This weekend I had my big trip to Bulgaria. I really didn't know anything about Bulgaria and had no idea what to expect. It's funny, I think most Americans know something about Romania -- we know about Ceausescu and the revolution, and that it has great gymnasts, and that it fought on the eastern front in World War 2. I knew there were rich oilfields in Ploesti because it was a plot point in Red Storm Rising. But Bulgaria? I was trying to think, did I know one single thing about Bulgaria? I think most Americans are lucky not to confuse it with Belgium. It's not really famous for anything, the way Romania is for gymnasts and shooting commie dictators. I couldn't think of any important historical event involving Bulgaria. I didn't know what sort of government it had, I didn't know what the national currency was called, I didn't know how old it was or what had happened to it in the meantime.
Crossing the Danube into Bulgaria
The border crossing went fine, both ways. You know you're getting out of your comfort zone when you cross a border that's marked in four languages, and three of them you don't even recognize. Is that Russian? What the hell? The border guards made us pull over each time, probably because of my American passport, but they let us through without any trouble and I got a new visa good for another 90 days, which covers the remainder of my stay here.
I only saw a little bit of Bulgaria, and only for a short time. I think we were in country for maybe 45 minutes, almost all of it at a Metro hipermart, before we turned around and came back home. My impression was "Wow, what a dump." Shortly after crossing the border your nose is assaulted by a sulfurous stink that makes you wonder whether you just crossed the Danube, or the River Styx. The parts of the country that I saw were all really run-down and grim. It's possible this is just the area we happened to pass through -- I wouldn't want anyone judging America based on Gary, Indiana for example -- but boy howdy what a mess. The industrial parts were like something out of a dystopian-future sci-fi movie, and the residential blocs were dirty and really ugly. But hey, now I can say I've been to Bulgaria.
It's not the one that makes chocolate.
We had Io's aunt over for dinner this weekend. Tania went totally crazy in the kitchen, including making moussaka, one of my favorites. Then yesterday she made chifteluta, my very favorite. So I've been living large these last few days, food-wise.
Io and Gagi and I went out on a fourth attempt to get Gabe his birth certificate and failed yet again. But hey, one of these days the Romanian government will give us a birth certificate, by accident if nothing else. Someone will just print it up and hand it over, while their supervisor runs across the room in slow motion going "Nooooooooo..."
We took Gabriel to Pantelimon hospital for a check-up with a pediatrician. He's doing very well, perfect temperature, he's put on 10 1/2 ounces since he left the hospital, everything is good. The doctor told us to stop babying him so much, which is funny in that he's a baby. If you don't baby a baby, I don't know what the hell you're supposed to do.
Gabe was a huge hit at the hospital, all of Io's nursing classmates and friends came out to see him. It was a little overwhelming for him, and eventually he started crying, which is the baby equivalent of clapping your hands twice and going "Leave us!" And then everyone does. Being a baby is like being a little king. People feed you whenever you demand it, your every need is catered to, and you have to wear a special hat all the time. You can poop your pants anytime you like and nobody says a thing about it.
Actually, Io says a lot about it, insisting on a Poop Report every time I change his diaper, but I try not to remember that.
Real life is going to start up again pretty soon. Io's going to start going back to nursing school, and we're going to start teaching ESL classes again. I'm not sure how well this whole new-baby thing is going to integrate into all of that, but only one way to find out.
•Bulgaria is one of the oldest European countries
ReplyDelete•It used to be land of the Thracians, and a particular hero called Spartacus was born there
•Bulgaria ranks 3rd in Europe (after Greece and Italy) for its number of archaeological treasures
•Bulgaria has the oldest orthodox slavic church in the world
•The Bulgarians were the first people to put the Cyrillic alphabet to use after its inception in the 9th century
•Bulgaria and Denmark were the only two countries to save their jews during the holocaust
•The Bulgarian army is the only force in the entire world which has never lost a single flag, despite activily participaing in wars in Europe since the 19th century
•The first wrestler in the world with 1500 wins and only 2 losses is the Bulgarian Dan Kolov
•The world's first digital watch was invented by Peter Petrov (of Bulgaria)
•Bulgaria has established itself as a popular tourist destination, with millions tourists visiting its Spa, Mountain and Sea restorts as well as its arceholgical sites and cultural monuments
•The oldest gold treasure in the world was found in Bulgaria (in 294 graves were found 3000 gold objects dating back more than 6000 years)
•The only nations in the world that use the bagpipe as an instrument are Scotland, Ireland and Bulgaria.
•The inventor of the first electronic computer John Vincent Atanassoff is of Bulgarian origin. Professor John Atanassoff, together with graduate student Clifford Berry, built the world's first electronic digital computer, at Iowa State University, between 1939 and 1942
•The bulgarian folk song "Izlel e Delio Haidutin" was sent in deep space on the board of the US Space Probe -Voyager I as part of a collection of our Civilization's finest cultural artefacts - a message to an alien intelligence
The country was founded in 681 AD and there is MUCH more to be said. Writing a blog based on 45 minute passing through an industrial zone in the middle of nowhere is a shame! Do some research before sharing your "knowledge" on the internet
Well, we all know that Geography is not a class in the US. You don't know how your own state looks like on the map. Bulgaria..hm.. let's see. The second oldest country in Europe and the oldest that never changed it's name since it was founded. Never lost a single flag (it was part of WW1 WW2 etc). First air dropped bomb in the world. John Atanasoff was a Bulgarian boy that moved to the US at young age (invented the computer in case you don't know that too).
Delete5 centuries under slavery with Christianity forbidden and guess what- 90% of the population is still Christian and free. Plenty of amazing stories about what people went through during those dark ages.. The Cyrillic alphabet was invented by two Bulgarians Cyril and Metodious .. Any more obnoxious comments? I get it has problems don't get me wrong , but saying it's not famous for anything is just embarrassing yourself and the HS system! it does not provide anything outside the US. I went to college in America.. Like, come on! you guys study square equations in college! That's 8 grade material (?!) Geography of the world or even your own country is apparently not needed to get HS education..World history either...
