Oh I Do Like to be Besides the Seaside…

Now, I’m sure you know me well enough by now to know that I’m not all about work…no matter how busy I am. So when Hristina came to me and asked if I wanted to go away on an overnight stay for another performance of folklore and folk dancing, of course I said yes.

I asked her where we were going and she replied ‘Черно море’ Cherno More…The Black Sea.  But where on the Black Sea were we going ? She just shrugged her shoulders, laughed and said ‘Черно море’. So, once again I was off on a magical, mystery tour with the people of my village.  I did run into the Mayor a few days later and he wanted to confirm that I was coming.  I asked him where we were going and found out it was a town called Primorsko, a place I had wanted to visit since Ivan told me about it years ago.  I was very excited about this trip indeed..

So very early on the morning of September 05th I joined Hristina and wandered up to the village centre to await the coach that would whisk us away to the seaside.

even the local dog was there to see us off

and everyone, young and old, was coming along

When the coach arrived there was a flurry of raised voices and waving arms.  I asked Hristina what was wrong and, apparently, everyone was very unhappy about the standard of coach that had come.  It just wasn’t good enough.  Now it looked OK to me, but there wasn’t a toilet or (I think) a movie and so folk weren’t happy. The mayor, who didn’t look too happy himself, eventually got us all onboard and away we went.

Got to Primorsko and there was another problem…something to do with the hotel.  Hey, my Bulgarian has improved exponentially, but I’m still no expert.  Next thing, we’re away to Kiten, 5 kilometres away and in no time at all, ensconced in a very “Russian’ style hotel.

But the rooms were clean and the beds comfy, so I was happy.  I got the share a room with Hristina and Gospodina, the wife of Ivan’s uncle.  It was interesting…I realised how much more Bulgarian I could speak and how much more I could understand, but I still couldn’t keep up when they started a full blown, rapid conversation.

While we waited for our rooms to be made ready, everyone sat outside and those who had bought lunch with them, sat and nibbled. One of the village women who lives just up the road from me is Maria and she’s a very funny woman.  She arrived with her lunch, set herself up on a table, plonked a small vase of flowers, the ones that would later grace her hair when she was dancing, on the table, and proceeded to enjoy a good lunch in the sunshine.

Then it was up to our rooms and, while the ladies prepared themselves for an afternoon of impressing the judges, I wandered around taking sneaky pics with my new very large lens…it’s great because I can take pictures before anyone sees me.  If a Bulgarian sees a camera they will pose, and I want unposed, natural shots…and I got some beauties.

and some, not so sneaky…

No sooner had we arrived in Kiten and got settled, than we were hurried into the bus for the trip back to Primorsko for the competition.  I mentioned before that they take it all very seriously, and you can really feel the tension as they wait their turn…

This day, however, after watching the other competitors for some time, Vala, our local poshta (post office) lady must have decided to ease the tension by getting everyone to have a bit of a dance while waiting to go on.  I was wandering around (again) taking pics when I noticed her quietly dancing, waving a handkerchief…next thing, everyone had joined in and a lovely spontaneous thing happened under a huge shady tree on a beautiful summers day…

Sanka, the Mayors wife, is in charge of the whole troop. Normally she would be dancing as well, but as they had a loss in their family, I’ve been told that she and Dimitar won’t dance for a year. Look at her face while she watches her group on stage:

This is serious business…but all their hard work paid off, as there were many accolades at the end

and while I watched it all through my camera lens, I managed to capture a little of the beautiful colours and textures of the costumes and the fabulous footwear.

Once the competition was over, it was a quick walk around Primorsko and the things you see…

I was busy buying myself a set of garden chimes for my new patio area, when I noticed the Mayor at the booth next to me showing a great deal of interest in something.  I peeked over his shoulder and this is what greeted me:

Knives, guns, nan-chukkas anyone ????

The Mayor purchased one of the larger knives in the range and as we walked away I told him that in Australia, because of the high levels of violence, you would never be able to have a stall like that in a public place and you certainly would not be permitted to walk around the streets with such a dangerous weapon.  I told him the police would shut down the stall, seize all the weapons and probably put the stall holder in jail…and maybe the mayor as well for walking around with such a scary knife….his response ???  ” How else am I supposed to kill my pigs ” and off he walked, proudly showing his new purchase to his wife  🙂

and just in case all those knives and things weren’t enough for you, we could always pop in here for a drink???

Ah, Bulgaria…

Then it was back to the hotel for a big sleep after a busy day and next morning we all headed out and about in Kiten.

We had a beaut day. Most of the people on this trip work really hard and this was a nice couple of days for them away from it all.

The beach was lovely and almost deserted, which was nice, and there was this terrific little bar nestled amongst the rocks….definitely on my list of places to have lunch, or something, when I get back down there again.

and I managed to get my little walking group together for a quick pic.

We then we had a big walk all around the town and then found ourselves and pretty much all of the group down at another beachy/rocky bit.

I told them to gather together for a big group photo…bloody hell, it was like trying to herd cats,

but eventually I got a couple of them all

but all too soon it was time to go

we headed back to the hotel and the bus…now what was I saying about the things you see. I couldn’t resist this guy in his ‘safety gear’ strimming the grass.  Gotta keep the tan up you know…

We jumped back on the bus for a quick trip to Sozopol before returning to Miladinovtsi.

Sozopol was hot, but wonderfully quiet and it was all quiet walks and icecreams

well, except for the guy walking his…..lizard !!! ???

which I found slightly bizarre, but there ya go….Ah, Bulgaria.

It was a very tired old girl who returned to her home that night, but what a wonderful day I’d had…