So Here We Are In June

June is now finally with us, and so far the rain seems to have disappeared for a while. Someone somewhere certainly seems to have turned the heat up too. These past few days have been glorious, wall to wall sunshine, and what rain we have had seems to have confined itself to the evenings and night time. It has meant that we have finally been able to get out in the garden and tackle some much needed weeding, and the grass has all been cut again.

This has not been the limit of our activities though. It was on Tuesday that I made my first appearance on Trust Global Radio, talking about this summer's It's A Knock-out Olympic Challenge. I have to admit to feeling a wee bit nervous before I went on air, although that might have been down to the coffee that I had been drinking earlier. My first experience was doing the sound level check, and then about half an hour later I was live on air with Bobby Martin. I have to say that Bobby did make it very easy for me, and quite a few people have said that they enjoyed the interview. I certainly hope so as I am back on the radio on Tuesday, as I will be every week in the run up to the Games. The good news is that we now have eight confirmed teams, with at least another two possibles. So maybe I did do something right, as the interest has really taken off. We appreciate all of the support, time and energy that people are putting into this, and we all feel that this is a very worthy cause. Some of you might not be able to make the Games but would still like to find out what is going on, so there are a couple of websites for you to follow. This first one was the one that I mentioned on the radio on Tuesday http://www.olympics.gornaoryahovitsa.com and then we have just had this one go live this weekend http://www.binkyaidbg.com/ but don't tell Bobby as I will be letting him know about it this coming week.

There was also the craft day on Wednesday, and in the morning there were Inge and Iona showing us all where the fabric shops are in VT. We did try to have a look at the prices of art supplies in the VT University  Art Department. Sadly though that shop was closed, but we did get a tour round the place. It was fascinating to see the mosaics being made, nothing seemed too much trouble for the faculty staff and they were happy to give up their time explaining the processes used. My particular favourite bit was the Lithographic Department, as my Aunt used to be one of the last lithographic printers in the UK. Although she never used stone for her lithographic printing.

Friday saw the return of the Pub Quiz, and even though the turn out could have been better those that made it enjoyed themselves. So much so that they have asked me when the next one is likely to be. I guess that in hindsight Friday might not have been the best of days on which to hold it, as it was also the first day of the smoking ban in Bulgaria. So now there is no smoking inside any bars or restaurants, all smoking had to be done outside. So for our particular venue it meant going up a spiral staircase, and wouldn't you just know it there was a thunderstorm raging. So the smokers were huddled together trying to keep as dry as possible, before traipsing all the way back down the spiral staircase again.

Today marked the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, as the UK and ExPats celebrated 60 years of her reign. We were invited out to a Jubilee party in a neighbouring village, so thanks very much to Ellie and Gary Martin. It was a wonderful day, and attracted press coverage, both TV and print, and I finally got to try some of John Hodge's wonderful baking. Many might know him by the name of The Baker's House, as he used to be a Baker before retiring out here. The weather was wonderful, and you did have to feel sorry for the flotilla sailing up the Thames in the pouring rain. We just had to suffer with the temperatures in the 30s, it was a touch warm to say the least, but the food was good and the company even better, and attracted both Bulgarians as well as ExPats. From the British Embassy in Sofia the Charge d'affaires, Catherine Barber, also attended. So now the Embassy will be fully aware about what we are hoping to achieve with this summer's It's A Knockout, and if we are lucky they might even send a representative down.

So all in all it has been a busy and varied week for us all, and long may it continue. There's just one thing left to say. God save The Queen :o)

Treasure Hunt

A few months ago we were asked if we could possibly arrange a car treasure hunt, this was by one of our Bulgarian friends. We said of course we could, thinking that it would be an easy thing to do, we soon found out differently. First we had to work out a rough route, with both a start and finish point. We decided to go for somewhere that everybody knew, so we opted to use the VT camp site. Poor Nick and Nicky must be getting fed up with the sight of us. So using Dragizhevo as both the start and end point, it was a matter of consulting the map to work out a circular route. With the route roughly plotted we then had to drive it ourselves looking for suitable clues as we went. It took in several villages that even we hadn't been to before, but we had to make sure that the route itself was drivable, and didn't end up disappearing into some goat track into the middle of nowhere. As we went round Net had a notepad and was busily writing down possible clues, and their answers.

