The unexpected traditional

The stone cobbled walkway travels for metres, just towered by the old dark wood building, which casts a light shadow on the lane. This small lane is decorated with potted flowers and stands of hand made souvenirs and trinkets from the locals. Above, the blue sky is seen through the small gap between the amber red slate of the roof, lifting the happy mood of all who walk through these beautifully traditional streets. If you stood here, drinking in the atmosphere you'd hear the high pitched music of the...well I don't really know what it was called, but it was looked like a Scottish bagpipe, but more easy to listen to!
This is just one photograph of many I'm describing of what I've obtained on my travel to Bulgaria, along with my boyfriend.
Before I'd even arrived in Bulgaria, I was nervous. Not only because it was my first holiday on my own without my family, but because of the stigma and stereotype of this country that the majority of people and media had given whenever I had mentioned the place. Even I must admit that when we were looking for holiday destinations and my boyfriend came to me with Bulgaria, my nose scrunched up and I misunderstood his serious proposal as sarcasm, so my reply was simply, 'Haha, yeah! Where else?' My boyfriend's parents had gone before, however that was a few years back, and I was sceptical of whether it was safe, and on a student budget we couldn't afford the luxuries! Tv shows like, 'Sunny Beach' really didn't pose the best image of the beach resort area, painting it as the wild nightclub heaven, lavished with drunken men. Also, when surrounded by people who were slightly negative towards this country or even towards travelling at all wasn't doing great for my nerves and it took sometime before I was persuaded to go...I think it was the little adventurer inside me who finally let go the worries, alongside my knowing I'll be safe wherever as long as I was with my man. It was a few days and we'd booked the holiday, an exciting moment of my life, and I'd never felt so grown up before, planning and booking a holiday of my own!
We touched down in the early hours of the morning, was escorted by bus from the plane to the arrivals gate and got onto our coach headed to Sunny Beach. I'm not a full blown out clubber type of person, the only reason I'd go to a club is probably to dance (even if sometimes I do get a bit too tipsy) so I was a bit apprehensive (possibly a little bit excited) if I'd see people pouring out of clubs and bars, completely wasted. But there was nothing like that. It was fairly peaceful. Of course when we neared the centre, Flower Street (the only street name in the Sunny Beach region!) where the bars and clubs were located, we saw a few fairly 'happy' people, but to my amazement, the area looked and felt so different to what others had presumed. Our hotel was amazing, and for our first holiday location, was so grand! A five star resort at the start of the boulevard, right on the beach is what our student budget could afford! 
Throughout the week exploring this area was so exciting! The boulevard, which runs alongside the beach and past flower street was lit up with all different colours and was so alive at night time! I thought that if you were a family with kids, then being the person I am I would have hold of them because it's quite busy and probably not venture too far near Flower street at night, but since we didn't, we carried on. By day this parade was full of locals souvenirs and goods (the occasional designer knock off - very good ones too!!) and fresh fruit was sold, alongside this areas love of sweetcorn - there were a few sweetcorn stands... The ice cream was so delicious, and the local food was catered for with so many restaurants and bars that lined the road, from bars seated with comfy sofa chairs, to the more relaxed reggae bar selling the best cocktails I'd ever seen. Don't get me wrong, there was the commercialised stamp on the place, with restaurants selling fish and chips, and American dishes, but you weren't far from a great restaurant or bar with an electric, chilled or sophisticated should I say? atmosphere. Walking along here at night and during the day was by far exciting, and what with the local workers trying to grab your attention by either calling you out to ride on a ride, or buy their product, taste their food, or even by holding a snake and baby crocodile, nothing was ever dull! 
The one place in this region that got us completely excited and was so overwhelming when we got there, was the old town of Nessebar a few bus stops down. This ancient city was just so gorgeous, and yet being over 5000 years old, took our breathe away. Walking through the old cobbled streets, interlocking with squares were a ruin of an old chapel or a naturalistic seating was, looking out into the black sea, just reminded me of why I love exploring other foreign lands, and made me determined that I will carry on travelling in the future. Me and my boyfriend were buzzing with happiness and excitement, taking so many pictures and glimpsing all the while at the lush set of housing, with the old wood still in use, the red brick archways lavished with greenery twisting and turning, leading you into another world. This little town, seated on it's own island away from the mainland, connected by a bridge, was just so peaceful, yet buzzing with adventure and proudly bursting with culture. We sat outside a restaurant chatting and watching tourists, locals and animals pass by (I'm a bit of a people watcher - not gunna lie), and noticing that the old man sat on his chair, selling his paintings had a story to tell, as did the waiter who worked in the restaurant, both adding to the mystery of this place. This old fishing village was amazing and I can honestly say, we didn't want to leave. So we ventured back again one evening after dinner. The lights on the bridge were lit and the fairy lights amongst the trees in houses and restaurants were so magical, and honestly I can't put into words the essence of this wonderful town of Nessebar! So much history was in this one little town, and so much nature appeared. The little crabs on the rocks, embedded on the sea bed underneath the clear bright blue sea. Taking pictures of scenes just didn't do it justice, and when the storm came - the only one for that week - it was literally so big as if the heavens had opened up. But even this didn't damper the mood of us, or anyone around for that matter, if anything it brought an enchantment to the place seeming more magical, and not just because I'm a sucker for cuddling in the rain! The image of this place, the smell and the feel of it just made me smile, it made us smile. I'd never seen anything like it. Nothing was the same in this little town. 

Old Nessebar before the storm

Looking back on our first little adventure, of many hopefully, I'm so happy and excited to say that I've visited one of the most oldest towns in Europe and even more delighted that my boyfriend offered up the idea of Bulgaria. In the Bourgas region theres many different cultures and atmospheres, from the electric boulevard of Sunny Beach to the tranquil and historically beautiful surroundings of Nessebar, and although it was only this area we visited, I think that speaks for most of that region. However, Sunny Beach is certainly a place that I will travel back to and admire again and again, hopefully staying in a room amongst the old town, being a apart of the historic spirit. Not only that, but Bulgaria is a country I want to travel back to and visit the traditional cities and of course the ski slopes of the East - especially with the person who inspired me to go...he knows who he is.  

                                                                Thank you for reading