КАК МЫ ОТДЫХАЛИ В БОЛГАРИИ HOW WE HOLIDAYED IN BULGARIA

From July 17 to July 24, my family and I rested in Bulgaria, in the village of Ravda in the 5 * hotel Emerald. Came to Bulgaria for the first time. Before the trip, I read a lot of reviews about holidays in this country and, finally, decided. I would like to note the good work of the representatives of the Bulgarian partners of KITT, who met us in Bulgaria, provided comprehensive information and, when the time came, saw us off. To begin with, the village of Ravda in a short time (as in the reviews of 2 years ago it is described as a very small settlement) has become a very decent resort town, which has a very advantageous position on the coast. The Emerald Hotel was built only in 2007 and few people know about it when we were going on a trip and found only one review. Since the hotel is located away from the roads, the air is unusually clean.
The hotel is very beautiful, not only not a single hotel in Ravda can be compared with it, but, perhaps, on the entire coast (and we drove through most of it). The hotel consists of a main building and a complex of apartments on a large area (5-6 hectares). This area has several pools, including several for children, bridges, rivers, waterfalls and waterfalls. Especially favorable conditions have been created for children in the hotel - these are several children's pools, a small water slide, a mini-waterfall, there are large wicker balls-houses for very young children, in which there are large mattresses where they can play, as well as playgrounds with the necessary paraphernalia. In the evening, they inflated large rubber slides, where the children jumped with pleasure. There are a lot of parents with children in the hotel, during the day the entire path when approaching the beach is lined with strollers.
The coast is white sand, the bottom is clean, however, for several days in the evening it caused green algae, but by morning they disappeared. The beach is carefully cleaned every evening. The night illumination of the hotel buildings and the pool is very beautiful - everything sparkles with green lights. There is a green area around, you need to go down to the beach along a concrete path, but this is not tiring and takes a few minutes. The beach is small, sandy, has stone piers. Lifeguards are constantly on duty (a warning whistle is often heard if someone swims behind the buoys). In the description of the hotel before the trip, I read that sunbeds, inflatable mattresses, inflatable pillows and balls are free of charge near the pool, so only sunbeds and umbrellas by the pool turned out to be free of charge, since they are paid by the sea - 3 leva each, by the pool - free and there were enough of them whenever we came - there were always empty seats by the pool.

The sunbeds are wooden, there is a natural green fence around, which gives a pleasant coolness and, what I especially liked, the shower by the pool has not only cold, but also hot water.
The hotel staff speaks Russian quite well, very friendly, but I had to ask twice for a second electric key (we were 3 people and one key was not enough), because on the first day I was assured that the second key was not given and only when I found out that people have 2 keys each, came and asked for the key on the second day - they immediately gave it. You can also change money at the reception, there was always a currency exchange window, but the rate was slightly lower than in the town.
A little about our accommodation. We had a studio, which has a kitchen section with everything you need: a two-burner stove, a microwave oven, an electric kettle, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, plates, saucers, bowls, a saucepan, a frying pan, a grater, a cutting board, scissors .
There was an ironing board in the room (still in a case, no one used it) and an iron. On the veranda there is wooden furniture - a table and chairs, as well as a clothes dryer. Everything is new, clean. Our room was "gaden view" so we saw a bright green tennis court (on which those who wish with a coach regularly practiced in the morning), a volleyball court and a green area consisting of trees of various species. The room also has a DVD, plasma TV with 7 Russian programs (1st, RTR, Sport, NTV). Before leaving, I read in the description of the hotel that the studios are 46-47 m in size and hoped that it would be so, but the studio room turned out to be no more than 25 m, and this is also with a loggia. When we began to find out from the hotel manager whether the room corresponded to the parameters that we were supposed to be provided with, she replied that in the plan it generally indicated an area of ​ ​ ​ ​.51 m2!

To our dumb question, she explained that this is how it was sold to the customer, and travel agencies that order rooms do not bother to come and see the true dimensions, so that the vacationer imagines a real picture of the room in which he will live. We traveled from the company "Voyage" (Kyiv), so they agreed that they would clean our room 2 times a week and from all the necessary accessories in the bathroom upon arrival there was only toilet paper. There was not even a bar of soap to wash your hands after the journey. When we asked at the reception why the 5 * hotel does not have the most necessary things, we were told that our sending company ordered it and that if we want all the accessories, we can pay extra.
Of course, we bought everything when we walked to the shop a few minutes walk from the hotel and the room smelled of roses from soap, gel and shampoo, but you know, we would have taken this earlier - we would have taken the necessary things with us, or at least we would have been ready for the fact that you immediately need to run for this most necessary thing! And when viewing photos of the hotel, all the jars and boxes were beautifully displayed on the dressing table in the bathroom! Naturally, we blame our tour operators "Voyage" for this, who did not bother to inform us about the level of service provided in the room. But this little thing, of course, did not spoil our mood, especially since the hotel is a 2-minute walk from grocery and souvenir shops where you can buy everything. It is pleasant to note that no one bothers with offers to buy something, you go and calmly evaluate the goods.
People are very friendly, many speak at least a little Russian (especially the older generation), but even if they don’t speak Russian, you can understand and explain yourself without difficulty. They show their goods with pleasure, explain everything and are not offended if you didn’t even buy anything. All signs, announcements, annotations to the product are understandable and knowing Russian it is quite possible to understand: free flocks - free places, sour milk - sour milk, a natural product - does not need explanation, etc. , I especially liked the name of tea with mint - mentha tea!
From the city of Ravda it is very easy and simple to get to any place on the coast and not only. To the city of Nessebar, with its ancient architecture, historical sights - 10 minutes by bus; we walked in 46 minutes and drove back by taxi in 6 minutes. In Nessebar, there are many ancient buildings, the remains of fortress walls and houses.

