Bulgaria Week 2 – Triumph, Tears and Après-Ski!
The start of our second week in Bansko began on New Years Day, and it also was the start of my proper skiing lessons! Despite my epic falls on my first experience on the slopes, I was determined to get up and down the button lift upright! So, we braved the button lift, going up and down and I couldn’t believe it but I made it all the way to the bottom unscathed not once, but three times!
I’m not sure if it’s the adrenaline or the feeling of the snow under your skis but I’m really enjoying it so far. Whilst this must be a little boring for Aaron, he assures me he is having a good time watching and teaching me to ski!
To celebrate my advancing skills, we went for a gyro and a pint at Station, where we spent New Year’s Eve and were even able to sit outside because the weather was so good.
On the way back to the flat, we saw a traditional Bulgarian marching band walking through the centre of the resort.
The second of January meant moving day for us! We were really looking forward to moving into our permanent place for the next three months, doing a big shop and being able to unpack properly. We hadn’t thought there was much point in doing so in the first place given we were only there for a short time.
We arranged to drop our huge rucksacks at the new apartment whilst it was being cleaned. Whilst we waited for the flat to be cleaned, we made our way to Lidl to go and get some shopping. We were lucky that Laura & Alexi had kindly let us borrow their car, because we came home with quite the haul!
The food shop was a bit of a gamble because we hadn’t seen what size fridge or freezer, we had so had no idea as to how much we’d be able to fit in. When we arrived at the flat, we couldn’t believe the size of it. A small fridge with one freezer tray…those frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets we’d bought for a hangover day would have to be eaten immediately! On the positive side, we do have a huge balcony, so we are currently using that as an extended fridge. Although it has just occurred to me that it reaches -15 at night sometimes, so our beers may be in a questionable state!
Having had a day off the slopes to do our life admin, the 3rd of January was a ski day for Aaron whilst I cracked on with some work in the morning at home. The videos he took at the top of the mountain were unreal – it was so windy; you could see the floor moving where the snow was blowing in the wind. In the end, they closed the chair lifts because of the wind. He still had a good time though and you’ll see from the photos how lovely and sunny it was!
When Aaron got back, we had a little more life admin to do. We had to walk to the sorting office to collect the contact lenses I’d bought, and Alexi had asked us to collect some wires he needed for work from his office, so we did that. He is currently working in a coworking place called AltSpace, and as we were thinking about joining a coworking space in Bansko, it was a good opportunity to have a look around. It was cool; little standalone offices used as conference rooms and a mixture of different size benches with screens you could plug into and the best thing – proper office chairs! The wooden kitchen chair in our flat is doing my back in already so a decent chair was like heaven!
With wires in hand, we headed to their apartment to do a drop where we saw a beautiful sunset over the mountains. Wires dropped we dashed home and made dinner quickly, before heading back out to the pub to watch the football which was good fun!
I woke up on the 4th of January feeling brave, which was great news because the time had come to try the ski road. I did a quick practice run on the button lift and reached the bottom with no problems so off we went! The ski road is mostly a gradual slope but does have a few steeper bits but nothing too bad at all – it’s just long! It takes around 45 minutes to an hour to get down (at least it does when you’re a beginner!) so it’s pretty tiring on your body!
I had a couple of falls but nothing too dramatic, just a couple of slips and made it all the way to the bottom! I even picked up a bit of speed! The most important part is that I’m gaining more and more confidence on the skis and know that I can control my speed and direction which helps with the nerves but also, I’m enjoying it! The worst bit about skiing isn’t the falling over bit because everyone does that, it’s inevitable, expected and once you’ve done it, it doesn’t really hurt! No, the worst bit is feeling out of control, when you’re going too fast and can’t stop but I think I’m finally getting the hang of what to do to avoid that situation!
On the way back, as a treat, we grabbed ourselves a coffee and a chocolate crepe from the takeout place near to our flat. It was delicious – just the thing we needed after an intensive morning!
Feeling braver as the week went on, the next challenge was a blue run called Chalin Valog. It’s just off the ski road back into town and has a couple of more challenging steeper slopes, and the advantage of a button lift which takes you all the way back to the top of the slope to practice again. The first time, I couldn’t turn down the slope. I was afraid that I would pick up too much speed and it was too steep, so I sort of skidded sideways down instead. It didn’t help that we hadn’t had much snow so the conditions we’re quite icy and slippery – which in turn means you feel less stable and pick up speed much faster.
We stopped for a break at the bar just on the corner before trying the slope again. To my delight, there were two dogs at the bar soaking up some winter sun! They were sooo cute. I think they must have belonged to the bar staff or ski instructors because they seemed well groomed. There are so many dogs up by the gondola (the main lift) who all belong to ski instructors. Anyway, we had a mocha with our new pals in the sun and rested our sore feet and legs!
The second time down the slope was a little better and I did it a bit more confidently and we re-joined the ski road to head home. I was so pleased with myself as I’d gone the whole day without a fall – progress!
Friday arrived (YIPPEEEEEEE!) and we had booked in a trial at AltSpace to go and see whether we liked it or not. It was so good; the people were so friendly and we were shown around by a lovely guy called Steve. We met loads of people and can see that it is great community to be a part of, with loads of fun & social events planned too. That aside, I also got so much work done and haven’t concentrated for that long a period of time since I left my legal job last year! I think were going to go for it.
With a good chunk of work completed, we raced home for a spot of lunch, got changed and headed for the ski rental place to collect our gear. By time we got on the Gondola, it was around 3pm. Aaron thought it might be time for me to head further up the mountain to a trickier blue run, as I had done so well on the ski road.
I think he had greatly overestimated my abilities, because as soon as we got to the top, I completely freaked out. I did ski a bit of it, but by this point I was so scared of the steepness and height of it all, that my knees were shaking, and I couldn’t get my balance – I couldn’t even remember how to turn. I think nerves completely got the better of me.
After several falls and having to be towed down the steeper parts by Aaron, a few tears (out of both frustration and terror) and dramatically proclaiming how I would never return to this blue run again, we made it back to the gondola. The good news is that we’d made it. The bad news is that it was closed. We’d have to do the ski run in the dark!
I think that this was the best thing that could have happened as it gave me change to rebuild a bit of confidence and remember that I can do it and do enjoy skiing (unlike what I was saying just 20 minutes prior on the blue run!). We got to the bottom and headed straight into Happy End, a fun bar right at the foot of the ski road. After a few beers, I was able to see the funny and positive side of the day’s events and didn’t feel too put off by it…the power of beer!
After we’d had a couple of pints in Happy End, and it had gotten a little quieter, when people had clearly finished après and headed home to get changed before the evening got away from them (which in hindsight is exactly what we should have done!), we moved onto Euphoria to grab a pizza. We washed that pizza down with a beer, and a B52 – because what else do you accompany a pizza with?
In the mood for a few more drinks, we went to Amigos where a band was playing and met a few people living in Bansko, as well as a couple of women from the UK enjoying the last day of their holiday, and clearly making the most of it. Looking back on the night, I think that’s where we started to go wrong! We should have left the pub and gone home to get showered and changed. What happened instead is we stayed out in all our ski gear ending up in a club called Flash until 4am. Oops! Bloody good night though – we had so much fun. I don’t think we’ve been on a night out like that since before Covid!
I’ll let you know about the aftermath in next week’s blog as well as everything else we get up to!
Speak next week!
Meg
xx
