11th November 2011
Well time has run away with us again and here we are entering winter. The short cold days and long winter nights are upon us and I finally feel like sitting inside to type instead of enjoying the warmth and sunshine of Bulgarian summer.
Since I last added an entry to the site in the Return to Bulgaria 2011 section we have moved from the city to sample village life. VT will always hold a place in our hearts as will the friends we made there, but time moves on and we found the city busier and noisier than before and after the peace and quiet of the English countryside we found it difficult to relax and so made the decision to move.
We have relocated to a village about 20 miles north of VT, just off the main VT to Ruse road. It is a lively village, well serviced and close to the small town of Polski Trambesh which has all the amenities one needs.
The house we have rented is owned by another English family and is therefore fully westernised. In a way it is too English and it would be nice if it still had some Bulgarian character, however it serves it's purpose well and we have settled into life here.
Picture of the house
We are near the edge of the village and yet also close to the centre where there are a number of small shops and cafes. We can walk 2 minutes one way and be in the centre with its park, cafe and shops, or one minute the opposite way and we overlook a lake and the most beautiful backdrop of hills. We try to go this way most days to give the little members of the family a walk, and it is good to get out and see who is about. The people in the village are very friendly and we feel very much at home here.
The lake at the end of our street
One of the first priorities was to prepare for the coming winter as the house had only electric heating and that can prove very expensive in a severe winter. We therefore decided, having had a wood burner back in the UK that we needed to fit a stove in the house. Thankfully, there was still an open chimney available so no major work was involved, only a little cleaning and some pipework. I enjoyed using the stove back in England as we could use the top for cooking so it seemed obvious to look for a stove here that would allow me to expand on that. Many Bulgarians use Prity stoves, manufactured not only in Bulgaria, but in fact just 10 miles away in Gorna Oryahovitsa. We found a very nice model that would be large enough to heat the large lounge but it also has a built in over which would allow me to use it for cooking in the winter.
Our new fire
We would of course need to fuel the fire so set about sourcing a supply of wood. The wood is delivered uncut and has to be cut and split to allow it to dry. Because 90% or more of households heat their homes this way everything is in place to accommodate these jobs and as soon as the wood was delivered the man arrived complete with chainsaw to begin the first cutting. By nightfall the wood was cut and stacked in the garden ready to be split.
The logs
Bulgaria has a large gypsy population and these people are always available for manual work. We employed a nice man and his wife to split and stack the wood for us as we didn't have to luxury of time to do it ourselves as we were still busy settling in. It cost us 80 lev, a light lunch and a bottle of beer, in all about £40 and it took them 7 hours. This was the result and well worth every penny or Stotinki as it is here.
The finished job
