Still the tourist

Sally and I have had the most fabulous two days in Plovdiv, we will come back here again.
We set the alarm today and after breakfast made an early start with the morning sun in full flow we headed off to visit Shipka Church and Buzludza.
It's not too far but the countryside from Plovdiv is so beautiful you can just poodle along and drink in the views.
Our first stop was Shipka Church and just as we arrived the bells started to toll.
Such a pleasure to visit here, in fact it's so worth seeing I'm only going to post a few pics as it's a place you have to see first hand.

Our second stop was the former communist headquarters at Buzludza, situated on the top of the pass and dominates the skyline with full 360 panoramic views, wow.
Most impressive from the outside and both amazing and spooky on the inside. Once finished in marble and mosaics now virtually just a part demolished symbol of communism.
The work that must have gone into this was immense the piece of land that it stands on was clearly once walled paved lit and manicured.
Even now walking up the main entrance steps feels special
From the inside it's as though you can see the whole of Bulgaria.
For such an impressive structure it seems crazy that people would want to try and destroy it just for what it stood for.
This was on our bucket list and is a must for those able to visit and climb inside.
Tomorrow we will be back on the build and inspecting just how bad the woodworm is on our floors, but for now we are enjoying traditional Bulgarian food and hospitality in Gabravo.

This is my impression of how I feel some people think the whole of Eastern Europe looks like, drab and grey in reality it's a rich diverse mix of culture and tradition

An Ordinary Holiday

Today is the first ordinary tourist type day we have had, no builders merchants no tools just holidaying.
Even the rain subsided as we made our way over the Balkan range to Plovdiv.
Dating back donkey's years Plovdiv is without doubt one of Bulgaria's most beautiful cities and well worth a visit.
Even though the weather was still a bit moody the views on the way from Lovech over the top of the central Balkan range are breathtaking and its an easy pleasant drive from Lovech

This is the first time I had ever booked a Hostel and I did think Sally would have a fit when I told her but for several reasons we can highly recommend it.
Firstly its bang in the middle of Plovdiv Old Town, secondly it has free secure parking, thirdly it's proper cute and quirkey and last but not least it's rated forth in the world by Lonely Planet.
The staff are very helpful and welcoming and the place is spotless.
We wasted no time in setting out for a walk and finding a nice restaurant for some lunch and a couple of drinks, it did start to thunder again but it didn't last too long and once the sun came out again we wandered off up and down the cobbled streets.
So far today we've had lots to eat and drink and walked for what feels like miles we are here for two days and look forward to tomorrow...
Some random pics.

Our Room at the Old Plovdiv Hostel

Lots of curious little staircases and doorways

Not an ordinary holiday day three

Woke up again this morning to yet more rain, but seriously we still don't care because on the whole are having a great time.
There's not a lot you really want to do in the rain so we decided that we should go and have a day on the build before we go to Plovdiv tomorrow.
I must say Sally has amazed me she has been a star today, she has just got stuck in with no complaints even though it's rained again all day and she has had to trip back and forth to the garage emptying out the ground floor of the house which believe me was no easy job.
I kept myself busy taking down the hall ceiling which took quite a lot of time, there again I didn't expect it to be made of clay and straw and be in places 6 inches thick.
I estimate by the amount of waste that there was probably at least a tonne of materials in the hall ceiling which is barely 8ft square.
We had our first visitor "Baba Penka"  who popped in around late afternoon and proper hit it off with Sally even though we don't have a clue what she said.
This is the woman that kept an eye on the house for the previous owner Daniella 
Anyway we decided that we had done enough for one day and with that the sun come out for a while so we finished for the day and went back to the hotel for a shower before going for a walk and a drink in Lovech Town.
Having a great time the food is fab and the people are lovely, tomorrow we get to be proper tourists in Plovdiv. 

Empty Basement thanks to Sally

Sally "loving it"

Hall ceiling is no more

No ordinary holiday day two: Still raining, let's shop.

Well it was raining when we got here and it's still raining but it will take more than a little rain to dampen our spirits.
We decided to got to Sevlievo this morning normally this will be a nice walk and a bar meal, but not this time.
Our first stop was an electrical store to buy a kettle and a small pair of powered speakers, so we can have coffee and sounds on site.
Our next stop was Veliko Tarnovo as there is a Praktica superstore here , like B&Q but massive we needed to get some of the bits that we couldn't fit into our toolboxes.
Item number one a sledgehammer and a large adjustable spanner.
What I really wanted was a new consumer unit (fuseboard) so I can make the electrics safe, at the moment there is no protection at all.
Picked up a load of loose cable and some sockets, switches and light fittings.
We met a guy in the electrical aisle who's mate comes from Lark Lane in Aigburth, how's that for a small world.
when we left it was still raining, and we went back to our house to drop off all our goodies and do some investigations, we'd just had butties to eat today and water from a plastic bottle, proper hardcore holiday or at least it will be tomorrow when I start pulling ceilings and walls down.
Again we eat at the hotel restaurant and after a couple of beers and some good food we went to bed a second early night on holiday, not so hardcore.