You can't know everything about every country but basic things to prove any sort of education, common knowledge or any culture for that matter! You wanna talk about a shit hole- go to mexico pass cancun, go to a normal village. Go to Marshal Islands and Guam and take a look at how and in what some ppl are forced to live (both are american territories and look what those ppl have to deal with)
You can't talk shit about ppl anywhere and countries when they work with what they have and they still make it! You should admire, feel for them and count your blessings no matter where you're from..
Excuse me, but you made some mistakes:
Delete1. Never lost a flag not only in the WW, but in all of our history.
2. The first air bombardment was made by the italians, slightly before 1912 (which is when we did it).
3. Christianity was NEVER forbidden, not once in our history.
4. The Cyrillic was NOT invented by us, we were the first people to start using it.
DNA1048 Everything you mentioned in your response is about notable people or groups from Bulgaria. You didnt once defend that the country itself is a dump. The people that are from the country dont change or effect the fact that the country of Bulgaria is physically and aesthetically a shit hole .
DeleteIt's a shit hole because they don't care about their own country, they're individualists.
DeleteNobody even cares about the history. They are all peasants.
They have a shit mentality, a thug mentality. They make things harder for you rather than easier, even to their own people.
If it's taller than you or bigger than you, beat it up.
I would say that 90% live in poverty and have neolithic mentality , and the new money you see comes from being criminals and having said mentality.
Their awareness of personal space is that of dogs, no cultural manners. It’s me first, whether walking driving or standing on lines.
There is very little pride, select houses of those who care to create a space for themselves that is comforting, leaving infrastructure like shit.
They revel in conflict, and have no idea what to say or do when you don’t give a shit.
Ideal job across all generations is: work as little as possible, have a smoke break, and not mentor your underlings.
Most of the have obtained positions of importance through corruption or contact, void of qualifications.
Most of them are poor at managing people and staff.
They are jealous and insecure ( of course, they are bulgarian) And are proud of their,sunglasses, cheap clothes and panelka (Shit hole apartment )
Women have no ida what society is like and how laughable they really are. They either dress like street prostitutes, ( London to New York, you pick the side of the world ) or like wanna be models wo want to escape the reality of the shit they live in.
The hygiene of the men is laughable, descent looking clothes for what they are, but no teeth brushing or deodorants
Walking down the street, listening to them talk abut 3 major things: politics, drinking that shit coffee, or tomatoes and cucumbers.
They try to differentiate themselves from the "gypsies" but to me there is no difference,they will try to rob you blind just as well, given the opportunity .
The only problem I’ve have with renters stealing or not paying have been those fucking bulgarians, The Turkish have always been upstanding and correct.
I have heard from bulgarians , that other bulgarian communities abroad are very suspect. Take Chigao. I heard that once you enter community as someone just getting there. They befriend you get your info and invite you to a party. Once at the party , there are people robbing your place and belongings.
While they’re some women who make an attempt to dress more internationally acceptable, they are usually with an asshole who is dressed to play soccer at any point in the day or year. It is pathetic .
Which one of the many complaints I have about the bulgarian man, from their women, besides the bad hygiene and general disdain towards women, and lack of love making skills, or affection.
Which makes it easier for me to have my pick.
That's just what I remembered at this moment.
Wait... I love the angry grandparents beating the grandkids in the parks. Be proud your one of the oldest societys.
The above comment is from 10 years in the country.
DeleteTo the question, If I don't like it why don't I leave ?
Well...It's simple. My window of opportunity opened here.
Several properties, and traveling to and from is great from this shit hole.
Not to mention,I have sex with alot unhappy women.
They all want leave, but most of them would sooner come back find a guy to buy them drinks and a chicken dinner from Happy's and to fuck, because it's easier than working in the real world.
Well said
DeleteYeah, but it's still pretty much a shit-hole, right? I think we both agree on that.
ReplyDeletei think this dude have been raped or smth .in Bulgaria and instead admit and go to police he blames the country that he liked it!
DeletePoor you, blessed in your own ignorance. May you just stay in Romania and never cross the border again, ah and ask your fellow Romanian friends why they hurry so much towards Bulgaria in the summer. Chump
DeleteYou are an asshat bro...I have nothing more to say about you.
DeleteTo tell you the truth I have never read something that meaningless and entirely out of any talent. One Man's Search for Dracula blog - What A Shit-hole!
DeleteBulgarian are the most racist people on the planet..........i really had a bad experience Over there !!
DeleteOh yea is that so? Have you ever been to Saudi Arabia, they are all Muslim and treat their women like shit. What about Russia? Where they are intolerant to anybody In their country that are not ethnically Russian? So yea bulgaria accepts cultures, and is not racist.
DeleteNever cross the border again, you assface! You have been to the worst region of Bulgaria for half an hour and still judge? Fuck off!
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteNot as big of a shit hole as Romania,that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteBut still, pretty big?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. But I think Romania has the lead as contender for biggest shit-hole.
DeleteTotally!
Deletebulgaria is a proper shit-hole. all cities are straight from half life 2. next to nothing industry and high unemployment. economy depends on seasonal agriculture and tourism.
ReplyDeletethey really are touchy when you talk about bulgaria despite most of them live and work in west europe.
Let me "correct" this, actually a lot of the buildings in HL2 are Bulgarian buildings - visually sampled :) really. I'm Bulgarian and I cant deny it. All Bulgarians, when returning from europe feel grim and sad when they land here.. simply seeing where you come back is sad.. that's the truth. We have very nice places also but the country in general is deserted. The average country folks live in poverty, insecure for its future. Post apocalyptic deserted factories, scenes for sci-fi movies are everywhere ...
Deletethanks for your comment. i mean wow, at least one bulgarian on the internet "accepted" something. that's progress :)
Deletei visited bulgaria in 1992, after the collapse of socialism. man! it was straight outta mad max! no cars and people for miles long!
