Voditsa, Bulgaria

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Day 76: 38% of Greeks smoke making them the heaviest smokers in Europe. Second place in the smoking league table is Bulgaria with 35% of the population smokers. Both countries have similar smoking in public laws as the UK e.g. one cannot smoke in a public buildings e.g. bars and restaurants. What makes Bulgaria a worse country for a non-smoker, in my opinion, is that a large percentage of Bulgarians pay no heed to the no smoking rules.

In virtually every bar, restaurant or cafeteria we visited in Sofia, there were people sitting nearby smoking. To be fair, we sat mostly in the outdoor areas because of the high temperatures. Murphy’s rule applies. No matter where I sit, the smoke from the nearby smoker will drift towards me. If I change seats, invariably, the smoke changes direction and again seeks me out. My message to the Bulgarian authorities is, sort it out.

One of the pleasant surprises I’ve had since arriving here is the Bulgarian food. Its excellent. Their soups are great as well as their savoury pastries. The food is full of spices and herbs. I’m a fan.

We eat at a restaurant in Sofia called The Alehouse. It was a pleasant meal but what really impressed me was that there was a draft beer pump (with an LED counter) on every table.

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Sofia, I have learned has a long proud history going back 2000 years. We visited the Natural History Museum. Only as recently as 2009, they found and excavated in the heart of Sofia, remains of the city dating back to the 3rd and 4th century AD. They have preserved it, building a city centre road elevated over it. Fascinating.

We arrived two days ago in Voditsa, a tiny village of 200 residents. It looks and feels a lot bigger because it is spread out. Voditsa like rural Bulgaria in general has suffered with depopulation as people seek work opportunities in the cities. Since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 many Bulgarians have taken the opportunity presented by the ‘freedom of movement rules to relocate to other EU countries.

Voditsa village facilities include a library, three general stores that apparently sell the same merchandise. They used to have a Bar run by a local villager. He is currently working in England. His mum took it over when he left but she closed it when she went to visit her son. So, no Bar at the moment.

Our voluntary work consists of gardening and landscaping. Its heavy work for a pen-pusher like me but I’ve managed the first two days without too much of a problem or getting the sack.

The temperature has increased to 30°+ so its too hot to work outside in the middle of the day. Sometimes, we would work split shifts. Three hours first thing then a couple of hours early evening. Today, after doing some rotavating (thats hard), I was put on stoning plumes… now thats my kind of work, one for me, one for the pot.

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