I did spend a whale of a vacation when I went to Sunny Beach for the tenth time. My buddy Horst was there, too. As usual, the three weeks passed in the blink of an eye!

Horst and I

Yet again we were focused on variety: resting, meeting friends and acquaintances, and outing across the country. Well, it’s more than sure that priorities were slowly changing. Meeting with our Bulgarian and German friends and acquaintances was coming more and more to the fore. This time I had to even draw a calendar sheet up! Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the best of all meeting opportunities.

We went to the Indian bar “At Billy’s Bistro” the very first day. We met the waitresses Dida and Kremena whom we knew from the previous year.

Dida likes taking pictures with Horst’s camera

Kremena

Dida with a colleague of hers

Dida with two more colleagues

Rolf from our homeplace Delitzsch joined us too. Actually, Horst and Rolf rarely had a pint just by ourselves

Stefan from Fossy’s forum, his brother Sven and I discussed the journey we’d planned there (Excursions 2008).

Dida’s sister Venni works no more at the “Indians”. Hence we arranged another venue.

Veni

At the same time, we had my teacher in Bulgarian and her husband with us. We entertained ourselves for half a day.

Quite naturally, we saw our dear friend Sneja and her boyfriend Hristo. We met first in Bourgas, and then our hotel. We spent two hours with Toshko, too.

With Sneja and Hristo in Bourgas

Meeting with Toschko (left)

Rolf Pankrat, a colleague of mine from the executive board of the Bulgarian-German Society in Leipzig, was also there. We organized an unforgettable journey across the country. You can get some more details about it in “2008 Journeys”.

Something unexpected happened by the end of our vacation. We were just having lunch at the hotel’s restaurant the last day, when we heard a voice saying: "Wow, look who’s here – the famous Manfred Böttcher and his friend Horst!" I looked around in bewilderment. Alois from Münster was coming towards us. He explained that he had known about my Bulgarian travel notes and photos from the net, adding that he wanted to meet us in person. An interesting conversation took place. Future will show if I’m not going to give autographs around:)

The bar is on the beach, just opposite our hotel. We had many a happy hour there.

Waitresses and barkeepers

4 waitresses

Our hotel Fiesta Beach

We liked the hotel very much. It’s one of the best we’ve ever stayed in. As per the Bulgarian standards, it is a four-star quality hotel.

It’s situated at the north end of Sunny Beach, just next to Helena Sands. It’s only a wide walking alley that stands between it and the thin-sand beach. There are various opinions regarding the hotel location. On the one hand, it takes some 30 minutes to walk from the noisy centre; on the other hand, it’s very quiet in the evening and the noise from the discos and bars doesn’t bother one’s sleep. It’s the ideal place for someone who seeks calmness. Getting to the stop of the mini train and the buses takes some ten minutes. It takes a bit less to get to the first kiosks and Crown change bureaux.

Altogether, the hotel disposes of 277 rooms dispersed on 10 floors. The reception desk is in the lobby, there are upholstered booths, a lobby bar, two lifts and a restaurant. There is a consulting room, a hairdresser’s, a souvenir shop, a mini shop and a few PCs for internet usage. Outside the hotel, there is a swimming pool with a terrace and a bar. The sunbeds and the parasols at the swimming pool are for free.

Almost everybody at the reception desk speaks both English and German very well. Checks-in and out were easy to make.

Nelly

Reni and Nelly

Ivo

A change bureau is next to the reception desk. It was open only until 9 p.m. and the exchange rate wasn’t paying. One could get 180-185 leva for 100 euros.

Some comfortable booths with padded seats are located in the ample lobby. There are three TV sets so everyone could watch the games from the European football championship. Cleanliness there was spotless. The staff were dusting and polishing all the time.

The comfy lobby bar is in the foyer, too. The small footstools were also spectacular. They are very uncommon in Sunny Beach; however, they make sitting very relaxing. The bar was open non stop, its staff working in three shifts. We arrived at 3:30 in the morning and by 6:00 a.m. we had several Bulgarian pints. The shifts were as follows: 8.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m, 4.00 - 12.00 p.m. and from 12.00 pm. to 8.00 am. 

Victor and Vanya

Chrissy

Chrissy and Maria

Cryssi’s sister Sory also paid the lobby bar regular visits

Iavor and Nasko

The three teams took perfect care of us. We even had a table that was booked only for us. Well, we downed a lot of bottles of wine there.

Didi, Peter and Wolfgang (from left to right). We often had some drinks with them.

The food at the hotel was extremely delicious, including breakfast - this is exceptional in Sunny Beach. Breakfast and dinner  were served as a buffet. The choice was wide and there was enough from everything. They were constantly stocking the table up.

The customer service at the restaurant was of high level. Dirty cutlery was quickly taken away and ordered drinks were served with no delay.

He controls the restaurant’s entrance

On Sundays, a Bulgarian thematic evening would take place. Colourful table cloths that are typical for Bulgaria were put on the white ones. After the toast with a sip of Rakiya and a hand-made piece of bread, we were served typical Bulgarian dishes. After that guests could enjoy Bulgarian folklore. An orchestra played in the rest of the evenings; everyone willing to dance could do it.

Our rooms were spacious. They were furnished with the typical stuff. There was an air-conditioner, phone, TV set, mini bar and a balcony. I liked the shower. It was so made that one had to be very awkward or malicious to flood the bathroom.

The rooms were cleaned every day, towels being changed constantly. During my three-week stay we had our sheets changed several times.

View from the balcony