Hmmm, I always feel happy when I land in Bulgaria :-). You definitely did not notice some things.. maybe they are just not important to you, but they are very, very important to me. it's not by chance that the Balkan peninsula became the cradle of European civilization. It's an inspiring place. The right set of natural resources are still here. All that you saw in Bulgaria (i.e., no industry, high unemployment) is a consequence from the fact that Bulgaria is about to disappear as a country. There are many resources here... and unfortunately, too many foreign interests and politicians ready to serve those interests.. and for what? Bulgaria, more than any other country, has all the resources to make its citizens happy and prosperous. The problem is that Bulgarians do not value what they have.
DeleteHmmm, I always feel happy when I land in Bulgaria :-). You definitely did not notice some things.. maybe they are just not important to you, but they are very, very important to me. it's not by chance that the Balkan peninsula became the cradle of European civilization. It's an inspiring place. The right set of natural resources are still here. All that you saw in Bulgaria (i.e., no industry, high unemployment) is a consequence from the fact that Bulgaria is about to disappear as a country. There are many resources here... and unfortunately, too many foreign interests and politicians ready to serve those interests.. and for what? Bulgaria, more than any other country, has all the resources to make its citizens happy and prosperous. The problem is that Bulgarians do not value what they have.
DeleteBy the way, I just reread that first comment, and realized that one of his selling points is that Bulgarians play BAGPIPES.
ReplyDeleteGenius.
ReplyDeleteAccidentally found you blog entry and thought of defending Bulgaria (my home country) and then I reallized that you live in Romania (at least that is the impression your blog slogan leaves). So I decided to ask you: "What are the main differences between the 2 countries?", because I really do not find much of those, except for the mythical stories about vampires. Do not understand me wrong, I cannot say anything bad about our northern neighbours, but as every country been once behind the iron courtain of communist Russia Bularia, and in my opinion Romania too, have very bad economics nowerdays and look like "shit-holes" to americans, west-europeans and maybe asians (haven't heard any comments about eastern Europe from asians).
ReplyDeleteBy the way that text on the bulgarian border says that you must have your vignette taxes paid to drive on that road, and it's written in 4 languages - bulgarian, ROMAINIAN, ENGLISH and russian.
No hard feelings
,a friendly neighbour.
I live there and no country is as retarded as Bulgaria. Its completely backward with no hope in hell of improving in the next 50 years if they continue down this path.
ReplyDeleteThey dont speak a fuck English, they have the most ugly alphabet (invented by greeks btw, not by bulgarians), they are always talking about their history (ridiculous, cuz its founded in 1903) they had a good period and after that nothing much happened for the next 1,000 years or so.
They have no initiative, are riddled with procedures that make no sense at all. People are so rude, almost the same everywhere does not matter you deal with a well educated Doctor or someone on the street, rudeness is a standard here and politeness is a weakness for them,
It is soo difficult to communicate normally without having nerve explosion, Everybody is a megalomaniac that knows everything better than everybody else, ne ne ne ne ne Kakvo kakvo , abe, ne be...
The most funny thing is that they see themselves as charming, but hell, never been in such a impolite stinking country. ne ne ne kakvo kakvo. Its cheap but dont expect any form of service.
And the whining about beautiful woman.... they are begging the foreigners to take them away from the bulgarian men.
This country is sad. please take a example from turkey or serbia.
Hahaha illiterate moron check once again who has invented the Cyrillic alphabet, it is Bulgarian alphabet invented in Preslav Literary School (one of the fisrt universities in the world) and it's used by 400 million people. You sub-humans when the Bulgarians have had empire and have lived in big stone cities you were hanging on the trees and living in caves. Monkeys.
DeleteHahah you just proved the point. Whining about something that was 1,500 years ago. Guess what? The rest of the world caught on and developed. This place is still a shithole.
DeleteSven, You're the dumbest piece of shit I have ever came across the internet! Quit commenting and get your facts straight first! Alphabet made by the Greeks, really? You're stupid as fuck!
DeleteHaha dude I hope you get ran over by a bus, the world doesn't need a little useless pussy like you anyways! Bulgaria was founded in 1903 HAH GAYYY!!! Are you fucking kidding me? We are one of the oldest and most greatest European countries! And our alphabet wasn't invented by the Greeks! I don't know what your nationality is but if you're Bulgaria you probably were the biggest dumb ass at school! If you don't like Bulgaria go away we don't need idiots like you there! I hope you burn in hell little fucker! And you just got burned by a 14 year old that seems to be way smarter than you're ever gonna be!
DeleteYou summed it up perfectly
DeleteWhat a shit hole
ReplyDeletei still have no clue how on earth EU decided to take bulgaria in. just because they are geographically in europe? funny thing is that all the country thought they would be saved once they were in eu. maybe it is correct to some extent, most of their youth is gone to the west europe, never coming back. actually i have no problem bulgaria being a shithole as long as it does not effect the rest of the world. oh but it does! whenever you travel transit thru bulgaria they have traffic police in every goddamn 100 meters asking for bribe. most travellers extend their journey via greece just to avoid the whole corruption.
ReplyDeleteYes, just because they are geographically in europe ! I see no other fucking reason. Now western europe is full of poor, begging and stealing bulgarians who mean troble for police, welfare and tax payers.
DeleteI am facepalming so hard atm. You both are total idiots. Have you lived in Bulgaria? Have you been in Bulgaria? I wonder why people think Bulgaria is a shit hole when they compare it with corruption?
DeleteI mean come on you guys are just stupid as fuck.
Oohh corruption, oooohhh shitty building. That is everywhere in the world.
You sir are retarded as fuck.
DeleteIt's another installation for the U.S. , strategic. They have the largest embassy in the region there in Sofia.
DeleteLots of E.U. countries make money through bulgaria. They did not make them E.U because the people were nice and country was beautiful.
I came across this by accident and you know how? I googled Bulgaria sucks. Inspite of being Bulgarian I absolutely agree with this. It's like this country has the WORST and the RUDEST people in the whole world. We have rich history though. Whatever... Bulgaria still sucks...
