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Borovets, Bulgaria

22nd - 30th December 2007

Celebrating a white Xmas in Borovets, Bulgaria

So living in the northern hemisphere mean that we would not be having a bbq Christmas lunch and dinner. As such, we decided to get into the spirit of things and try to have a white xmas. Now, this is actually not possible as it hasn't snowed in London in xmas day since 1974. We decided to go somewhere where we could get snow on xmas day, or actually be around snow. The choice came down to Andorra or Bulgaria (we considered France and Switzerland but it was wayyy to expensive, especially over the xmas period).

We booked our holiday through a ski tour operator called Crystal Ski. We were booked at Hotel Lion in the Borovets resort. Departing from Gatwick on 22 December and returning on 30 December meant that we would be in London for NYE. Two of our friends joined us on this holiday, Megan (a friend from Ashika's work) and Gillian (a friend Ashika met through work).

I wont go through each day, suffice to say there was a lot of skiing and it was a very enjoyable holiday. I had never skied before and by the end of the holiday I was skiing red runs and skiing down slopes that I couldn't even walk down. Ashika on the other hand had skied before, albeit a long time ago, and picked up the skills quite quickly, so I was always trying to keep up with her. We had lessons of 4 hours each day followed by free time, though we found the lessons went for most of the day and by the time we were finished, the lifts were closing. We had a good ski instructor who had his son there with him (he was training up his son to become a ski instructor).

Borovets as a ski resort was quite nice. It's probably not as polished as France of Switzerland but was thoroughly enjoyable. You need to realise that it is an Eastern European nation and poverty abounds the country. With this and the usual connotations of Eastern Europe, there were many gentleman's clubs in the resort town. This may be a little embarrassing if you had a family but for singles and couples has a great night life (despite the before mentioned establishments).

Christmas day was fun as the four of us exchanged presents over breakfast. During the day was the usual skiing. For dinner, the hotel had organised a gala dinner followed by entertainment (pics below). After dinner we took a ride in an actual sleigh, a bit cliche but was quite nice.

One other notable was that we tried snowboarding one evening after the ski lessons. Was very fun. Snowboarding was easier to learn once we had skied for a while, mainly for balance reasons. That said, I really think snowboarding is easier to learn than skiing. And although I think snowboarding is more fun as an activity, I much prefer skiing as you can get much more speed in skiing. Below is a video Ashika fluked as I was coming down the nursery slope on the snowboard.



Overall, I would highly recommend the Borovets resort in Bulgaria. It's more of an up and coming resort in Eastern Europe where the prices are almost half of skiing in the Alps. Obviously there are a couple of the stories which you will have to find out about when you see us. Enough from me, and for those Aussies reading this, we hope to see you in a couple of weeks when we come to Oz.

Over and out.

Standing at St Pancras international station waiting for our train to Gatwick
Having McDonals at Gatwick, we'd waited over 30 mins in the queue	Ashika and I waiting in the departure lounge
Megan and Gillian in the departure lounge	Touchdown at Plovdiv Airport, Bulgaria's second largest city. See snow next to runway. Actual airport was a glorified tin shed.
Borovets, Bulgaria's largest ski resort.	View from the nursery slopes.
Fresh snowfall a couple of days before we arrived.	Megan and Ashika posing as we were gathering in our learning groups.
Me waiting for the lesson to start on Day 1.	Megan.
Krasi, our ski instructor.
Megan couldn't stay on her skis...	Trying to take me down with her.
No such luck, she was on her own.	It was crowded on Day 1 as it was the first day of the ski season and local Bulgarians were given cheap day passes.
Ashika and Megan trying to stay upright.	Ashika showing some of her skills.
Oops, hair number 241 is out of place.	The ski group together at lunchtime.
You may not be able to see this properly, but Ashika had just fallen over. By this stage I had fallen many times already.	Lunch for all days was a chicken burger for both of us. Bulgarians are very big fans of pork so our diet was slightly restricted for lunch. We got great breakfasts and dinners at the hotel though.
Cocktails by the fireplace in the hotel.	Me, Gillian, Ashika and Megan on pub crawl on Night 1 organised by tour operator.
Kathleen, Brendan and Linda - Irish ski-group mates, also on the pub crawl.	Ashika and Megan after a couple of shots.
'How you doin'?'	I think this was pub number 4. Ashika, Gillian, Megan, Avril and Joe (another Irish family in our ski group)
Linda selected for a competition. She had to take an orgasm shot and follow it up by an orgasm recreation. She did it although her parents were also within earshot.	Take the shot no hands were the rules.
Orgasm fake.	I'd like to say that due to the cheering from our ski group, Linda won the competition, the prize being another Orgasm shot.
Day 2, albeit a little sore from skiing on day 1 and the pub crawl.	Posing for a pic on one of the mountain peaks, the next pic will show the other side of this view. This was 1500m above sea level.
As it didn't snow, we didn't really need our goggles, the sunglasses were good enough to keep the wind out of the eyes.	Krasi posing for us.
George's Bar, quaint pub along one of the green runs.	People stopped for a hot drink generally.
	View from green run down towards the nursery slopes.
	The sleigh on Xmas Day
It was a proper sleigh, not on wheels.	The sleigh was complete with candle lights and jingles around the reindeer's (or horse's) necks.
I was actually freezing as it was the only day I had not worn my snow boots.
	The hotel's gala dinner was very well organised.
We got there early as we were hungry.	Gillian and Megan (Megan's top was shedding the whole night).
The actual dinner was very nice, he main contained pork (surprise surprise) but the staff were nice enough to cook 2 chicken breast fillets for Ashika and I.	The weirdest thing was the dessert which was a roast pumpkin with sugar syrup over the top and almonds and figs on the side. Apparently it's a Bulgarian specialty.
Hot drinks in the hotel bar afterwards.	Avril Power (not Lavigne)
George (Krasi's son) who was learning to be a ski instructor.	Megan flying down a red slope.
Me on the same red slope, it was easier to go fast down it then slowly.	Ashika in the Gondola up to the highest peak.
View from Musala, Borovet's highest peak, 2500m above sea level.
It was so quiet on the mountains.	Enjoying the serenity.
Megan taking it all in.
One evening we tried a 'Snowboard Taster', you may have seen my snowboard fall earlier in the page.	Ashika taking the surfing approach.
Our hotel room was quite nice and spacious.
	The nursery slopes were also open for night skiing being bathed in flood lights.
It looked very nice at night.
The pizza restaurant where we had many lunches and hot drinks (we think our instructor had shares in this store).	The whole ski group on the last evening.
George presenting me with my certificate.	Ashika with George (all the girls seemed to take a liking to George).
Megan accepting her certificate.	Oops, a little too close there Megan, he's only 19.
Me, Ashika, George, Krasi and Megan.	Ashika outside the pizza restaurant.
Our last night in Borovets.	Megan.
We went to a karaoke bar after the presentation, this is Brendan singing Elvis - Only fools rush in.	The whole group joined in. Irene, Avril and Joe.
Joe, Kathleen and Linda.	Megan and Ashika.