Lovech Still Raining

Not an ordinary holiday, day one The Reveal

Today is the day Sally has been waiting for.
She has been very excited the last few days and now she will finally get to see the property we have bought.
We have the usual excellent service we have come to expect from EasyJet and arrive into Sofia on time.

The passport checks were comprehensive, not just the usual glance.
After a short wait for our toolboxes to come off the carousel we head through the nothing to declare channel and meet our car hire rep.
I had ordered a 2007 Renault saloon for the 3 week trip but instead we have a rather new Hyundai i30 6 speed Diesel and what a nice motor it is.
Unfortunately the weather has not been as good to us as we hoped.
We couldn't get to the car park in Sofia that I knew because of a new tram system that is being installed and the traffic is quite heavy at the moment with it being the Easter Holidays over here.
Instead we head out of Sofia and on towards Lovech.

I had planned in my mind to pick up some decent folding ladders and cleaning materials so a small diversion to Praktis Sofia and mission complete, now we just need some food.
We have virtually had non stop heavy rain and the clouded hills and mountains of the Balkan range resembles a typical grey day in the lake district.
We have been up since 2am and had a couple of coffees and a sandwich but not much else so I stop at a popular village truck stop its large and traditional with bright red woven tablecloths and varnished woodwork, three young waitresses are busy serving food and coffee
This is a place I have visited before with Manyol and his boss.
We both have a small beer and a bowl of traditional soup along with bread from the embers, Shopska salad and strong black coffee. (all in £6)
We are only 20mins from our village and Sally is getting a little more excited.
We arrive into our village, a low mist is covering the hills but the rain is finally stopping.
I open the front door and let Sally in, she looks a little gobsmacked.
She can't believe just how much there is left to remove in the house and can't yet see past all the belongings left behind.
This is typical for a village house though, it's as though they just walk out the door one day and that's that.
Anyway we go out into the garden and there is more space than she expected and although the garden needs cutting back all of the trees bar one have been dug up and removed as planned.
We look through the barn and again Sally can't believe how much junk is in there, but the top floor has been cleared as required.
We spend a good hour or so at the property and once Sally goes into the top floor of the house she smiles and you can see a plan come together in her head.
The house is actually big enough to get 2 bedrooms one upstairs and one downstairs that is what she wanted and when we go out onto the balcony she smiles once more and now all is good.
She did have me a little worried at first, but that was then and this is now.  I had already cleared out the top of the house so it's just a blank canvas and within two minutes she is suggesting what walls to take down, happy days.

A view of the old barn from gate.

Sally is now in full flow, kitchen here bedroom there etc etc...

I'm just relieved that she likes it, after all we did visit nearly every village in the central Balkan range before deciding on this one.

Time to go to the hotel, it won't be a late night tonight.

Just two weeks before we go to Bulgaria

Sally and I are getting quite excited now. We're all set for our first working holiday in BG
We are coming to Bulgaria for just under 3 weeks and will be spending about 8 days of that on our renovation.
I don't want it to be too painful for Sally because she knows that I could quite happily start and then not stop for the whole duration. So I've booked various other stops so we can holiday as well as build.

We are starting off in Lovech, for a few days this is our most local "big town"
This way we can visit our plot source some local builders merchants as well as plan out just what we intend to do.
So lots of sketches, discussions and a few gin & tonic's.
Sally has only actually ever seen the house from the outside as she didn't come with me when I bought it.
Our next stop will be at Plovdiv, we can't wait to go here we haven't been here before and this will no doubt be the most relaxing and fascinating part of our stay.  I have worked every day since last October so I'm ready for some proper downtime and Plovdiv is the place to be.
We also plan to visit Asuns fortress depending on the weather.
On our way back to Lovech we are having a one night stop in a B&B at Gabrovo before we go back to the build.
Now for the hard work starts, I've packed two large toolboxes to take with us as hold luggage but its a compromise when you are restricted to 20kg's per box.
Fully expecting to get the third degree at the airport when they see whats inside them.
For this first trip we are going to determine just what structual state the buildings are in.
Following this we mainly need to take down some of ceilings in the house, fix some holes in the roof and then look at removing any old wooden outbuildings. Ive just booked this in as a four day block so as not to fully wipe Sally out.
But on the positive side we are then having two days in downtown Sofia before we start our next four day block.
Sofia is a proper vibrant city so plenty to see and do.
Now for our next 4 day build, Sally will want to do some "home cooking" here as we are staying very local in a newly renovated house and its our wedding anniversary.
For our final stop will be spending two nights in Veliko Tarnavo before we finally Return to Liverpool and work, and stress and antisocial teenagers.
On the whole we should have a good trip and I'm sure we will meet lots of interesting people.
This will be our fourth trip to Bulgaria and still we haven't been anywhere near Sunny Beach...
I will of course be taking lots of pics of the build and then putting them in my blog
Regards
Ian

