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In Which I Whinge About The Whingers
November 6, 2008 by Mike
Varna
Route: Burgas - Nesebar - Sunny Beach - Varna
I was sad to say goodbye to my British chums in Burgas. The folks at the London are generous, inclusive and funny. It hasn't all been easy for them, starting a new life in a new country. For what it's worth, it seems to me that they've done it for the right reasons and, pub quizzes and Full English breakfasts aside, they're integrating with the country -- and the people -- around them.
On the other hand, don't get me started on some of the patrons of the pub. From them I heard nothing but whining, complaints, self pity and a lazy, contemptible racism aimed at the Bulgarians they live near -- but not among -- as well as the multicultural country they have left behind.
They're all here because it's cheap. "It's like Spain was 40 years ago." And it probably is. Bulgaria is a poor country, as much of Spain was. People are moving from countryside to city, leaving property, often in poor repair, for sale.
But poor, rural Bulgaria is ugly -- concrete, cast iron, rubbish-filled, unkempt, unhappy -- in a way that Spain never was. It was Sovietised: factories and apartment buildings and roads and work practices and bureaucracy and attitude -- the infrastructure is hardened and a bit useless. It won't recover as quickly as the people. And the Brits who I heard whinging better get used to it.
Take Nesebar. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but not from where I was standing:
I didn't stop.
--
Bulgaria joined the EU in January 2007. I have yet to see a Bulgarian car with the little blue 'EU' badge on its number plates. Rather, everything still sports the Bulgarian flag.
I'm guessing that new Bulgarian cars do indeed fly the Euro flag. It's just that I haven't seen any cars that are anything like as young as two years old.
--
Sunny Beach is exactly what I expected/ feared, and in November I couldn't even gawp at the people. There were no people.
Varna, on the other hand, is Bulgaria's biggest coastal city. It's got thousands of years of history, and an Archaeological Museum. Which, more than a public house, however cheery, is the kind of thing I normally stop for.
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