With the route, clues and answers I then had to type them out in a logical form. We couldn't really use cryptic clues, as we weren't sure how any Bulgarian teams would fare with these, so decided to keep the clues and directions straightforward. Once I had typed them out, it was then a matter of reading through them all, and with the map ensure that it all made sense. My next task was to get them translated into Bulgarian. I asked our lovely friend Bianka if she could spare the time to help us out. Bless her she did all of the translating for us, not only for the questions, but also for the poster that we did to advertise the event. Question sheets were printed out in both English and Bulgarian, team numbers were printed up, along with time sheets and score sheets.

Now if any of you have read my previous blog, you will be aware that we have been having some rather damp and inclement weather. We were in two minds as to whether to postpone the treasure hunt, but looking at the forecast for Saturday, it said that there were possibilities of showers, so we decided to go ahead with it. Armed and ready with all the necessary bits and pieces we set off for the camp site, so that we could get ourselves organised. Net took her laptop, so that we could keep everyone in Facebook land  aware of what was going on. The only problem being that we couldn't get the damn thing to recognise the network, Net tried, I tried and even Nick tried, but the laptop just wasn't cooperating. Eventually I managed to get it to actually link up to the campsite's network. Round about this time the sun started to come out, and  first team turned up so it was then a matter of explaining the rules and bits and pieces to them.

At the designated time of 1230 the first team was off, and heading into the great unknown. The teams were set off at five minute intervals to prevent congestion. It wouldn't have really mattered as only 6 teams actually turned up for the event, which was a bit disappointing after all of the work that we had put into it. So all of the teams had departed by 1 o'clock, leaving Net and I to drink coffee and await any problems. Sure enough we did get a text message from one team saying that they were tired and wouldn't be completing the course. That wasn't really surprising as they had been moving a lot of timber the previous day. So that left only five teams to worry about as they travelled the minor roads of Bulgaria, on their hunt for the answers to the clues.

After 2 hours and 35 minutes the first team reported back in, closely followed by the next team. They were only separated by just 3 minutes. It was the two Bulgarian teams fighting it out to be the winning team time wise as they both had the same score with their answers. So the winners for the fastest team going round the route were our friend Katia and her team. Funnily enough it was Katia who had originally asked about the possibility of a treasure hunt in the first place. So well done to them. Soon the ExPat teams started to return, even though they might not get the fastest time, it was all to play for with the most answers correct. One of the questions I had to discount, as the answer had been removed between the time of us setting the questions, and the day of the treasure hunt. All of the answer sheets were getting very close, but it eventually came down to John and Sue, and their American friends who were victorious.

Despite it not being as well supported as we had hoped, we were somewhat reassured to hear that those who took part enjoyed themselves. They must have done as we have been asked if there is any possibility of us setting another one later in the year.

So it just remains for me to thank all of those who took part, a very big thank you to Nick and Nicky at the campsite, not only for putting up with us once again, but for also supplying the prizes. Before I forget I am meant to be doing an interview on Trust Global Radio on Tuesday, maybe that could be the subject of another blog.    

Is It Monsoon Season?

For those in the UK this will probably amuse you, we seem to have had a bit of rain here, it must have something to do with the fact that we have got our pool up and filled. It all started off quite nicely at the end of April, the weather was warming up nicely, brilliant blue skies. Admittedly we do normally get a few wet days thrown at us, but not days on end of the stuff. We are all getting webbed feet over here, and that includes the cats and dogs. The ground is sodden, so we have had no real chance to potter about in the garden, only half an hour here and there, luckily we have managed to get the vegetable garden planted up, and I haven't had to get the hosepipe out for about 10 days now. We have had some downpours of Biblical proportions, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that somebody in the village is contemplating building an Ark. The grass and weeds are growing every time you turn your back on them, at least with the sodden ground the weeds are easier to pull out whenever you get the opportunity to get  out there between downpours. I had always wondered what it was like to be six feet tall, I found out with the accumulation of mud on the soles of my boots. I swear that Bulgarian mud would make an excellent glue.

