traveling to bulgaria ?

[mel]

Hi to all, can anyone tell me if they have traveled to bulgaria anyother way than by flying ,im quite interested to know how long etc it would take by car, bus, train,regards mel

[Dave]

I'm interested in the feasibility and economics of taking a white van across to fill up with BG wine.... any ideas?

[mel]

hi dave cant imagine it being very economical just to go to fetch wine from bg, but suppose it would be more feasible with two people sharing costs,and including the trip as holiday,will let you know how much the costs would be when I find out myself,cheers mel,one thought is it your own wine?

[Dave]

Not yet :-) maybe one day ....
But I know a local wine chap with a big white van... he usually goes to France. There must be loads of producers of very nice wines in BG that would do a deal.... (may be wishful thinking I admit)... my first encounter with BG was in the late 80s and 90s when you could get really excellent BG wines very cheaply in the UK. You can't any more - no-one imports them. The main importer tells me he won't deal with BG any more coz they are all crooks trying to make easy money by ripping off the west. A white van run seems a reasonable venture... all for personal consumption of course :-) and I'm not joking.

I do make my own but in the UK from kits..... one of my criteria for a BG house is access to vines.

btw - when u said you had "gone off flying" I took that to mean that you were a pilot and were off into the skies buzzing around in your plane :-) language eh?

(I fly a microlight, and went flying with this guy in Primorsko doing pleasure flights... utterly illegal but a totally brilliant experience)

[mel]

I suppose it comes down to translation (gone off flying) in my case as in getting scared after all the years of traveling here and there feels like im playing russian roulette,if you want your own vines then you should buy my plot thats what it consists of 2500 sq metres mostly vines and fruit trees,

[Dave]

moje bi !
where is it?
kolko struva?
what grapes?

[mel]

its in svoboda nice tranquil village 10 mins from dobrich,im not sure what grapes but think there red

[Dave]

no, not translation as such ... I think the combination of a verb and a preposition makes it a "phrasal verb" as in the verb "to go" plus the preposition (?) "off" - "to go off" has several meanings in EN. The Bulgarians hate these phrasal verbs, and don't consider their own language has them. But they do... they precede their verbs with modifiers that look like prepositions - vlizam, izlizam, slizam etc

I'm sure Stoya would be delighted to explain :-)

[Chris Revill]

Hi Mel, its Chris(granny plumber). Don`t have any specific details re your query, but there is a wealth of info on mybulgaria.info/ on the forum threads. There are two different bus companies which run from London to Bulgaria, but they`re not a cheap option about £200 rtn, and an uncomfortable 2 day journey.The mybulgaria site probably has train info too, and discusses the routes other travellers to bg have taken, such as, driving to Italy and take the ferry to Greece to avoid Balkans. Thomas Cook also publish a book on all the train timetables in European countries. I was looking at it yesterday in Smiths. It`s about £17. Also sold at the Thomas Cook travel agencies. Hope that helps.

[mel]

hi chris like the pic,and thanks for the info,I was wondereing if you would join this site,as I seem to have lost connection on skype and you hadnt replied to my last text,thought you had emigrated,dont be shy and drop in some time when your passing our road end,just text to say your near and we can put kettle on lol,have you been out to your place lately and are you planning to go soon ?regards mel

[Chris Revill]

Hi Mel, Thanks for the offer of a cuppa when passing. Just remembered the names of the buses to BG, Eurolines and Balkan Horn. Eurolines is the more expensive one. Balkan horn probably hasn`t a no-smoking policy, so better for smokers..Been on hols a couple of times, Tunisia in Dec, and Egypt last week to help me get through the UK winter climate. Don`t go on Skype much only for my Bg lesson which is usually on Sat. afternoon at the mo. Probably going to Bg when the weather gets better. Holiday flghts don`t start till May, but could fly to Sofia and catch overnight train to Bourgas or Varna.Will try to locate some info for you from Mybulgaria site. Cheers, Chris

[mel]

thanks for your help again chris,I always seem to be asking you for it,I can tell you that we did go by coach from varna to sofia last time we were over there,not too bad a journey 6 hrs with only one 20 min stop so got a bit tyring towards the end but was lovely scenery and very cheap,you always seem to have just been on hols or just going when we communicate lol,I suppose I would like to go over just to see that the land is ok and put new locks on the gate etc,but gone off flying look forward to chats on here,cheers mel

[Chris Revill]

Zdrasti, some web addresses re transport in Bg
www.etapgroup.com (coaches within Bg)
www.bdz..bg/ (trains within Bg)
www.ferrylines.com
Hope thishelps.
Do skoro Speak soon