ReplyDeleteYou know what? US is the real shithole actually :P
ReplyDeleteAnd the whole world knows that from Japan to Brazil to Australia to Russia and back
Peace off
Yet the US still ranks higher than those shitty countries when it comes to HDI
DeleteIt's peace out ,or piss off.
DeleteAustralia, Brazil, Japan, Russian The U.K.and bulgaria all aspire to have that U.S. sawg.
Bitches
We influence your dress and the way you produce music because your all sheep.
Mind you we produce crap, but you buy it and can't get enough - 50 Cent
Not all of Bulgaria's youth is gone west. I went and returned and honestly speaking, I've never ever seen worse "shitholes" in my entire life than in Chicago, Trenton, NJ, or NYC (and I have travelled a lot, believe me). Anybody who doesn't like Bulgaria can stay out, just the way I left the US for good. Not for a million dollars would I return there ever again! We may not be the happiest bunch of people on earth in general, but at least we don't think that Europe is a country. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha I liked that last part! :D I live in the USA now and kids at school are like "In which city in Europe did you live?" And I get better grades in English than the American kids and I mean I've been living there like for a little over a year.
DeleteSo let me get this straight. You crossed into Bulgaria, drove on the highway bypassing the town and went to a shopping outlet, and went back. And based on all of this, you call an entire country a shit hole? I don't know if you did this just for the laughs or you are actually that ignorant. I'm thinking it's the latter.
ReplyDeleteJust for your information, this is the town you drove by and this is what you missed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruse,_Bulgaria
That doesn't look like a shit hole to me. Of course, you didn't bother to visit it. You were only interested in going to a store. The same store that exists where you are in Romania, but since you're probably so poor and cheap, you had to go though the trouble of visiting ours in order to save a couple of pennies.
Why didn't you post pictures on the Romanian side of the border - abandoned buildings, peeling paint, huge unkempt field with horse carriages roaming around, beggars, and dirt everywhere? It looks like war-torn Rwanda.
And if you go to Detroit, that is far worse from a shit hole. Does that mean all of US is a shit hole?
I suggest you think twice before making such stupid statements. They embarrass only you.
Actually, Ruse does look like a shit hole. Has to do with those orange rund-down blocks. Silistra looks far better. Had he gone to other places, like Varna, he would have had a totally different opinion.
DeleteI just spent 45 days in Bulgaria (I'm American) and I thought it was a beautiful country. Yes the soviet erra flats are ugly (some aren't) but beyond that it's an amazing place if you took the time and explored a little...
ReplyDeleteYou stupid yankie. Bulgaria is beautiful country.
ReplyDeleteI am Bulgarian living in Australia. Now that is stupid country. If you dont believe me check out my blog
So why the hell did u leave ur beautiful country to live in Australia ? dude u people are racist and Cocky and eat a real bad FOOD !!
DeleteThat post was really funny!
ReplyDeleteMan, you definitely need some help, something is wrong with your head. You got scared by the old buildings or what?
Maybe you thought some vampires and wolverines will go after you?
Why don't you go home and watch some "Supernatural" with your friends?
You can tell them... "Oh, look! I've been to a place like this" They will be really impressed... "Oh, you spent 45 minutes in a hypermarket in Bulgaria! You are my hero!"
LOL
Thank you, man! You have just made my day with that post!
Hihihihi! Priceless comment! :D Couldn't be more pertinent!
Deletego to hell american pig
ReplyDeleteThe place of the oldest European civilization with 3rd place by number of archeological sights in Europe and 9 million tourists a year and counting...yeah that's shithole.
ReplyDelete"sulfurous stink" comes from the Verachim factory in Romania....
ReplyDelete"...I wouldn't want anyone judging America based on Gary, Indiana for example" ... and then you did just that. You're an ass-clown, dude.
ReplyDeleteAre you kiddin'me? You spent 45 minutes in a border town industrial zone,with aromatherapy coming from Romania!!! And you made this general conclusion. You are genius!Would you like me to tell you stories or post photos of "beautiful" american cities?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, many Bulgarians are rude, or look rude.But at least they do not fake their expressions,like WEs and Am-s do. Yes, Bulgaria is poor country,not the best in the world,but maybe you should try to travel a little and then sit at your desk.And BTW Bulgarians saved their religion and alphabet after 500 years under Ottoman muslim rule...
To the people who are saying Bulgarians are rude: I think it is rude, that you guys celebrate Thanksgiving day in the US.Or maybe most of you even do not know what are you celebrating on this day. Most important is to stuff yourself with a GMO turkey in order to keep your 150 kilos.
fuck off stupid americans
ReplyDeleteI find it funny how everyone compains about where they live or about the bad economy in other countries. What do they do about it personally though?
ReplyDeleteHow dare you insult my country like that. What do you Americans know about anyway your just lucky you didnt get your head caved in with that kind of attitude. The country has been through way too much shit do you think they give a flying fuck about America. I truely believe that 75% of US are out of there minds absolute nutcases that think they know it all. Never come back nobody wanted you here in the first place to begin with and lets not even talk about Romania because I don't wanna spend more time here than I have to. I am proud to be a Bulgarian and don't care what other people think and fellow Bulgarians that support you shame on you guys shame on you!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I'm half Bulgarian and half American and I lived in BG for 12 years. Here the kids in high school are retarded as hell,well at least most of them. And they think they know everything when they don't know nothing. I have a teacher in school from England and even me and him were discussing how most of the stupid Americans think the world spins around them. The only good thing that I find about the USA is better education and higher pay. We Bulgarians are way smarter than most of them stupid Americans! The only OK Americans I've found are most of the girls. They always ask me about there and even research it on the internet and from the pictures they've seen they think it's a beautiful country. And most of the "smartass-know it all's" here if they insult Bulgaria I just fucking kick then as hard as I can and give then a thousand reasons why Bulgaria is better than the USA. I lived in Varna btw!
