Day 1 - Ruse.
The next morning we rose and had a warm shower before heading down for the buffet breakfast. Luckily I wasn't carrying a gun as the sign on the restaurant area door prohibited them, I popped outside for a quick smoke and to check if a similar sign was displayed outside the hotel. Strangely, there was no such sign so I wondered if the food was substandard and the 'no guns' was for the protection of the chef.
Actually, the food was OK so, fulfilled, we headed across the square to the office of the estate agent. After the introductions, a nice girl called Lita, had been made we took up the offer of coffee whilst checking through the properties we had identified plus some others the agent had added to the list. As we drove out of Ruse we made a stop to pick up the agents boyfriend who was apparently coming along for the ride in case we got stuck in snow. The traffic was freeflowing on the main roads but most side roads still had a good 30-50cm covering which, considering how England grinds to a halt with just a light covering, was posing little problem to cars joining from the backstreets.
With a clear sky and fresh covering of snow, the Bulgarian countryside really did look beautiful. We noted that most road signs were in Cyrillic and English and following our route on the map I had was quite easy.
After 30mins we arrived at the first village and negotiated the snowy side roads to pull up outside the first property.
We did not know what to expect from a property described as habitable with a princely price tag of around £7,500 but we were here and about to find out.
Now, English estate agents have a certain language when describing property, choosing words like 'compact' and 'manageable' for a house the size of a shoebox or 'a blank canvas' to describe a house in need of knocking down and rebuilding.
In Bulgaria, all these catchphrases have been condensed into 'this is not a problem'.
The electric meter and 1920's pot fuses exposed to the elements outside the front door, 'this is not a problem'.
The gap around the door which had allowed an attractively shaped snow feature to form in the hallway, 'this is not a problem'.
The wall covered in green mould, 'this is not a problem..... look at the view'.
To be fair, if we had the time and money, I too would have been seduced by some of the fantastic views.
It was easy to imagine that after carrying out a renovation job, sitting on your terrace looking out over unspoilt open countryside with a cold beer or glass of wine would be quite something but, after viewing a few more properties, we began to accept that for a usable holiday property without the need for pouring in £1,000's we would need to up our budget.
As a side note. If I had been moving over to Bulgaria to live and had adequate funds, I would quite happily live in a caravan and do one of these places up myself, taking great pride in the finished product.
After the wife disappeared down a snowy banking to emerge covered in snow from head to foot, we decided to head back to the office and look through some other properties over a hot coffee.
( Yes I did laugh. )
That night we had a decent meal in the hotel and a chance to take a walk around Ruse.
Day 2 - Ruse to Veliko Tarnovo.
After breakfast we quickly packed and took our cases with us to the estate agent as the plan was to view more property to the south of Ruse before Lita handed us over halfway to another agent from the office in Veliko Tarnovo.
Even though we were now looking at more expensive property, nothing really stood out and after a quick lunch stop Niko, the agent from Veliko Tarnovo pulled into the services. After saying our goodbyes we headed off on leg two of our journey.
As we made our way south, we saw a few properties that we earmarked as worth considering but nothing as yet had that wow factor.
Finally, we arrived in Veliko Tarnovo, Niko took us on a drive around and we fell in love with the place.
We dumped our cases at the hotel and despite being tired, headed out to explore. The temperature here, despite only being around 90kms south of Ruse, was above freezing and apart from a few bits at the side of the roads, no snow.
We decided to eat out and had an excellent meal in a restaurant overlooking ( what we have since learned is called ) the monument to the Four Kings.
Sometimes you just have a feel for a place and Veliko Tarnovo was definitely giving us that feeling.
Day 3 - Veliko Tarnovo.
We had a renewed enthusiasm as we walked around to the office to meet Niko, saw some great properties even though none had the 'thing' for both of us, we knew it was only a matter of time before seeing somewhere we both liked that ticked all the proverbial boxes.
Day 4 - Veliko Tarnovo.
This day brought us to a small village to the east of town and we pulled up at a single storey house. It turned out to have a usable cellar the full size of the building, a good solid barn and more smaller outbuildings which created a courtyard effect to the garden behind the smaller buildings was a large area with fruit trees and then uninterrupted views across a valley to the distant hills.
I loved this place and we decided to make a second visit the next day. Whilst the wife also liked it, she didn't have the same enthusiasm and seemed slightly reserved so we decided to place it at the top of the list but return to the UK and give it some thought. It was priced at just £12,000 with little work needed, close enough to what we wanted to have a good discussion anyway.
Day 5 - Veliko Tarnovo.
We headed back out to the village for a second viewing and, although I still liked the house, I began to see things I had missed the previous day. Behind some units in the slightly below ground level kitchen was a huge damp patch. The last of the thawing snow had found its way through what turned out to be a crack in the wall and water on the floor had prompted me to poke around at the back of the fridge so, without the snow, I might have missed it. A fair bit of plumbing needed sorting and double glazed windows to add to the expense.
Slightly disillusioned it was decided to head off back home and return in May after more detailed research of the market and the area.
Day 6 - Veliko Tarnovo to Varna Airport.
After yet another great meal the previous evening and a good breakfast inside us we headed down to meet Niko again as he was taking us to the airport.
It had been a good eye opener and we left Bulgaria much better informed and determined to find a place to call home near the beautiful city of Veliko Tarnovo.
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