misLEADING ADVICE No 9

misLEADING ADVICE No 9

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 12:02

For first-time visitors to Bulgaria*

misleading advice 9.jpg

Lawn and Order

Bulgarians are extremely disciplined people. For example, in a public park, they will never sit on the bench specially designated for foreigners’ use. These benches are marked by the “Пази боята” sign.

***

D.I.Y.

Following a large number of complaints by foreign holiday makers about the noise of large scale construction in Bulgarian resorts, some Bulgarian tour operators have introduced a new service: Build Your Own Hotel. The guests are provided with the necessary supply of bricks, mortar, concrete and the necessary tools to assist in the construction. So far, the initiative has proved a huge success; the number of complaints is now significantly lower and the holiday makers are happy with the reduction in the cost of their holiday. For details, please contact the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.

***

Parking Rules

Pedestrian crossings in Bulgaria, particularly those on busy road junctions, serve as free parking for cars as well as taxi ranks. Their use by pedestrians is strictly forbidden. If you see someone attempting to take advantage of a zebra crossing - thus obstructing a car parked on it - immediately alert the nearest policeman.

***

Jet Lag

If you have just arrived with your family in Bulgaria after midnight and no one feels like going to bed, fight your jet lag by collectively flicking through the cable TV channels. You will be surprised by the number of educational and cultural programmes you find there.

***

Celebrations

Bulgarians love to dress up in traditional attire for large public holidays. Do not remain on the sidelines. Instead, on the national holidays of 6 and 22 September put on a red fez, tuck a scimitar into your belt and enjoy the mass celebrations on Presidency Square in Sofia.

***

MPs

Politicians are always in the spotlight and ordinary Bulgarians feel a deep respect for their devout and self-sacrificing work. A sure-fire way to start a conversation with a Bulgarian is: "You must be very excited about your MP’s work, aren't you?"

***

Tourist Guides

For some extraordinary reason, most of the guidebooks on Bulgaria neglect to mention the exciting towns of Gorna Oryahovitsa and Tаrgovishte. We recommend that you factor in a two-day break in your journey from Sofia to Varna to feast your eyes on inspiring architecture and immerse yourself deeply in the truly decadent lifestyle and stunning nightlife available in these towns.

***

Red Hot Chili Peppers

In Bulgarian markets selling local agricultural produce, the degree of hotness of peppers is related to their size – the smallest peppers are the least pungent of all. If you are sold small peppers that are also hot, you are legally entitled to make the seller consume their entire stock without bread or have your purchase replaced with kiwi fruit from Petrich.

*Pleeease, exercise a modicum of common sense!

Issue 35-36

Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

0 comments

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Discover More

misleading advice 11.jpg
MisLEADING ADVICE No 11
Keeper of Warmth

misleading advice 10.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 10
Bread and Salt

misleading advice 8.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 8
Hiking the Right Way

misleading advice 32.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 6
4estit 24 May

misleading advice 31.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 5
Beget Good Luck and Health

misleading advice 30.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 4
Reality Bites

misleading advice 27.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 2
One Bulgarian Rose

misleading advice 26.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 1
Guardian Angels

bulgarian idioms 8.jpg
“GO TO BED WITH THE HENS” AND “GET UP WITH THE COCKS”
Jean-Pier, a 19-year-old lad from Rouen, was travelling across what was then the Ottoman Empire and, attracted by the natural beauty of the Danubian Plain, decided to settle there.

misleading advice 26.jpg
RIPPING WASHBASINS OFF
According to the first, a girl from Gorna Oryakhovitsa went to a construction site to see how things were going.