DeleteYes confirmed from above statements
ReplyDeleteBularia/Romania and lets not forget Poland = all backward shitholes
agreed dude
DeleteSo you went to the first shitty fucking village and you dare to rate the WHOLE country? Sure I do live in the only normal city (search for Burgas, Bulgaria), but you just can't say Romania's better than Bulgaria. Romania has only a few bigger cities and all others - you may be sure they are way worse than your experience in Bulgaria!!
ReplyDeleteI AM moving to Germany right now, but I'm circumstances I will ever agree that Romania's economy is better than our.
Ask any European where they go on a vacantion. Tell you either Varna or Burgas..
Wow, ate a few words 'Cruz of rage..
DeleteWhy didn't you visit Ruse, when you were close to it? Why the hell did you have to go to a village near it? Eh?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you as i live in this shit-hole
ReplyDeleteI am a 16 year old Bulgarian teen and I go back home every summer. As much as I love my family, culture and friends there. I can admit my home country has become a COMPLETE disaster... It's basically just stuck in a never ending time zone of poverty. People there make an average of about 600 Leva per month. which is the equivalent to about 425 dollars... near nothing. The higher populated cities are completely polluted and industrialized, making the city VERY ugly... Also most visitors only visit the capital, Sofia. Which is probably the worst/ugliest city of them all. BUT Bulgaria has a lot to offer also. RICH culture, GREAT food, interesting people and parties on end lol. Not to mention Bulgaria has some of the most beautiful places in the world I have ever seen. I also travel a lot, I have been to Hawaii, Turkey, Greece, Ethiopia, Australia, Puerto Rico, Japan, etc. Almost everywhere. And some of the best sights for me, are in Bulgaria. Like the city of Smolian. Which is seriously a city built in the mountains. Also one of the largest caves in the world is there. Please don't listen to that dumbass Sven who commented. We were the ones who developed our OWN slavic alphabet, hundreds of hundreds of years back. Said to be created by legends, Kirial and Methodi. Although the country is strictly conceived by poverty, there is also a lot to offer. To the author of this page, you didn't see shit, so you should probably go explore some more and motivate yourself to learn more about the country, before you become such a quick judgmental asshole. I have also been to Romania, and I find it an insult to compare the two to each other. For real.
ReplyDeleteI would agree usually but sorry I find Bulgarians as people to be some of the most appallingly rude and arrogant people out there. For example,I live in the UK which recently had one its party leaders say he is worried that the introduction of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU would hurt the UK infrastructure possibly,because of poor integration in recent years. You Bulgarians took that as a insult and now flood British pages with vile insults and call my country shit. I don't have an issue with Bulgaria,but I have serious issues with your attitudes!
DeleteHaha , i am a romanian living in west Romania .
ReplyDeleteJesus , bulgarians are really touchy , say anything bad about them and they get all crazy , acting like a cornered rat , they will start to bring up history , national achievments , beauty of national landscape , empires dead for thousands of years and so on . Ah , they suffer from an inferiority complex , whatever you say about them they will start saying shit about romanians , turks , serbs but mostly romanians because they feel left behind. Look at prez daskalov , sheesh .
Holy smokes! I came back to this blog to grab some old photos, and it turns out that people have been posting comments defending Bulgaria for TWO YEARS. Having read them all, I have to say I've really learned something -- that Bulgarians get super-defensive when you call their country a shit-hole.
ReplyDeleteDamn straight you dumb ass!
Deletei hope there is a LIKE Bottom on this site also to give u a big like rywill and tell u that i really feel u and a 100% agree with ya
DeleteOk, Ok, I have to also say that Bulgaria is the worst place I have ever had the misfortune of going to in my entire life. It is more than just a shit hole, it's Satans shit hole. From West to East, the entire place looks like a set for the Call of Duty video games.
ReplyDeleteWe arrived in Sofia, The airport is shit. Drove a clapped out hire car out of the so called city on this new A1 road that has already started to fall to pieces. I was half expecting a sniper to pop out of one of those feckin ugly high rises and take me out.
We drove down to Yambol where nothing is how it seems. Irish bar that is about as Irish as....well it just isn't ok. Casino's where again they are not Casino's. Hotel staff were rude, that alphabet? well, I don't give a shit who invented it as it looks like a 4 year old did it. The gipseys are disgusting, raping bins for plastic bottles?? What the hell is that about? The only English they know is "Money Money Money" The women are pig ugly who dip their eye lashes in Tarmac and the men are even worse, dirty, stinking pervs.
We left Yambol and drove south, wtf is on with the roads? I have whiplash after almost disappearing into pot holes the size of a house, not just for a little way but the entire 50km. We were behind a lorry literally spitting these logs out of the back almost killing us...not just one log but loads of them for miles!!!
We went house hunting as we fell for the old "It's gorgeous here and so cheap" We went to Marmachevo and I wouldn't get out of the car, i was petrified of being eaten alive by the natives. We then went to Radovets and met the pissed up Mayor and looked at 3 so called houses. The village had no roads, a lake with no fish and a school that we could send our kids too apart from the small problem of there being no other kids for what seemed like 1000km. Turkey was only 1km away but we had to drive 40km to some other backward town to cross.
We then went to Nova Zagora and drove through many more complete ram-shackles of so called villages, feck me!!! We booked into a hotel and left an hour later as it was like being in the Hostel from the film Hostel.
Then went to Plovdiv, not only did we nearly disappear into the road pot holes but the pavement ones too. The pelican crossings were awesome, they only stop traffic one way!! so pretty pointless!!
I was frog marched out of a bank, the wife was almost strip searched in a shop, the food was vile, Rakiya (or how ever you spell the shit) is absolutely disgusting, repugnant bile that literally kills you.
Next was Sofia to get a plane home, never ever to return to such a fecked up, backward, uninspiring hell hole again.
Roads-shit
Cities-shit
Towns-shit
Currency-shit
Cars-shit
People-shit
Food is-fecking shit
Drink-shit
Hotels-shit
Traffic lights-shit
Bulgaria-Is shit
And if any smart assed Bulgarian wants to pick up on any spelling mistakes in this, don't bother, Your language and Alphabet is a massive screw up that only an illegitimate donkey f**ker who kisses their sister can understand.
hahahaha. man, you are ridiculous! :D :D :D :D you probably do not understand that (do you even have a higher education degree?), but your last sentence kills all the fish in the pond. :D you are truly ridiculous! bahahahaha! says somebody who has spent 11 years studying in various European universities and in the US.