The rivers and lakes are all swollen with all of this water. So far I have not heard any reports of any serious flooding, or of any bursting their banks. I think that the country could do without a repetition of a dam failing like earlier in the year. I have checked on the various weather forecasts and we are not out of the woods yet, although hopefully we are in for a couple of drier days. Which would be much appreciated, as there is always a lot to do at this time of year. It would be nice to look out of the window and actually see some blue skies for a change, there isn't even much bird life about at the moment, so it seems as though the inclement weather has caused them to declare a no flying period. I do keep hearing Peacocks and Pheasants though, so some of the locals must be rearing them. Their cockerels seem to be remarkably quiet at the moment, maybe it's hard to crow while wearing a snorkel.

One thing that we haven't been short of at this time of year is thunderstorms. The thunderstorms have to be seen and heard to be believed. As the village is in a dip at the top of a hill they often seem to rage around us, and it is quite spectacular to watch them. Had the weather been a bit warmer we would normally be sat out on the porch watching them. Even Fen, our Boxer, is quite content to sit out there with us while they are going on. When they are directly overhead he isn't quite so keen then. The loud rumbles of thunder even make the ground shake, and I have even heard the air sizzle with the lightning. In warmer years we would normally see the ground and roads steaming after a downpour. It might still be happening but we just can't see it thanks to the seemingly continuous rainfall.

With the rainfall we have all had problems. The new neighbours over the way foolishly parked their car on the green, it now resembles a bit of a swamp, so they have had problems moving furniture and bits and pieces from their old house in the village to this one. We have had rain entering the house. The drips coming through the ceiling in the bathroom we have encountered before. To resolve that was just a matter of me going up into the attic and reattaching the plastic sheeting that the wind had disturbed. One thing that we hadn't encountered before was the steps leading down to our cellar became a river and attempted to enter the cellar through the French windows. The only way that it managed to do it was through the ventilation holes at the bottom of the door. So armed with mops and buckets it was a matter of tidying up afterwards, I am just glad that it happened while we were here.

Another unusual occurrence was Dencho's field behind us trying to make a bid for freedom. Unfortunately it tried doing this through part of our garden wall. Luckily net noticed this before the dogs went round there. It was a case of scratching my head and figuring out where to start first. The first thing was to try and clear some of it out of the way, just so we could assess what needed doing to sort it out. The plastic sheeting was draped over to hopefully prevent anything else causing problems. Initially we got Kula, one of the locals in to give a hand. As I was shifting stone out of the way he started rebuilding the wall. Unfortunately he was meant to be working elsewhere so could only spare a couple of hours. Then like the 7th Cavalry we had a phone call from Barb and Dave, they had decided that they were coming out to give a hand with our wall. What would we do without people like those two? Luckily while in the UK they had previously done a drystone walling course, and they did make it all look so simple. As a result part of our garden wall is a hybrid between Bulgarian and English styles. The main thing is that it is up, Dencho's field is back in its rightful place, and the dogs can safely go back round there without us worrying that they are going to try escaping.

This afternoon we were down at Yolanta's trying to sort out her leaks. Hopefully we have managed that for her. We also tried to find Ringo and the kittens, but it seems as though Ringo has now moved them out of the attic. Now all we need is a few dry days to start drying the ground out, and all will be well. Before I forget for those of you in the VT area the car treasure is still going ahead next Saturday, but we will be keeping an eye out on the weather. It also seems like I have been volunteered to do some radio interviews, as we lead up to the It's A Knockout Olympic Challenge this summer.

