Bulgaria, Balchik - Nov 2007
Dogrose

November saw us pay a return visit to Balchik, a charming Bulgarian port town on the black sea coast. We were back in Bulgaria looking at properties for sale and to get a feel of what the country’s like in the winter months.
It was a definite contrast to our previous visit in July. The streets were quiet and the whole place had an air of peacefulness. Not that it was particularly rowdy in the summer but being a picturesque fishing port it is a popular place for overnight visitors, Bulgarian and foreigners alike.

We spent the first two nights in Tsarichino, the nearest village to Balchik about 3k along the road to Kavarna, at Andy and Rita Hursts property (see Trusthydrania) and if they had had an internet connection in their upstairs apartment we would have stayed a little longer. Unfortunately it was a Sunday when we decided to move, as Kelvin was getting net withdrawals and although Andy was on the phone trying to get the bits to connect us it didn’t look likely to happen until Monday. Their home was a useful location for us though as one of the properties we wanted to view was in the adjoining village Briastovo.

As you would expect for November, most of the hotels by the port were almost empty and willing to negotiate their rates for the rooms.
One hotel that we inquired at in the summer (see Victoria hotel) charged 75 lev a night but at this time of year was willing to drop to 40 lev and offered us a further reduction of 10 lev a night if we were staying for more than a week.
This included breakfast, satellite tv, fridge and net connection although, like most of the smaller hotels we have stayed in around the world, when it actually comes to it the net connection never seems to work. This for us is a problem as most of our work is on the internet and every time it happens we vow that we will not book a room unless we try out our laptops in it first. Needless to say we have never actually done this yet.

There appeared to be a lack of internet cafes around the port area although the Lonely planet states that there is one near the Town hall (maybe it’s a virtual cafe) but we did find one internet gaming hall near the supermarket in town where the owners were most accommodating.

As you would expect of a small fishing port, there isn’t a lot to do in Balchik in the winter months, apart from eat, relax with the locals and take in the sea air - oh - and catch up on your blogging when you get a connection!