This city also attracts tourists with its picturesque location - the old city is separated from the new one only by a narrow isthmus. There are many shops in the city that sell souvenirs, embroidery and, of course, pottery: pots, cups, pots, plates, bowls and bowls (from 3 leva to ... ). There you can also buy seasonings that carry the unique aroma of Bulgarian herbs (sharena salt 3 leva). Between Nessebar and Ravda there is a water park with pools, slides and volcanoes. From Burgas airport (where we flew in) 25 minutes by bus (4 leva). This city itself is also of particular interest, has its own unique flavor. We wandered along the pedestrian street of Aleksandrovsk, reached Troykata Square, where there is a monument to Soviet soldiers-liberators, to St. Cyril and Methodius, where the church of the same name is located.
It is also not far from Ravda to get to the Milesian settlement of Sozopol, the oldest settlement on the entire Black Sea coast. We liked Sozopol more than Nessebar, perhaps due to the absence of a huge number of tourists, and in terms of the number of attractions it is not inferior. We visited the museum complex "Southern Fortress Wall and Tower", which includes a watchtower, a fortress wall and a grain storage. The floor there consists of images of the sun from slabs made of stone blocks of the 2nd-1st centuries BC. e. There is also an ancient well, parts of a water conduit from the 5th century BC. e. , amphorae, pithoi and fragments of ancient ceramics. It is worth visiting the archaeological museum, art gallery, churches and chapels in Sozopol. And all this in a picturesque area, where everything breathes with antiquity and history. An hour and a half by taxi from Ravda and you are in Varna (bus to Varna 10 leva, 3 hours drive).
Near Varna, a 20-minute drive, there is a place called “driven stones”, this is an energetically strong territory, completely covered with high stone pillars, left over from ancient times, when there was a sea in this place. Yes, and it is not difficult to go to Sofia (the ticket costs 58 leva round trip, departure at 7.20 am and return at 4 am the next day), tickets for all directions are sold in the center of Ravda. In Sofia, we visited the ethnographic museum, churches (the rotunda of St. George - the oldest church in Sofia, the Church of Holy Sunday, the majestic Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Basilica of St. Sofia, the Russian church, a mosque, a church, Banskaya Square, an archaeological and ethnographic museum, an art gallery) , looked at the changing of the guard at the presidential palace, admired the picturesque views, the beauty of the central square, cozy houses.
So the country has places to go and what to see for travel lovers and just curious people.

A little about the features of the national Bulgarian cuisine. In Bulgaria, we really liked sour milk, it is fermented with special bacteria that "live" only in Bulgaria and are one of the reasons for the longevity of the population. This product perfectly normalizes the work of the stomach and intestines, therefore, who suffers from this - you are in Bulgaria! Well quenches thirst vegetable kefir - the base (“useful for every age”). I liked the Bulgarian cheese - kashkaval, it can be goat, sheep, and cow. In cafes and restaurants, many delicious cheese dishes are prepared, by the way, the famous Bulgarian Shopska salad, they also cook with cheese (brynza) and it goes instead of dressing (if desired, there is vegetable oil and vinegar on the tables).
I am not a wine connoisseur, but I liked white wine, I read that Bulgarians drink red wine in those months that have the letter “r”, so I ordered white in July. Portions in cafes and restaurants in Bulgaria are sufficient and you can fill up with 1-2 dishes. Prices are not high, the most expensive meat dish usually costs about 10 levs, and on average - 5-6 levs. Somewhat surprised by the high prices for vegetables and fruits in July.
The weather during our stay was beautiful, it was hot, but it was not sweltering heat, but near the water, so it was very comfortable to be in general. Evenings were also warm, but with a slight coolness.
Of course, we bought rose water, rose cosmetics (by the way, in Ravda it is cheaper than in other places on the coast), souvenirs, and most importantly, a positive mood, a light tan and the confidence that Bulgaria is a place worth returning to. !