Bulgaria...land of the cheap everything and funny writing...

I am sorry for the neglect of the blog in recent weeks, we had an influx of visitors and uni has been getting pretty busy... However we did make time for a weekend holiday to not-so-sunny Bulgaria! We visited the very pretty town of Burgas on the Black Sea Coast, although the weather wasn't as hot as we'd have liked we had a great time and it was a welcome break from the constant hub of Istanbul.

We stayed at a really cute hostel randomly owned by one of Bulgaria's most famous rappers who ran a studio and hostel together, everything was amazingly super cheap from beer to clothes and we even swam in the Black Sea! We met up with Sara's friend Damien who is Bulgarian but also goes to Newcastle Uni and he was our tour guide for the weekend..we had a couple of nights out and loved the cheap cocktails...however no one told me a Bulgarian double is a British quadruple...there was messy times and a very hungover morning. On the Sunday one of Damien's friends (also bizarrely a rapper...never have I met so many MCs!) was filming a video for one of his tracks in a town close by on the coast so we got a lift there and explored the town which was full of beautiful old red brick orthodox churches and quaint antique shops while they filmed at a local hospital, Sara had a starring role as a nurse which was hilarious to watch....the first steps on the ladder of fame...to star in a Bulgarian rap video!

Other than that we shopped and dined for extra cheap and on Monday braved the cold cold waters of the black sea for a refreshing dip I wont forget in a while! It was great to have a break and explore somewhere new that none of us had ever been but by Monday night we were all ready to return to the buzz of Istanbul, Burgas felt like a village in comparison!