DeleteВ списака с боклуци забрави да сложиш маика си бе педал ;)
DeleteMatty the food is`nt fockin shit its just can not be called FOOD
DeleteFunny how proud these bulgarians are ...
ReplyDeleteWell, i'm from germany and we have a lot of trouble here since bulgaria joined the european union. Some of our cities are full with poor bulgarians now, who can travel across the EU, since their shithole of a country was accepted in the union. The problem got so worse that they are thinking about closing the boarders again. I never was in bulgaria but it MUST be a shithole when their people are running out to seek work - or social welfare ...
Лапаи курове
DeletePlease never go to Bulgaria in visit, it's a shithole, we all should admit that...only smelly gypsies and turks are there, poverty, retards, druggies, ugly country with nasty places that look just like they were bombed by terrorist and everyone left, we all know that Bulgaria is one of the shittiest countries of Europe. Visit Romania is so much better and beautiful country, you have something to see and visit here.
ReplyDeleteBulgaria is one of the oldest countries, so what? This doesn't change the fact Bulgaria is a nasty country. Also some countries in Africa are very old, but that doesn't change the fact that they are 3rd World shitholes with starving people. Check in Romania, somewhere in Transylvanian mountains the Sarmizegetusa Regia, which is an unique fortress with extraordinary archeological sites. Romania has lots of castles (including Bran or Dracula's castle, yes we have Dracula, the world's most famous vampire), Bulgaria has none (or just ruins). Look how wonderful our cities are: Iași, Brașov, Cluj, Sibiu, even Bucharest is worth to visit. We have Danube delta, a reservation of biosphere, we had Babele and the Sphynx in Bucegi, what do you have in your country?
Also Romanians use bagpipes as well, especially the southern part of the country, in Oltenia and many countries have a bagpipe...and such a great achievement for the slavic alphabet, which is weird and sucks, man...it would be much better if every country in Europe would adopt the standard Latin Alphabet, to understand better each other.
Well atleast OUR country didnt backstab its ally and try/succeed in stealing land from it. Good job you fucking moron. Every fucking country has shitholes. Stupid reviewers like this guy go through them and rate the country based on it. What if i rate America from it's ghettos? Everyone that hasnt lived in or fully visited Bulgaria has no right to speak about it. And yes Europe did accept us go cry about it.
DeleteRight!! :) ...... _|_ Bulgaria!!!!
DeleteТи хвани спин.
Delete"Bulgarians get super defensive when you insult their country" Is this a moron or what. If i call you a fat American pig that only knows how to get food served to him while he sits on the couch all day watching TV would you get offended? If i called
ReplyDeleteall americans murderers would you be offended?
Just because your people killed off the Indians and then proceeded to kill of their own so they could start a country from scratch doesnt mean you're the best. The other countries in Europe actually had to work for their land and not just kill off everyone in the way. Oh and WWII you we're on a different continent shooting missiles at other people. How brave! Now kill off the people in Asia for their oil! Because you're too damn lazy to get it without killing everyone.
That is a pertinent comment ;-) I like it.
DeleteThank youuu. And others get judged
DeleteYou stupid piece of shit! You don't know anything about the country at all, you haven't moved your lazy arse to do some research about it and comparing it to Romania as if it is thrice better is merely absurd! You're so full of shit, seriously. First of all, Romania is worse than Bulgaria in nearly all aspects but let's not concern it as we're talking about Bulgaria right now. Is it the reader's fault that you you're an ignorant moaning bellend that knows anything about the country? Do you even know that the level of intelligence in that VERY country is probably 10 times higher than in yours? Really I can carry on both blaming and abusing you for your stupidity but hey, it's not my fault you're such a dumb fuck now, is it mate? Bulgaria is not the perfect place to live in, indeed, but if you look at it from a historical perspective you will get to know way more than about any other country in the world, probably. God, I'm asking myself why are Americans so ignorant and stupid, it's just ridiculous in some cases like yours. I won't list you interesting facts about the country as part of them have been already written above in the comments. Do you know why? It's because you simply don't deserve to know them in the first place. Your brain needs to evolve bud, everything you've written is bollocks. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteHey, Im a bulgarian and I dont give a f*ck what Rywill or anyone else thinks of me or my country. He can have his opinion I dont mind nor I care. Not all of us are "sensitive" or "super-defensive" ;).
ReplyDeleteI for example love Russia and hate USA and western Europe. I have very low opinion about westeners I consider them a bunch of stupid f*ggots who get raped and killed in their own countries by third world immigrants. I think of them as dump people who have lost their family values and promote gay marriage and paedophillia. I would never emigrate to a place like this.
I love Bulgaria and Im staying here... a blog on the internet by some random american is just too insignificant for me as it is for 99% of the people here ;).
So insignificant that you had to reply ?
DeleteIf the people defending Bulgaria did not think some of this was true they would not be so
defensive and ignore it all together wouldn't they? Bulgaria is a beautiful country but to say
it does not have serious problems and political corruption will never promote change.
Pride is one thing, reality is another.
I live in an apparently 'first world' country (Australia) but I love Bulgaria so much that I have bought vacation property in the city of Vratsa. I am looking forward to my return visit there in December for Christmas and New Year's. Go to the 'Bulgarian Properties' You Tube presentations and watch what foreigners who live full-time in the country have to say about it. If you had visited more areas when you'd been there, you might have appreciated it more.