Things Are Gathering Pace

Hopefully most of you will be aware by now, that we plan to hold an It's A Knockout style competition this summer. It started out as a friendly challenge between the ExPats in VT and those down in the Stara Zagora area. At last count we have 7 teams of 6 people, and this includes 3 Bulgarian teams. So the word is slowly spreading far and wide.Not only are we hoping to make it a fun day for everyone, we are also aiming to raise money to help equip the ambulances in the region. We have been told that they are very ill equipped, and it is something that can be of benefit to everyone. Just our collective way of putting something something back into the community that we are now part of.

At the start of the year progress was quite slow, but over recent weeks it has started to gather up a bit of a pace, and individual strands are now starting to knit together. It now seems as though we have three trophies for teams to aim to win, and these have been very kindly supplied by Trust Global Radio, McNamara's Irish Bar and the VT Times. We are hoping that this will become an annual event, and that these trophies will change hands for many years to come.

Not only have Trust Global Radio offered to donate a trophy, but Bobby Martin has very kindly said that he will compère the program of events for us, and they are also going to promote the event on his radio show. As if that wasn't enough media support, the local press are interested and also one of the Bulgarian TV networks, so on the day all those attending ought to remember to comb their hair. Nick and Nicky at the VT Camp Site have very kindly allowed us to use the site as a venue for the games, and hopefully we will get a good turn out. The first real committee meeting should be going ahead in the next few weeks, so we will know more information then.

The VT members have already started the fund raising. While delivering the VT Times Rachel got speaking with Martin McNamara, of McNamara's Irish Pub, and he kindly offered the bar as a venue for a pub quiz. So last Friday his offer was taken up. To give Rachel a hand setting up we turned up early and got chatting with Martin, which was when he kindly offered a cup. We only had to move a few tables about a bit, so that everyone could get in. In the end I think that we had 8 teams playing, and this also included some Bulgarians and Russians. I have to say a big thank you to Joe, not only did he sort out the questions, but also acted as question master on the evening. He must have been hoarse the next morning, as he did most of it without the aid of a microphone. I think that everyone had a good time, both the quiz and the raffle seemed to go down well. A very big thank you to everyone who made it all possible, and for all those who took part. Joe had even timed it perfectly so that we were finished in time to see the new light show in VT.

The next fund raising event is next month, and was suggested by a Bulgarian friend. We are holding a car treasure hunt round the towns and villages near VT. Already there has been quite a bit of interest shown on one of the local Bulgarian Facebook groups and we still have a month to go. So if you are reading this and stuck for something to do on the 26th why not come along and show your support. It is all in aid of a good cause, and the more the merrier. We hope to see you there.

Full Of Ups And Downs

It has been a strange week full of ups and downs, even the weather can't decide what it has wanted to do. We have even had a smattering of more snow just over a week ago, this was on the Sunday, and everyone had hoped that we had seen the last of it until next winter. With Monday's arrival we were greeted with bright blue skies, sunshine and heat. We decided to make the most of it, and head off into town and pay the bills and do a bit of shopping. All was going well until we started our journey home. The car, which has normally been so reliable, decided that it was going to let us down. The battery light came on as we passed through Dolna, and that was it, we were stuck at the roadside. Luckily I had been able to get her into a small pull off area, so at least we weren't blocking the road. Opening the bonnet, I did find that I could move the positive terminal on the battery, not that that helped us much. We had to get some assistance, and as far as we are aware there is nothing like the AA or RAC here. We did try phoning our mechanic, who speaks English, but he was in Popovo, his suggestion was to try and get someone to give us a tow to his garage, failing that he would get his recovery truck out to pick us up. We had to resort to phoning Dad to come and give us a hand. he turned up, closely followed by Tony and Diana, this was helpful as between us we were able to cobble enough tools together to remove the battery.  Even though it might not have been the battery causing the problem, we decided that it would be worthwhile to get a new one. Dad and I went to get one, while Net stayed with the car. While we were gone Yolanta turned up and kept Net company, and also Peter the mechanic pulled over on his way back to the garage. Dad and I put the replacement battery in, connected it up, and Net started the engine. We still had a fault light so the best option would be to take it to Peter's garage, so with Dad following we set off, and despite not getting there at any great speed we arrived without too many problems. As it wasn't the battery it could only be the belt or the alternator. Peter suspected the latter, but said that it wasn't a problem as he knew a man in Lyaskovets who repaired alternators and he would have all of the parts. We left the car at the garage, and cadged a lift home with Dad.

