Sozopol, Black Sea Coast, BULGARIA

Its early morning in Sozopol, about 30km south of the port city of Burgas, here on the Black Sea. And by the way...the Black Sea does NOT look black to me at all :)

The 5 hour train trip from Plovdiv was interesting. Miles and miles of rolling green hills and lots of farmland. Interesting to see how these farmers still mainly use mules and donkeys to plow their lands, and old ladies with black dresses digging in the dirt. Little villages with red tile roofs and dirty kids playing in the narrow streets. Indeed, exactly as I pictured Bulgaria in my mind. Money is a luxury here and the environment needs help. I have never seen so many abandoned old houses in my life. Looks like they don't believe in demolishing old homes.

Sozopol is a town of 5001 people (make it 5002 since I arrived) with beautiful bays and some rough waves. Houses are built against the hills overlooking the bays. Talking about "overlooking", I got a real nice room up in the nearby hill with a fantastic view over the town and bay. Could not ask for anything better...so I'll stay at least 2 nights before moving north (or maybe even south towards the Turkish border).

The food is good and cheap...the wine is...well, its cheap but not sure its good. Some locals brag that Bulgarian wine is the very best in the world...well, I first have to reprogram my taste buds and that should be done by sunset today...ready for the evening dinner in one of the many restaurants by the beach.

Bulgarian people are friendly but not very outgoing. Shy at first and you may think they don't like foreigners until you start talking to them even though hardly anybody speaks English. So, they speak Bulgarian, and I speak English...and somehow we understand each other. I'm trying to understand their nodding...I suspect our "yes" is their "no", and "no" is "yes"...so if you want to say yes...it is "neh" and you shake your head from left to right. I need some practise to get used to this. I'm also getting to understand the Cyrillic alphabet which is not that difficult to figure out. Good preparation for my upcoming days in Russia!

Oh....and in this former communist country I still have to get registered with the police every night (which my hosts do for me). Certainly not as serious as what I'm going to encounter in Russia.

Another few nights here in Bulgaria before heading north to Romania. I'm off to the beach for my morning coffee and pastries and then explore the town. Till later.