What struck you about Bulgaria?

In general, Cheryl, peeps is peeps, all around the world, innit. :-)

Sadly, I have few cultural anecdotes to share.

However, I spent a number of years in several low-cost Latin American countries. What I found was that many poorer countries have high levels of crime. I found living with the threat of theft or violence, and the rampant corruption, very stressful.

Bulgaria, while the poorest EU country, has always seemed very safe and secure to me, with seemingly low levels of crime. I've found it a very relaxing place to live, and both me and my wife have always felt very safe walking around, even at night, or when using a mobile phone.

I also find the people very friendly and helpful. This is especially true in my village (and other villages too, I imagine), where my neighbours often bring me fresh grapes or tomatoes from their gardens. I have lovely neighbours, and they are very proud of their gardens!

I've found the restaurants too usually have very nice fresh vegetables and salads. Near our house there are several excellent restaurants, where we can have very nice meals for surprisingly low prices.

Language-wise, I find Bulgarian (a Cyrillic language) very difficult. However, I've learned a few words and phrases which seems to help break the ice. :-) The language situation is quite interesting as older folks (during Soviet times) learned Russian at school, whereas the younger generation (post fall of Communism) studied English at school instead. Hence, English is increasingly widely spoken. Sometimes I throw in a few words of my Russian for the old folks, and they find it absolutely hilarious. :-)

Lots of Bulgarians have left the country to find more opportunities and better pay in Germany, UK, Spain and so on. Now that Bulgaria is more prosperous, some are returning, and so bring their language experience with them, which compensates for my lack of Bulgarian. I know locals who speak English, Spanish, German, or Italian so I often get the chance to chat in their 2nd language. So, I talk English with my haircut lady... German with my builder... Spanish with my mechanic... and bit of Italian with my coffee-and-a-crepe lady in the town. :-)

Very encouraging reading gwynj I like the part about how you feel safe and the friendly environment that is high on my list of expectations moving to Bulgaria my wife and I hope to move out there within the next 12 months. Out of interest which village to you live in it sounds nice.

Haven't met a snowflake since I moved here in 2007

HI,
I haven't visited much of Bulgaria but I know Plovdiv very well as I'm currently domiciled there or exiled
The people by and large are unfriendly, not welcoming and are evasive.

The women on average like big bags, dyed heads and flashy clothes.
They have a snobbish attitude...god only knows.
They're ..want for a better word, preeners
They spend a lot of time drinking coffee and smoking.
I've never seen more women smokers in my entire life.
They're a bit introverted...on account of being located inland away from the coast

Maybe it's a behaviour from their communist past.


The black sea cities may be better as they're on the water

Hubby and I have always found older Bulgarians friendly and welcoming, and very generous, especially in the villages.  Typical of many Westerm countries, it's harder to make friends and meet people in the cities as an outsider. But the people in the villages love new arrivals - expats help keep their villages alive.