Tuesday was another brilliant morning, which was fortunate as we had been invited out on a mystery tour with Mum and Dad. There was no worry about our car as we were going in theirs, and they would drop us off at the garage once we had finished. Going down the ridge road we could see the distant snow capped mountains in front of us. It is not often that we actually get to see them, and even rarer that we actually have a camera with us. So the day was starting off really well. The first part of the mystery tour was to be a walk along the riverbank. We have driven across various bridges that span the river many times, but we had never actually walked along it. It is surprising just what you can find right on your own doorstep.

 The only sounds that disturbed the silence were the water rushing over the weir and the steady plod of horses and donkeys as they pulled their carts along. Butterflies were already out and about, and they flitted between the wild flowers that were actually brave enough to open. Fishermen were out on the banks trying to catch heaven only knows what, they certainly seem to be a very patient bunch. Unlike the UK there were no signs of rusting shopping trolleys or dead bicycles, but I do wish that they would remember to take their rubbish home with them. It does tend to spoil the beauty that they seem to take for granted, but with the glorious sunshine we were not going to let that spoil our day.

One thing about walking along the riverbank, it does tend to give you an appetite. This led to our next port of call, a small restaurant in Polski Trambesh. Once everyone had recharges their batteries it was time to explore Nikopolis ad Istrum. Another place on our very own doorstep, somewhere that you always felt that it is so close that we can always do it another day. Even for Mum and Dad who have been here for about six years. Situated near the village of Nikyup, the access roads were not brilliant, but then again after the winter what roads in Bulgaria are?

I have to say that you do get an amazing sense of history walking around here amongst the ruins. It has been settled at various times throughout its history. Originally it was built on the order of the Emperor Trajan, to celebrate his victory over the Dacians, and was one of several built across the Balkans. Built along the classic lines of a Roman town of that period, the city's main roads pointed to each of the cardinal compass points. We entered though what would have been the position of the gate in the north wall, and meandered our way towards what would have been the centre of the city, walking on large paving slabs. Who knows how many feet have walked over those same slabs during the course of history.

There are plenty of carvings still evident on the surviving masonry, and it is surprising just how clear they still look today. While we were looking at some of the grave monuments it was easy to pick out a face emblazoned on a sunburst. We surmised that it might have been something to do with one of the ancient deitys, possibly Helios who was the sun god in ancient Greek mythology. Some of the inscriptions on the masonry are still clearly legible, and we were able to see both Latin and Greek characters. As it was just the four of us wandering about, the peace and tranquillity was undisturbed. I just hope that the local schools make use of this history right on their doorstep, history would be so much easier to learn about when you can actually see an example with your own eyes. We will definitely take the family there the next time that they come over. I must remember to keep hold of the little ones hands to prevent then disappearing down a culvert that runs underneath the main street.

