This blog is a diary, and if it’s dominated by pub visits that’s often because the pub is where you’re most likely to eavesdrop on meet people*. To steal from and corrupt Pete Postlethwaite; “Truth is, I THOUGHT it mattered. I thought that BEER mattered. But does it? Bollocks! Not compared to how PEOPLE matter.“… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN’S GASTRONOMIC 2024
Tag: Bulgaria
KORNGOLD, BURGERS AND MURK. OUR LAST NIGHT IN SOFIA.
April 2024. Sofia. I’m sure we could have caught a Thursday flight home and managed 3 Bulgarian cities in 3 nights like Murray Head or something, but best not rely on Balkan buses, eh ? So Mrs RM had booked a second night in Sofia at the end of our mini-break (she’d happily have stayed… Continue reading KORNGOLD, BURGERS AND MURK. OUR LAST NIGHT IN SOFIA.
THE CHURCH OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, VELIKO TARNOVO (NCSS 4.5)
April 2024. Veliko Tarnovo. Our third Bulgarian city, a third characterful hotel under £40, the snappily titled HiStory INN unique guest house (Houses of Olden Times) in Veliko Tarnovo was a cracker, at the end of the ancient houses of cobbled Gurko Street. A smiley face above Mrs RM’s name on the room door, a… Continue reading THE CHURCH OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, VELIKO TARNOVO (NCSS 4.5)
KAVARMA
April 2024. Veliko Turnovo. Our third and final stop on our whirlwind wizz (actually with Ryanair) round Bulgaria, as we arrive at a bus stop 2 miles west of Veliko Tarnovo* (pop. 71,502), perhaps the Shrewsbury of Bulgaria. Reader, I did allow Mrs RM a taxi to the centre (£2.50). One slight problem, the driver… Continue reading KAVARMA
OUR BIG FAT BULGARIAN CRAFT NIGHT
April 2024. Plovdiv. For a city the size of Nottingham or Newcastle, Plovdiv seemed remarkably compact, bar the slog of a walk to the outer bus station in unseasonably hot weather. Back in Kapana from the museum-heavy Old Town, we spent our lone night ticking the craft, because it’s what my readers expect. Our £35… Continue reading OUR BIG FAT BULGARIAN CRAFT NIGHT
PLOVDIV OLD TOWN
April 2024. Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Mrs RM was a bit knackered by the time we got back from the northern bus station, a half hour walk resulting in a Bulgarian lady scribbling down the time of the next day’s bus to Veliko Tarnovo (which I’d already told her) but ignoring the request for tickets. Because they… Continue reading PLOVDIV OLD TOWN
BULGARIAN CASK – NBBSS 2
April 2024. Sofia. Day 1 of 4. Plenty of graffiti in Sofia, but some of it was art; with an excellent “Who’s that next to the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa ?” game on Saborna St. But enough of that; let’s find a church and a pub. After an ice cream from Sladoledŭ in the… Continue reading BULGARIAN CASK – NBBSS 2
TOP 100 COMMUNIST APARTMENTS – THE RED FLAT, SOFIA
April 2024. Sofia. We seem to have left our first trip to Bulgaria till nearly last of all the European countries (still need Albania, the 3 micro nations, Moldova and Belarus, the last of which I guess is a bit inadvisable at the moment). If you’re as young as me you may know Bulgaria chiefly… Continue reading TOP 100 COMMUNIST APARTMENTS – THE RED FLAT, SOFIA
BULGARIA HAS FALLEN
April 2024. Bulgaria. If 2022 was the year of completing the Beer Guide, then 2023-24 is a race to complete Europe. Talk about men being tickers, it’s Mrs RM’s who been the obsessive since buying that wooden wall chart from Ukraine with its lovely pin badges. These are the ones we still need to do,… Continue reading BULGARIA HAS FALLEN
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