The last two days

Wow.

I am sat back in England right now after a non stop two days. Chaz did have internet and offered to let me use it but I felt so much like a train had hit me (and I had no cable to get my pictures off my camera) so I demurred and decided to do a post today covering both days.

This entry may not be so easy to read as I am totally knackered right now from all the travelling so please do bear with me. Even in the few sentences I have written so far I have had to go back to correct typos about twenty times. Four times typing that last sentence!

Beautiful Sunset

Anyway, rewinding my memory (such as it is ) back to the end of Sunday. After I wrote my blog I went and sat outside with a beer and then, as the sun went down, I migrated myself to the front of the house. The View was immense and I had to take some pictures. I must have sat for about half an hour in the front ditch (yes, literally with my feet in the ditch, sat on the bank) watching as the colours changed over the valley. Stunning.

Super foggy morning

So, after lovely lamb in honey dinner (with potatoes at my request which slowed the whole process down), to bed and then awake the next morning to a really foggy misty start. When I saw this I thought "ooooh that could slow my drive down" so jumped straight out of bed however as I was drinking my morning brew in the front room chatting to my friend the sun already started burning through and by the time I left, about 8am, it was clearing quite nicely at our level.

Gorgeous view across the valley

I drove through along the narrow road from her house and the view across the valley (actually towards my school I think) encouraged me to park the car up and get out and take some pictures. The way the fog catches in the valley, but the sky is such a rich blue, it really is stunning and I did find myself watching the views a little too much sometimes :) Maybe I hit a few more potholes than I would otherwise.

So to fuelling up in the main town and onwards. The drive to Chaz from our region is about a three hour drive and it goes from the mountainous region we are in across many types of countryside and eventually to a flatter location.

Military convoy crosses

Just as I was leaving the town I was stopped by a military policeman (well, the car in front was) and a convoy of military vehicles pulled out of the side road. It took about 5 mins for them to all proceed and then the MP, with AK47 slung over his shoulder, waved us on.

An armoured car

For the next ten or fifteen miles I was leap frogging down the convoy in tandem with another car as the huge trucks were not really able to get up a good speed. There were many different vehicles including troop transports, fuel trucks and armoured vehicles. Further down the road, coming the other way, was another segment of this movement of materiel comprising trucks towing mobile artillery pieces; I was not able to get a picture of these as they were going the other direction.

Looking up and down the river from the bridge

On the way there are many amazing sights but this time I had (with the fog clearing) timed it such that I had plenty of time to drive slowly and appreciate the geography and scenery I was driving through. About half way you drive over a bridge across the most AMAZING of rivers; it really is stunning. So wide and calm and I hope that when I move I will drive just to this river in the summer to swim in it.

Straight road with autumn colours

Further on the road follows extensively the previous road building efforts of the Romans and, at this time of year with the leaves changing, it is a riotous corridor of colour and texture which again prompted my to swerve to the side of the road and snap some pictures. Would that I could just be meandering around Bulgaria all the time; it is such a beautiful country.

Lunch of soup and stew

Anyway, I arrived at Chaz's in plenty of time and we headed into the town (giving a local kid a lift to the market so he could buy himself a school uniform; imagine an english kid doing that?!) however Veselka and the translator had been delayed so went went back to the same restaurant as before and had the workers menu; a lovely soup, lamb stew and a pint for less than £2 each.

After this we went over to Veselka's office however they still were not there so we parked the car up and walked into town for a coffee. Upon returning again she still wasn't there so into the car and off to some building merchants to grab some stuff for Chaz's builders; it seems that even after eight years you're still having to go around to collect bits and pieces for the renovation.

The final time we returned they still weren't there but a phone call was placed and it was determined that Veselka was on her way. The translator arrived first and cracked on with getting the power of attorney translated and then, after a while, Veselka herself arrived.

And so started a very stressful few hours.

I blogged earlier about some questions about the contract which did not seem to reflect what I was expecting. The long and short of it (Goredol, as it would be in Bulgarian) was that she had got the entirely wrong end of the stick and the amount quoted did not actually include any planning permission for the main part of the build.

After an hour or so of increasingly frustrated discussions (with the translator and Chaz joining me in getting slightly heated) we eventually established what I expected and then she tried to say that she couldn't quote as she didn't know but we managed to extract a figure from her eventually which I agreed with. This has more than doubled the cost of the Architect however it is in line with what other people had suggested it should be.

By the time we got to this stage it was getting on for when the legal offices start to shut and we still hadn't managed to get the Power of Attorney sorted out. The translator rang ahead to let them know we were on our way and it was a task of no more than ten minutes to get it all stamped and registered, and about 10 lev taken from my pocket for the pleasure, and then we were on our way back to Veselkas to agree the next steps and pay some cash to act as a deposit.

I am now waiting on a contract to be emailed to me, and have basically bought the plans which I posted a few weeks ago on here. She is off to the Obshtina to start the process and I have been told that "if it isn't done by March she will be so annoyed because she just wants this project done with". She has also sworn off ever doing another school. Whoops.

So about six hours after leaving his hotel we went to the supermarket, picked up some whisky (and coke for him... people who know me will understand how much I had been affected by the experience in the Architects that I didn't even slightly question the coke) and back to his, there to open the bottle immediately and have a large measure poured.

Chaz cooked in the evening and made a curry, in honour (I think) of how much I like and go on about curry while I am here. It was really REALLY tasty. We had guests, two locals came round, grand ma and granddaughter came for drinks and a meal. After dinner I rang home and while I was standing outside on the phone a drunk strange man came up to me. I retreated saying "Ne" and shut the door. About half an hour later he appeared in the room and it turned out to be the father of the girl, and the son of the grandma. He was off his face and, just before he left, harangued me about my beard. All I can think of is he thought it was a religious thing (HA!) but my response was simple; it is my face and I will have on it that which I chose.

Strange man.

Sun rise from the hotel window

They left and after another whisky, and a cup of tea, I retired to bed where other than a disturbance as I slept when I thought I heard an intruder (I think it was in the end either Chaz or Ivan locking up) so I went to investigate, I slept like a baby and woke just before my alarm to an amazing sun rise again.

It seems this is common to all of Bulgaria, this amazing sun art.

After a full English breakfast that Gary from the Stawberry would have been jealous of (and sorry for the lack of photograph, I was way too busy eating it to stop) cooked by Chaz I left on my way to the airport.

Very flat, as far as the eye can see

An interesting rocky outcrop; the motorway just below it

The way led up country a bit towards the motorway and the contrast between this part of Bulgaria, and the mountains where I have bought, was striking. It is a country of farms and lowlands and miles and miles of flat views. It is beautiful in its own way, with some stunning scenes as your eye roves across the land.

After miles of very boring motorway driving I reached Sofia airport and onto the plane. That however is a subject for another blog and I am now really really exhausted so I am going to stop this right now and hit the sack.

Cheers