The five year plan

Having explained why we have decided to move to Bulgaria the next step is to formulate a plan and a timescale.
Because like most married couples today we both have really busy jobs and children.
Saying that the children are now grown up with only my son living at home for now and in the case of my daughter she now has a family of her own and we have a grandson.
All of our parents are still alive and in their 70's
We are enjoying our new Grandson and still have quite a lot to do here in England before we can leave so going anywhere quickly just isn't really an option.

Compared to England the cost of living in Bulgaria is cheap but you still have to be able to eat & live your life and for us the state pension is still at least 17years away.
So in order to make our move viable we need to have a very good plan in place. I see it like this work hard here now for five years and then retire with a small income to tide us over until our state pensions arrive or do nothing and stay here getting up for work every day till I'm 67.

I personally have always worked hard ever since I was 11 years old and started working on the milk of a weekend at first and then as i got older most days before school. Working felt good and I like to be independent and soon I found myself gardening of a weekend as well as doing the milk and going to school. I have pretty much worked every day since then and now regularly do 50hrs plus a week and renovate of a weekend.
The renovating is a massive part of "the plan" as the properties we own here in Liverpool will provide some of the income for our life in Bulgaria.

The plan we have is a full Five Year plan as it will take us this long to finish the renovations here in Liverpool and manage the rentals, It will also give us enough time to see our children properly settled down.
Just as important this is how long it will take us to remote renovate our property in Bulgaria. (by remote renovate what I mean is I will go there for three weeks every year and get stuck in, one big project a year for the next four years and then we should be habitable by year five)

We have two properties in Bulgaria the first one is in the Lovech region with an elevated outlook  positioned at the back of a quiet village with a large piece of land it's in a lovely spot and is ideal for renovation but is now overgrown and both the barn and the house need to be fully rebuilt. This will be done when we live there.

The second property is again in the Lovech region in a small friendly village but on a much smaller plot with a house and a barn in a reasonable condition that can be renovated without having to be knocked down. This is where we will be going to live and it's here that we will start the renovations in a couple of weeks time.

The latest property has both good points and bad points.

The Good points:
Both the house and the barn are on the official deeds as "residential dwellings" so I wont need permission to make the barn habitable ie "change of use " this is a massive plus point.
The road access and location is very good easily accessed by vehicle making deliveries easy.
The views are very good and there is not a lot of through traffic only really the villagers drive past.
The village is quiet and friendly there is also a number of properties that have already been renovated.
Water and electric are supplied and connected but will need upgrading


The Bad Points:
The only bad point is that both the house and the barn are a little on the small side. Each of them will make a very nice quirky 1 Bedroom self contained property, but to obtain 2 Bedrooms would be a squeeze/compromise. The thing is that when you want a barn conversion you want some degree of space. Will probably look at slightly extending the footprint of the barn if this can be done without masses of paperwork

General Property Points in Bulgaria.
Nearly all village houses will need a new roof, rewiring, toilets fitting inside and probably a modern septic tank

The logistics of these tasks are not to be underestimated and will take both lots of time and planning.

We have been lucky already and managed to find a house in our village to stay in for four days while we are over in May this year which has just been renovated. The owners Mum and Dad live directly opposite and she has told me that her Dad will be happy to help  and also knows other workers nearby.

We are also staying in the next village along the following week for four nights, we already know the people who own this as we have stayed with them before, and they are all architects so this should help

The labour is cheap in Bulgaria but you get what you pay for so with this in mind I'm happy to let people help but I will be overseeing the renovation and using "best English building practices"

Some people might take the route of finding a friendly builder and simply handing over the reigns but because I have a lot of experience in building I will make all the decisions.
I will also be looking to search out some of the proper traditional tradesmen typically a stonemason to sort out the dry stone walls and a old fashioned carpenter for some of the finer detailed work.

I will contract out the fitting of the septic tank to a proper firm as they need to be "signed off" and regulated.

So in my mind the only way to do it is to split down the main jobs into single projects and then plan,  think and Plan some more.
Networking with the neighbours is a must after all they have local knowledge and when you need to find a man with a digger or a good timber yard they will be invaluable.