Отдых в сентябре Vacation in September

Our journey began with a flight on a charter flight St. Petersburg - Burgas on a Boeing 767-300 of the ROSSIYA airline. Impeccable service on board, never shook, there was not one "air pocket". Before takeoff, everyone was offered sweets-lollipops. Immediately after takeoff, they offered drinks - water, Pepsi, juice to choose from. A little later lunch in boxes - everything is quite fresh and edible. They also offered Duty Free products: alcohol, cosmetics, perfumery (payment in euros). 5+ Rossiya airlines.
At the Burgas airport we were met by the representative of SOLVEX-TOUR Emilia. Before boarding the minibus, she didn’t even offer to go to the exchange office and exchange euros for levs, although she knew perfectly well that there was no exchange office in Laguna Beach. The nearest currency exchange turned out to be at the reception of the nearby Santa Marina hotel (the rate is 1.8 lev for 1 euro), but I learned this from the Internet before the trip, the Laguna reception kindly kept silent about this, saying that the nearest exchanger is in Sozopol. We rested for 8 days in a standard double room of the hotel. The room has two beds with bedside tables, a dressing table with a mirror and a chair, an armchair-bed, an LCD TV, a wardrobe, a small refrigerator, a safe, a balcony with a table and two chairs, air conditioning, an ironing board. In the bathroom there is a shower, soap, shampoo, shower gel in this hotel is not issued (take it with you! ). Also in the room there is an electric kettle, two mugs with tea spoons, ashtrays. There are two glass glasses in the bathroom, which can also be used for cold drinks, wine, etc. , if necessary)))))))))). Well cleaned only for a tip. You need to leave it on the bed, they take it in any currency, we even left rubles. Without a tip, new shampoo and soap in the room is unlikely to appear. In general, the water in Sozopol is hard, and if you like your hair shampoo and balm, it’s better to bring your own. The quality of their shampoo, despite the beautiful branded packaging, leaves much to be desired. In general, the room is beautiful, comfortable, very cozy. The territory of the hotel is covered with tropical plants, a large beautiful swimming pool with clean running water, high-quality wooden deck chairs, umbrellas, soft comfortable chairs and sofas with pillows all around. As a result, we can say that they did not stint on the atmosphere of the hotel and its design - everything is expensive, stylish and beautiful, but the service is rather low, although the hotel staff is very friendly, they answer all questions, try to help (although not all). Not everyone knows the Russian language, but they try to understand.
Meals at the hotel. We took accommodation only with breakfast (buffet), which, in principle, turned out to be inedible for my taste - there were no fresh fruits at all (I only saw canned peaches once), yogurts were only draft, sausages and cheese were terrible in quality, there were almost never pastries (creepy underbaked croissants can hardly be called pastries). For lunch and dinner on the buffet (order in advance for money, if it is not included in the package) is almost the same situation. They refuse to cook a la carte (for money !!!!!! ), this can only be achieved by force through the hotel administrator. Delivery to the room will cost 10 leva, the prices are much higher than in the restaurants of Sozopol. The bars on the hotel territory serve only those who have "All Inclusive", other hotel visitors are refused to sell pizza and drinks, even if they are ready and on the counter. In general, there is no food in this hotel. I advise you to go to Sozopol to eat in a cafe, as well as stock up on food in supermarkets (a very good and inexpensive supermarket in the Santa Marina hotel a few minutes walk from Laguna Beach, open from 9 to 20 every day! ) so that you can eat and drink with something for tea, since there is a refrigerator and a kettle in the room. For those who will live in apartments, there is nothing to worry about at all - there is a kitchen there and you can cook everything yourself.

TRANSPORT. Laguna Beach is located 3 km from Sozopol. It is not profitable for two people to travel directly from the hotel - a taxi costs 8 leva. It will be economical only if you are 4 people in the car. It’s easier to walk to the Santa Marina Hotel and take a taxi there for 6 levs per car, i. e. if you are 4 people in the car, then 6 leva can be divided into four. Also, a train runs from Santa Marina every hour for 2 leva per person. A steam locomotive is a type of small open tram on wheels, only without rails. The Sozopol-Burgas bus also runs along the highway. It is generally cheap - 1 lev from Laguna to Sozopol. But I didn't see the timetable anywhere.
SOZOPOL. The old city just enchanted me with its atmosphere! Very quiet, calm, peaceful, especially in the morning, when there are still no crowds of tourists. I will definitely come back here somehow and will live in the Old Town. Eating in the Old Town is also much more pleasant, the service here is much higher than in the New Town. The average bill for two without alcohol (one salad for two, bread, two hot dishes, cola, coffee and tea) is about 30-35 leva. Most of all I liked the scara - grilled dishes (chicken, fish, squid) and squid baked in dough.
TRAVEL COMPANY "SOLVEX-TOUR" I did not like the representative of this travel agency in Bulgaria, Emilia, unpleasant. I tried by hook or by crook to sell excursions, arguing that the weather would still be bad and there was nothing to do on the beach. In fact, everything turned out the opposite - it was hot up to +28. Transfer to the airport was first written on the hotel stand at 14:30, and then moved it to 15:15. Departure was at 18:00. We had just enough time to check in, pack and check in our luggage, and go through passport control. We didn't even make it to the dutik. There was a free trip from a travel agency to Burgas for shopping, but she did not agree with everyone, and as a result, many could not go because of the excursions planned for that day. Excursions all from Burgas i. e. at 6 o'clock in the morning a delivery truck arrives at Laguna and takes you to Burgas, and there you are already transferred to a bus with a guide. We had a tour company "TEMMA" from "Solvex". The excursion to Veliko Tarnovo went without any complaints or problems. The bus is comfortable, the guide is good, the driver is professional. Tourists were really taken care of, nobody was left anywhere.
BURGAS AIRPORT. There is a very small airport in Burgas, the throughput is very low and 2 hours is barely enough to go through everything, in my opinion you need at least 2.5 hours for a smooth passage. But at check-in we were lucky - at my request, an airport employee gave us seats by the window. I can't stand flying in the center of the plane. Bulgarian laws prohibit the export of levs and before departure they must be changed into euros or any other currency. There is an exchanger at the airport next to the packing of luggage, the rate is 1.96 leva to 1 euro. Packing luggage costs 10 leva. It’s easier to buy a roll of cling film at home in advance and pack it yourself at the hotel, at the same time saving time. From my observations of the process of loading luggage onto an airplane, it is really necessary to pack. luggage is thrown at random, bags often open, they can get very dirty. Peaches, grapes, tomatoes were carried in hand luggage to St. Petersburg - they all passed without problems.