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Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Old Dec 29th 2019, 12:20 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by fidobsa
Perhaps we could have an Eastern Europe forum that covered Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia etc? I notice the Hungary forum is less active than when I joined a few years ago. I suppose people are using Facebook groups instead.
Never understood the attraction of FB over discussion forums such as this, but there we go, courses for horses!
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Old Dec 30th 2019, 7:55 am
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by Expatrick
Never understood the attraction of FB over discussion forums such as this, but there we go, courses for horses!
I don't do FB, but do you have a link to these groups?
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Old Dec 30th 2019, 8:02 am
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by rabble_rouser
I don't do FB, but do you have a link to these groups?
No, but there is a group called BalatonBrits, which apparently has over 400 members.
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Old Jan 2nd 2020, 10:31 am
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by rabble_rouser
I'm curious about the Balkans. From what I've seen its the most unspoilt beautiful part of europe. I have spent some time time in eastern europe living and working so I understand there are challenges. I even speak a little Russian. I plan to holiday there in a year or two. Romanua, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, never seen such rustic beauty elsewhere.
True, very pretty part of Europe, especially Dalmatian coast and its islands.
However, I cant say same for Balkan people, very backwards, racist & nationalistic (hate everyone but their nation), except in capital cities.
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Old Jan 2nd 2020, 12:36 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by EU.flag
True, very pretty part of Europe, especially Dalmatian coast and its islands.
However, I cant say same for Balkan people, very backwards, racist & nationalistic (hate everyone but their nation), except in capital cities.
Yes, they can be rustic and patriotic. If they are "racist" - well almost every country
(bar three?) I have visited as an Englishman I have experienced what some consider "racism", including Vietnam, Thailand, Ireland, America, Canada, Italy, etc etc etc. I really don't care! Its my responsibility as the foreign devil to prove myself to them, not the other way around. I just try to experience their country, and most people are pretty civil if you show them you are a respectable person. If you want to travel, then grow up a bit and don't smack racism labels on everything!
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Old Jan 2nd 2020, 12:53 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Reading about the History of the Balkans I am amazed at those idealists who thought a "Balkan Federation" could be created as a working political entity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Federation
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Old Jan 3rd 2020, 7:46 am
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by rabble_rouser
I'm curious about the Balkans. From what I've seen its the most unspoilt beautiful part of europe. I have spent some time time in eastern europe living and working so I understand there are challenges. I even speak a little Russian. I plan to holiday there in a year or two. Romanua, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, never seen such rustic beauty elsewhere.
I can recommend a visit to Bosnia. I spent 2 years there after the Yugoslavian war as a member of SFOR and found it to be just as you say - unspoiled and beautiful for the most part, although I believe there are still even now some problems with unexploded mines - stay out of the long grass and you'll be fine lol....

https://balkaninsight.com/2019/09/02...ves-in-bosnia/

There are, as to be expected, throwbacks to the communist era in the towns and cities in the form of squat and ugly factory buildings with chimneys which regularly belch black smoke, and ugly blocks of flats which might make you think you are still in Leeds or Sunderland, but you can look past all that and see the unspoiled beauty of the mountains and the rivers (for the most part at least)

As with every other country I've ever been to there is a problem with litter and a prevailing kind of third worldy attitude towards the care of their own country from the locals. I was parked one day up on a high hill looking down at the river Vrbas on the road from Banja Luka to Gornji Vakuf and said to my colleague that it looked like there was a nice little beach way down below : he responded by saying 'it's not sand, it's plastic bottles' and it was, all trapped at a bend in the river and looking just like a pretty sandy beach from a distance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrbas_(river)

I found the locals to be pleasant and welcoming in both Republica Srpska and in the Federation and never had a problem there. I used to go off on my bicycle for long cycles on my days off and never felt threatened in any way. Very beautiful country indeed and with very fine and hospitable people in my opinion.



Last edited by Jake.White; Jan 3rd 2020 at 8:28 am.
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Old Apr 20th 2020, 2:24 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Most of the British couples that live in Bulgaria are retired and they choose to buy and live in the countryside.
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Old Apr 20th 2020, 2:32 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

As a Bulgarophile I would not even consider visiting Bosnia ! As for Brits moving to Bulgaria, many have moved to villages, but there are also a fair number in those ghastly "holiday complexes" on The Black Sea or in the mountains. Not for me

I lived and worked in Bulgaria 1991-2008. Most of that was a village outside the town of Shumen.
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Old May 25th 2020, 5:07 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

Originally Posted by scot47
As a Bulgarophile I would not even consider visiting Bosnia ! As for Brits moving to Bulgaria, many have moved to villages, but there are also a fair number in those ghastly "holiday complexes" on The Black Sea or in the mountains. Not for me

I lived and worked in Bulgaria 1991-2008. Most of that was a village outside the town of Shumen.
I've just been reading your earlier posts in this Forum. That was amazingly adventurous of you to work in Bulgaria - without, I assume, in the beginning not even speaking the language. As for having Bulgarian grandchildren - cripes. Well done, you! I have Norwegian grandchildren, and I've always thought that was exotic; but Bulgarian out-ranks Norwegian, any day!
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Old May 25th 2020, 5:56 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

My working life was spent learning and teaching Language and languages. I have had some aptitude in learning languages. The French, Latin and German I got at school were just for starters ! I cannot conceive of living life with only one language !

There is a whole industry devoted to Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Many people make a living doing that. Not all "expats" are into Management, Accountancy or Civil Engineering.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teachi...reign_language

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Old May 25th 2020, 9:56 pm
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Default Re: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria etc

I only ever went to Bulgaria once in my life - driving my VW Beetle in 1965, on our way north behind The Iron Curtain. 47 years later, I wrote up the experience of getting out of the country, in my personal journal/blog. BE rules don't allow me to give the link, so I'll just copy and paste the relevant part of the entry.

Entering Bulgaria with Linda four months later was simplicity itself, with a visa from Istanbul. Leaving the country was rather more memorable, occurring on yet another back road. Yet again, my car was the only traffic for miles around – the only vehicle wanting to cross into Romania at this godforsaken spot, at least.

My side of the conversation went something like this, in pidgin German interspersed with occasional words from my Bulgarian-English dictionary. “It has been a pleasant stay in your beautiful country. Now please change our unspent local currency into Romanian currency. Oh, well, any currency will do. Well, if you don’t have any foreign currency, never mind; we will exchange it at the Romanian post just over there (a hundred yards across a bridge). What?! It’s illegal to take Bulgarian currency out of the country? Never mind, we’ll go back to the petrol pump a few miles back and spend it there. What do you mean you’ve already stamped us out of Bulgaria? Well, stamp us back in again, please. We would need another visa for that? And you aren’t authorised to issue visas? Sheesh. Tell you what, you keep our passports and we will drive back and get the petrol. Oh dear. We can’t travel in Bulgaria without a passport. So we must just give you the money, and you will give us a receipt? Hmm. I don’t think so.”

I demanded to speak with the Ministry of Tourism, then Foreign Affairs, then Internal Affairs, then the Prime Minister’s Office; oh, and the British Embassy. Please. Pronto. The phone rang hot for the next three hours, while we sulked in the car and wondered if we might have to stay in it all night.

In the end the Romanians changed the money for us without a fuss. It wasn’t illegal for them, which was just as well, I guess.
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