ReplyDeleteHave your country called a shit hole..and see how you feel. Every person would defend their country (besides the few who dont understand the complexity and beauty of their culture). I'm an 18 yearold Bulgarian female who has lived almost her whole life (16 years) in the USA. My family however has preserved our language and I have no accent when speaking it even though i was very young when I left (I visit Bulgaria every summer). I wanted to include that Bulgaria is an outstanding country with -like most said amazing history and architecture. Though it may not be as developed as Germany and Britian for instance, one should keep in mind that this was due to a hard period of communism the country went through. I truely believe that those who express such negative opinions towards Bulgaria havent really gotten to experience it as a whole; going a couple miles over the border wont give you true insite on a country so to me your comment "shit hole" is truely unmeaningfull as you base it on little to no information. Bulgarians are indeed a very developed group of people and have done a lot through history. You probably didnt know that there were actually 3 Bulgarias (Bulgaria, Volga Bulgaria and Old Great Bulgaria) located in parts of Russia thousands of years ago did you? How many Romania's are or have there been 1 so in my prospective if one may critisize and call a country a shit hole, Romania would fit the criteria in this case. So before you continue commenting on countries you havent truely gotten to discover, keep your comments to yourself. Having experienced many Bulgarians in the US, I can say that though many are today living in the US, they plan to return to their country even if it isnt a world power. Many of those who came to experience the "American Dream" (not just Bulgarians) have realized that the American dream is nothing but fulltime working (most cases) and even though the money may seem great it takes a whole lot of effort to achieve in the US. Dont get me wrong i love the US, it's my home country however I am trying to prove a point that all countries even "world powers" have flaws being extremely developed, so you cant expect those other more recently settled down countries to be the same. I believe that countries like Bulgaria and Romania should be encouraged rather than put down by the developed countries. The encouragment would help give power to noncorrupt politicians and help gain reassurance in the country.And to add in as well those who believe that Bulgarians steal and abuse the system of other countries, they mistake Bulgarians for gypsies who speak Bulgarian (big difference- Bulgaria gypsies arent even Bulgarian). Bulgaria is great!
ReplyDeleteYou're an ignorant asshole
ReplyDeleteLook at how you're going about something unfamiliar to you and think about how your country has taught you to respond to others and then maybe you can start judging them. What does your blog say about you and where you come from? Egocentric, ignorant, stupid, shall I go on? Calling something you're unfamiliar with a shithole says much more about you than it does about the object. And I'm willing to bet, those people and that plays as a whole is superior to you and where you come from, because they know tolerance and not to mention respect. Maybe you should take another trip there and ask them to teach you some things about life and humanity.
ReplyDeleteSo you have stayed there in a border city industrial zone for 45 minutes. Really? Wow. That's...I don't even know what to say. How dare you make conclusions about a country, when you only seen a single city! Bulgaria is not a ,,shit hole''. And for the people saying in the comments how ,,Bulgarians are so sensitive about someone insulting their country'' give a break, you will yelling about how he is wrong if he said that for your country. Another thing i saw in the comments is that Bulgaria is poor and has ugly buildings. So? There is almost every where corruption. And the buildings are pretty.There is ruins because its a old country. And the people that don't compare for the empire, history, language or anything else, then what do you have to own? High tourists? Then we win. And with which country are e compering? The USA? Then almost any country would lose.
ReplyDeleteI've been in Bulgaria for over 20 years and have travelled to see almost all of it. It is a dump. Bulgaria was a beautiful place once, but the Bulgarians have done so much work trying to trash the place, that it is extremely difficult to find an unspoiled area anywhere. It is a fact that the Bulgars are worse than the Roma, that they complain about so bitterly. The Roma don't have any money to buy the products to create the rubbish. The Roma were not responsible for the industrial scale pollution in the rivers, or the mass dereliction all over the country. There is no difference between a Bulgar and a Roma, just the Bulgarian is a snob, who will forever moan about how bad their lot is.
ReplyDeleteNext Bulgarian to read this will blame their government or the council or anyone else, but not themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6buJXYSwl8
ReplyDeleteWell while America is making mediocre or crap metal detectors, Bulgaria now builds the deepest metal detectors in the world. The company is called Nexus and the models are the Bonanza, Credo, Credo DDM, and the Standard SE Mk. II. and I'm not even from Bulgaria but I know a good thing when I see it. While we, in the U.S. still go around in a fog thinking Whites, Garrett, Bounty Hunter, Fisher, etc. are the greatest MD's since the beginning of time, keep thinking that. The Bulgarians will be making us eat our words and are passing us by. We've got a lot of catching up to do. Wake up U.S. with our 'tunnel vision' thinking we are the best. Thinking that makes us complacent and apathetic. And by the way, Bulgaria has some of the most scenic land around. Just take a drive down their picturesque country lanes on Google Earth and you'll see what I mean. And don't worry your little hearts about the trash along the roadsides. No worse than some of the streets, main roads, and side streets in the 'good ole' U.S. of A, LOL.
ReplyDeleteHaha. The metal detectors... Well of course Bulgarians make deep detectors, because they are needed to find deeply buried treasures. As stated above, Bulgaria has a rich history, and plenty of Thracian tombs still unexplored (un-robbed? :) On the other hand, of course Americans think that Whites are great - because all their history lies 2 feet deep, tops. What's the point in using a 6-8 feet deep detector in the USA? (Unless you're going after Pocahontas' chastity belt...)
DeleteBULGARIA IS A STUPID AND UGLY COUNTRY.... SHEET HOLE!!!!! Bulgarians: first of all visit Transylania and compare this with your poor fuc**** country!!!! _|_ Bulgaria
ReplyDeleteHvani tuberkoloza i sa zarovi pod zemqta be smen6nik. .i.
Deletesorry but this country is the biggest shithole ive ever saw. there are everywhere gypsies and niggers on the beaches. the infrastructure is fucked up and literally everything there is dirty. want to make your vacations there? came 50years later!! this country is fucking digusting. visit turkey instead. gdp per capita much higher although not full in europe
ReplyDeleteYou sir are retarded.A HUGE retard.Now go barry yourself somewhere in your pice of shit toilet you call a country.
