Last year's September Sozopol...
This review will soon be a year old, well, it so happened that it didn’t work out right away, and then so many different new trips followed that the Bulgarian September Sozopol has been waiting for a year for a review. Well, better late than you know when : )... let's start : )
Bulgarian Sozopol was chosen as a family vacation by the sea, where it will be comfortable to relax with children. They did not contact the agency, they made a separate national Bulgarian visa for themselves and their children, bought the flight, booked the Guest House Gabi hotel on Bucking. Further, the hostess of the hotel sent a letter by mail with a request to deposit 37 euros into her account as a firmness of our intentions to settle with her. And since we had the firmest intentions, we paid 40 euros through the UNISTREAM system and contacted the hostess about meeting us at the airport. Radostina promised us that for 25 euros she would meet us with our suitcases, strollers and children and take us to her place. Upon arrival in Burgas, bad weather happened in Bulgaria. The rain thoroughly flooded the roads, and our hostess got to us 40 minutes longer than expected, and alas, for the first few days of our stay, we wore sweaters, sneakers and jeans. Then, as it happens, the weather cleared up, and that very velvety time of the year came, when there is no longer an exhausting midday heat, but the beach is pretty empty after 16-00. By the way, about the beach. Having small children, we chose a hotel as close as possible to the beach, so we had Central Beach at hand. The only thing was that we had to go down the stairs to it, but it didn’t bother us.
By the way, this is the view from the balcony. Although, to be completely honest, the full-fledged view is:
Yes, this is an ugly building in front of a balcony, covering a wonderful seascape - a future fashion apart-hotel. Just imagine how "pleased" this construction is by the owners of roadside hotels and villas, of which there are a huge number on this street. Although the downside is quite reasonable price, no extra charge for "sea view".
So, the beach is small, clean, equipped. It is located in the bay, there are no waves, currents, strong winds, the water is clean and transparent. If you want to sunbathe in a civilized way - for 3-4 leva you will be offered a sunbed and an umbrella. You can lay your towel on the sand for free if you find a place. We had no problems with this in September. They say there are always not enough places in the season.
In general, the bay is picturesque and it's a pleasure to sunbathe here : ) And the presence of cafes and restaurants right on the beach make you "located" here for the whole day with a break for a snack, which is very convenient.
At dusk, the beach changes. For several days in a row, in good weather, we watched beautiful sunsets, and in the evening, when it was completely dark, we took warm blankets and went to the beach to drink a glass of cocktail in a bar overlooking the night sea.
Our new home was received with enthusiasm by all family members. Still, the children had their own room, and also a kitchen with a TV, where they showed cartoons in Bulgarian, which did not bother the kids at all.
The kitchen has a full set of necessary kitchen utensils to cook soup for children and fry meat for my husband, so we had no problems with food.
In the nursery there are two full beds with good mattresses, a window, a bedside table and a narrow pencil case.
The parent's bedroom has a wide comfortable bed with a large window and access to the balcony. Which, by the way, is tiny, but it's still better than nothing.
The only disappointment in this excellent room is the bathroom. It is so tiny and uncomfortable that sometimes you wonder how people fit in there. The water drain is right in the floor, and since the water does not have time to drain quickly, you have to endure a puddle of soap throughout the shower. Naturally, there is no curtain or barrier, so water splashes are everywhere, which also has to be endured. However, we quickly got used to this inconvenience and stopped paying any attention to it.
If we talk about the infrastructure nearby, then we can mention several small shops with groceries (only the essentials), fresh pastries near the house, as well as layouts with vegetables and fruits. We went to the city for dinner, each time to new places, choosing different directions in order to work up an appetite and breathe fresh air. It takes a maximum of 15 minutes to the center at a leisurely pace, but we got much more with the children. along the way, we met playgrounds, trampolines and cotton candy with popcorn, which did their best to prevent our rapid movement.
The tourist infrastructure in Sozopol is not very well developed, so the other side of the coin is the lack of large crowds of tourists, such as in Nessebar. What can not but rejoice.
The city lives its unhurried life. This dog, for example, carries his master on a moped. What did you think? Is it the other way around?
And such a beauty was met in one of the fish restaurants.
The old town is quiet and somehow cozy. There are many nice places, cobbled streets with real 19th century fishermen's houses, small souvenir shops and friendly locals.
There is also a marina in the city. Tiny, like the town itself. For some reason, it was there that we met the largest number of jellyfish at the pier.
Well, since we got to the yacht port, we took a boat trip along the coastline of Sozopol. Walk hour, individual, but a bit boring. Maybe because the same type of tiled houses on the rocky shores did not inspire, or maybe because the children were already quite tired, but the walk itself did not make the proper impression.
On the other hand, a trip to Ravadinovo Castle, which is located near Sozopol, caused a storm of delight. Having agreed with the taxi driver that he would pick us up later, we walked around the small territory of this "In Love with the Wind" castle for several hours, and were not tired at all. Still would! In the castle, you could touch real armor, hold a sword in your hands and try on an iron helmet in which my son literally drowned, and also feed the swans, try to catch nimble peacock chicks, and then run after their worried mother with wild screams, and take a picture for memory with a real live knight in armor! Surprisingly, my husband and I also liked the castle.
The cuisine of the Bulgarians is delicious and high-calorie. The portions are not very large, although it also depends on the restaurant. For example, we found a wonderful restaurant "Mechana Sozopol", which means something similar to "a place by the hearth", where they took delicious grilled dishes.
Bulgarians have delicious lactic acid products, sour cream, cheese. They know how to cook meat and fish well. But we didn’t like the soups and we cooked our own, homemade ones for dinner. I must say that the prices for products in Bulgaria are quite affordable and below the average European, which is good news.
Well, probably the most memorable experience of our seven-day vacation in Sozopol was a trip to Nessebar, where we popped in just for a couple of hours on the way to Burgas airport. What a pity that it was only a few hours! The city simply fascinated us. Despite the crowds of tourists, squeezing between souvenir shops and literally dragging a stroller along the cobblestone pavement, we still managed to fall in love with this small ancient town with its unique atmosphere, mentally promising ourselves to return here again and dedicate a full day of walking to this city.
So our journey has come to an end, as well as the story of the small cozy resort town of Sozopol, where we were lucky to be in good health and in a pleasant spirit during the serene September week of our family vacation. I hope that my story, even after a year, has not lost its relevance and can be useful to someone : )
