Bulgarian coarse fishermen here. In fact a car would have trouble getting here in the position that we took up even in the dry banks that the Toundzha currently had alongside it

The place we found I know know but will not let on in this publication for fear of being over fished by others who read this. The bait was Bulgarian worms and no sooner had we cast the first fish was taken. The river has quite a fast flow but were we were there wasa poll of relative still water in a small bay so the fishing was quite easy without having to recast every minute.

The scenery here was outstanding with countryside in the front of us and the town's dominant white blocks behind us.

After about an hour we had at least twenty fish enough for a meal and a half as we began to pack our kit away. Many we threw back being too small and of course the big carp that got away at one point of the session - yes, really!

Just as we made our way home further up the bank we saw a couple of Roma fishing with homemade contraptions. I wanted to knowhow they set up this and asked to see their equipment closer up. they of course obliged with Galia's two sons looking on in amazement to the fact I wanted to know. what I discovered was more than fascinating.

The rod was a bamboo cane, there was no reel but just some old string tied to the end of the cane. I wonder how on earth they could catch fish with string as the line, this mystery was soon solved as they pulling the tackle out of the water.

At the end of the string was tied about a metre of fishing line and the set up of further tackle was made on this. A float that was actually a small dried pepper that had been painted to make it waterproof and the weights used to make this sit upright in the water were small metal buttons. The hook was the only commercial part of the kit with some sweetcorn as bait. Even more fascinating this was that they had caught bigger fish than us!

This was another truly amazing discovery of how things can be done here on the cheap and as we went back to hand over the fish to the women cooks I just couldn't get what I saw today out of my head. I just love this country, the people and its ways!