ReplyDeleteBulgaria is definitely the most unwelcoming and unfriendliest country in the world. I spent a few years there while studying abroad and let me tell you.. they're the rudest and most hostile people I've ever come across. You know how they greet you.. ''Speak, what do you want?' This has happened and on so many occasions! They speak to you as though they are above you. No one is happy, ever. I never see anyone smiling. Everyone is always miserable and soooo rude. Unfortunately my experience in this country was awful. Everywhere I went I met nothing but rude, cold people. It made the 4 years I was staying here awful. I was counting the days till my studies ended. All I got from this country is that BULGARIANS are RUDE, SELFISH AND GREEDY!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAvtore, izlagash se mnogo qko!
ReplyDeleteBulgaria is a shit- hole ! Gypsies and ugly low life humans everywhere !
ReplyDeleteBulgaria is shit place with corruption everywhere.
ReplyDeletePeople are really stupid people and they're (eh, no all but most of them) are malicious b*tches without any brain.
Gypsies are the worst part...
Those "humans" do not know nothing, they just steal, kill , rape and are used by corrupt politicians.
They hate white people, because they've no life and are ugly idiots.
DO NOT COME HERE - YES, MAYBE THE NATURE IS SOME GOOD REASON,
BUT YOU RISK YOUR OWN LIFE.
BULGARIA IS DANGEROUS, POOR AND STUPID COUNTRY WITH NO FUTURE.
THE MAFIA have control over all and our 'premier' ( mafiot) is dumb asshole who manipulate with his 'dogs' all idiots from Bulgaria.
BG is not the worst country but it's not friendly for you!
I'm happy cuz I have no relation with those simpletons.
**All I said is my experience (I'm bulgarian). I want inteligent friends, but Unfortunately here this is almost impossible.
Forget about help from those chickens (bulgarians).
Keep up the good work because next time someone ignorantly tries to throw the word "privilege" in my face I will send them a link to your blog.
ReplyDeleteHow RUDE you have to be to create such a blog....
ReplyDeleteI am British and lived in Bulgaria for five years, furthermore, I have travelled extensively in Russia and the USA. In the UK, Bulgaria and Russia I can walk freely around towns, cities and villages and people are hospitable. The USA is different. In LA it is dangerous and impossible to walk, everyone has to go by car. My short walk to a shop from the hotel was met with three black muggers with knives outside the shop and another “friendly” black who wanted protection money to see me back to the hotel. LA Airport was the worst I have been to with nobody giving information on Public transport. I travelled from coast to coast, most Americans are really thick and don’t know what goes on in the world. They are over entertained and under informed. The posts on this forum show the same. The average Russian and Bulgarian is far more intelligent.
ReplyDeleteOh my god... you dare to speak so much crap when Pantelimon (the hospital's location where you took your baby) is the gypsy neighbourhood of Bucharest and you probably live there too....you gotta be an ignorant creature to judge a whole country based on a 45 mins stay at the border HAHAHA. Get lost, man!
ReplyDeleteErm..... is everywhere pantelimon ?
DeleteYou, your Romanian wife and your kid are ugly as fuck. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd the fact that you had no prior knowledge about Bulgaria before visiting demostrates how ignorant and uninformed you are as well:)
ReplyDeleteBro, I'm Romanian too and I think what you were saying about Bulgaria was unjust and kind of prejudice.
ReplyDeleteТова са го писали румънци а не американци. Просто инфо. за българите които пишат за да знаят. Тия цигани румънски винаги cа ни завиждали,както и другите ни съседи :)))
ReplyDeleteRomania and Bulgaria are prettymuch the same, we all thik we are better than the other but in truth we all chew with our mouths open and dont know how to queue. All in being fair, Bulgaria is super crap, people have no manners and no brain. Everyone is a idiot, very very stupid, but you know they invented some bullshit alphabet. Communist retarded fuckers
ReplyDeleteHehe. All the Bulgarians are so triggered. It's the truth, though. Bulgaria is a shithole where 99% of the people are miserable, rude,incompetent and absolutely stupid. I feel sorry for the 1% who aren't and are stuck living there.
ReplyDeleteI laughed so hard at the comments above saying they couldn't stand living in the US and preferred Bulgaria. Oh, the misery and jealousy just oozes through the screen!
Bulgaria is only European by a technicality and that is due to geography. But in every other aspect such s culture, infrastructure, people,etc? Absolutely not. Complete trash.
They blame anyone and everyone for their problems, including the country's problems, but they never point the finger at themselves.
If you find an honest, respectful and and genuinely helpful Bulgarian, consider it a miracle. That is a rarity so hard to come across that you'll have better luck hitting the lotto.
Bulgaria and Bulgarians will never be European. Their country is and always will be a shithole. Now and untio the end of time. Anyone who says otherwise is a lying Bulgarian who knows nothing but to complain all day, everyday.
i have also met a bulgarian girl,all they wrote here in this post is true,she was rude,she was unhappy and also tought to be smarter than everybody else,turns out bulgarians are really rude,i have had an experience,online,not even need to be in bulgaria to be mistreated by a bulgarian,i once began a talk to a woman who was the manager of an "art Gallery" there,my cousin who lives in a whell chair makes great paintings,and i had pictures of them in my computer and tried to send her(as i tought she liked art) the first reaction of her after seeing the pictures was to write me "we are not interested" as if i was trying to sell something to her or something like that,really rude,i ask any of you who are reading if you are a manager or an art gallegy you whould atleast be interested in art ? ,well that is for my experience,never again tried to talk to any bulgarians,was deeply hurt by the few i met,and all i can say is that here in brazil were i live,people are different,even the poor and middle class people are always nice and helpfull,always when they can and are not rude,not only rude,but with a mentality of superiority,i mean i dont even now what is the issue with bulgarians,must it must be a severe one
ReplyDeleteImagine being so proud of being stupid.
ReplyDeleteAll humans are the same ,especially when they are hungry.
ReplyDeleteIt's an utter shithole of a place. My girlfriend's parents moved here 8 years ago near Dobrich and it's like visiting a city that has been bombed. Roads are full of potholes, pavements covered with trip hazards and the buildings are falling to bits. It has gotten worse over the years. Do Bulgarian authorities even maintain their infrastructure?
ReplyDelete