  All in all I found it more worthwhile than a trip round Tsaravets, and will gladly return another time. Our trip over, it was back to the garage to find out what was happening with the car. It wasn't ready, as the chap in Lyaskovets didn't have the parts. Peter had managed to order them and was just waiting for them to turn up. They arrived on the Wednesday, and although the alternator worked on the bench, it didn't work in the car, so Peter got one from a scrapyard. We had the phone call, letting us know that the car was ready to be collected, but decided to wait until Thursday as Mum and Dad were going in then and I could scrounge yet another lift. It was early in the morning and I anticipated that I would be back in plenty of time to give a hand taking SillyO down to Yolanta's to keep her appointment with the travelling vet.
As Sod's Law would have it I broke down again on the way home. As I moved out of the way of a flying Dustcart, the car stalled and no matter what I did she refused to start. So back on the phone to Peter, he was going to send out his recovery truck, and I also phoned Net up to let her know what was happening. After a while I was able to restart the car, so had to phone Peter up and cancel the recovery, and finally made it home in time to take SillyO for her appointment.
Between the two of them Net and Yolanta had decided that SillyO and Yolanta's cat, Ringo, were going to be speyed at the same time. Unfortunately Ringo will have to be done at a later date, as she is with kittens, but SillyO has been walking round quite gingerly. She is a lot more mobile than she was, and I have even seen her up a tree.
On Sunday we had our first ramble of the season, and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. We went for a traipse across fields and up hills around Momin Sbor. It was definitely a case that boots were needed, as we must have all ended up a few inches taller due to the accumulation of mud. At times it was like walking with a pair of diving boots on, our legs must have had a good workout. We were confronted with different weather during the ramble, one minute sunshine and the next hammering down with rain. At the end we all went back to Norma's for a quick drink, but she had done us all proud by laying on a lavish spread. So if you are reading this Norma, once again a very big thank you. The car seems to be behaving itself now, and made it to Momin Sbor and back without a hiccup.

Information Exchange

Some people might be wondering about how an ExPat can manage to stay in touch with current events, whilst living in the wilds of rural Bulgaria. Besides the obvious, such as the UK newspapers on line, or a massive dish to receive Sky, there are several other ways. If you are considering streaming UK radio through your computer, there are a couple of things that you need to consider, such as how good is your internet connection going to be in your area, will your internet package allow for unlimited downloads or will it reduce your bandwidth once you get to a certain level. Even should you have met all of these criteria, you might still not be able to stream as the IP address will come up as being outside of the UK. To get round that a lot of people use an IP masker, just as Expatshield. Our internet, out here in the back of beyond, is nowhere near good enough to enable us to do this, so we do have some other options.

When we first arrived here trying to find a radio station, that was 'listenable', proved to be quite a challenge. The music seemed to be either local 'twiddly' music, Chalga or very dated, and it never seemed to be presented in a professional manner. How things change, based in Bulgaria we now have Trust Global Radio, run by the lovely Rosie and Bobby Martin. So now we can get English style radio over here, not just oldies but recent releases too. As Bobby used to be with the Beeb, he still gets the radio play lists from there, so as Bobby stays current we also get to stay current too. Combined with Anglo Info any breaking news is often brought to us first hand, with the added benefit that it is brought to us by people actually on the ground there as it all unfolds. We have also met both Bobby and Rosie in real life and they are a smashing couple, and just before Christmas Bobby won the crown for the best ExPat breakfast radio show. It is aired over the internet, so sometimes there are Gremlins at work at one end or the other, but we also have a dongle which plugs into the computer. This enables me to tune all of the radios in the house to my designated wavelength, so I can have the same radio station playing throughout the house, and I do like my music. So for anyone interested here are a couple of bookmarks for you, first we have the TGR Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/trustglobal and also if you wish to listen then this is the actual site http://trustglobalradio.blogspot.com/ . Rosie has very kindly given me permission to post these links.

Another recent addition to our ExPat information flow is the VT Times. This is the brainchild of Joe and Rachel Pritchard, and covers, as the name suggests, the Veliko Tarnovo area. That is not to say that there is no information pertinent to other areas or regions. In a very handy A5 size it is convenient to take out and about with you, whether in a bag or a pocket. It is the kind of information booklet that we wish had been available when we first moved over here, and contains such things as emergency numbers, how to get in touch with the Embassy, location of doctors, dentists and vets, train and bus times. In short an invaluable publication, and it is free!!! Rachel and Joe spend an awful lot of time doing this, for the benefit of all, and by and large it is very well thought of and each edition has been eagerly awaited. Joe and Rachel haven't even been here a year yet, and along with their children have thrown themselves whole-heartedly into things, and for this we give them all a very big thank you. The second edition has been printed and distributed around various outlets in the region, they have even thought about those outside of the area and have provided a downloadable version.

For those interested, whether they be in the VT region or not, here are a couple of links for you. Firstly we have the VT Times Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/vttimes and secondly there is the VT Times archive where back issues can be read http://vttimes.net/archive-2 . I am pleased to say that Rachel has very kindly given me permission to show the front covers of the 2 editions, and to post the above links. I have also obtained permission from Cliff Norton, whose photos are included on the covers. To see more of his work please visit http://cliff-norton.artistwebsites.com/ but remember to respect his work and not reproduce anything without his permission.

Finally that brings us to various Forums and Facebook groups, and I will leave that for the individual to decide which suits them best. The main one that I use being the facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/168256349915183/229733857100765/ . These are a good way of finding out information, and during the winter months can provide a support structure, particularly for those who live out here on their own or with no close ExPat neighbours. So if you are thinking about making the move over, don't worry there is always someone willing to share their experiences and advice.

Ding, Ding!! Round Two!!

Well today brought about the next visit to the KAT Office. The day started off nice and sunny with just a hint of breeze, in the sunshine it actually felt quite warm, but the same couldn't be said about in the shade. It is also our 19th wedding anniversary, and how were we going to be spending it but at the KAT Office for the next round of red tape and frustration.

We had arranged to meet Nick in town at 1pm, but as we had a couple of bits and pieces to do we left early and had a leisurely lunch and wander round. During our wanderings we had a phone call from Stuart, he had only just got back online and found our message saying that today was the day for round two. As we were already in town he decided to give today a miss, but I have passed on Nick's details to him so he can arrange a convenient time for them both. At the appointed time we were waiting for Nick to arrive, and once he got there we set off on the next round of our 'adventure'.

After last time's abortive attempt, we thought that we were going to be fully prepared and take as much information as possible for the visit today. Our first port of call was the notaries office where we had a couple of declarations drawn up. The first was one for me to sign stating that I would support Net during her time in Bulgaria, and the second was for Net to sign stating that she owned property in Bulgaria and wouldn't claim off of the Bulgarian Social Security. These documents are exactly the same as those that they hold on record at the moment, the only things that have been changed are the dates. The Notary did point out that the spelling of Net's name on the company document is different to that on her Lichna Carta, so he advised me that it would save confusion if just I signed for anything to do with the company. Each declaration cost 20 Leva, but the advise was free. Nick also got some advise about my pension declaration that he had translated for us, but the Notary couldn't foresee there being any problems with either the English original or the Bulgarian translation. So quite relieved we left his office and continued towards the KAT office, I don't know if it was just me but it seemed as though there were more clouds about.

Prior to going into the KAT Office I went into a copy place and had copies made of everything, then hoping that it was a different woman working we entered the dreaded place. We compiled all of the information as per her list and Nick took it over to the window, with a sinking feeling we noticed that it was the same woman. She wasn't happy with the copies of the declarations that we had done at the Notary, she wanted the originals. So we swapped those over, then she wanted to see Net's passport so that was handed over, then she wanted to see our marriage licence. The licence she wasn't happy with as it is in English, what did she expect from an English marriage licence? She wanted it translated, which wasn't what we were told last week or any of the previous visits. Nick must have learnt from the previous visit as he enquired if the supervisor was available. That seemed to do the trick, maybe it could be translated at a later date. So before she changed her mind it was off to the small bank windows to pay the administration charges and get the important little receipt which was then submitted with all of the paperwork.

We were then informed to come back on Thursday and pick up Net's new Lichna Carta. Have we finished? Only Thursday will tell, but from start to finish today only took two hours, and that included picking Nick up and driving from here to there, and then dropping him off. Maybe she actually noticed that today is our anniversary, but one thing is certain, her attitude today was more helpful and less belligerent. So for anyone trying to use the VT KAT office in the next couple of days, sooner might be better than later.