Bulgaria Ski discussion board

So how did it all start.

Well, it must have been about 6 or 7 years ago I was searching the net for details on Bulgaria and came upon this site. Having been to Bulgaria skiing a few times before I realised I was able to answer some of the questions that were being asked so I joined in. That led me to being on the site more and more until it became addictive. At that time I was just known as Pete.

Then one year in Pamporovo I got into the lift in the Morgavets and started chating to a bloke and his girlfriend and this board came up in conversation. When I told him I was Pete from the board he said 'Oh You're Pamporovo Pete' and that was how I got the nickname, and I've used it ever since. Never did see that guy again!

Then about 4 years ago I was in BJ's when a chap came up to me and introduced himself as Nic who is the manager at BulgariaSki and he asked me if I wanted to become the site administrator. I thought - why not? and the rest is history. Have got to know Nic and his wife very well since and also the beautiful Maria who is based in the Morgavets and is the resort rep for BulgariaSki.

As for good and bad points over the years? Too many good points to mention - apart from all the really fantastic people I have met and still hope to meet in the future. This board would not exist without you, and I take my hat off to everybody that has taken the time to help others on here, and to add a little fun and banter along the way. I am not going to name names as that would not be fair to those I may miss out, but a HUGE THANK-YOU to every one of you.

Bad points - Very few really. A few years back we did have one poster who was hell-bent in posting obscene posts about me. At that time I did not have the facility to ban posters, only to delete their postings, so I sat up one night until 4am just continuously deleting the posts until they finally gave up. Now I do have the facility to perminantly ban people but I really hate doing this and always post a warning before to give them one last chance. If they decide to continue then it's bye bye forever to them. But lets not dwell on that.

Why Pamporovo - Why Bulgaria?

When I first went to Pamporovo is was much different than today. I believe better, but you cannot halt progress. In the early days, very few shops could give you change because they simply had no money. Items I have been offered as change in the past include pots of honey, chewing gum, sweets, to name but a few - it was all they had.

Then one year they devalued the Lev but kept the notes the same, so to pay for a meal it was nothing to hand over 60 or 70 notes that added up to no more than £10.
I remember also, the year we had a power cut that lasted 4 days. Fortunately it did not effect the lifts so we could still ski, but we had no electricity or water for the full four days, so I didn't pull to many ladies that week (Minger Pete.)

The food then was also hrrrrm different would be a word that springs to mind. Our first ever stay was in the Perelik and we arrived at about 1am tired and hungry. We were glad to hear that a meal was waiting for us and we headed straight to the resturant. There were about 20 of us in total and the waiter came with a large cauldren of soup and dished everybody out a bowl full. After we had all taken a few spoonfulls we complained that it was stone cold. What happened next left us in fits of laughter. The waiter collected up all the bowls, poured them back into the cauldren, heated it up then started to dish it out again. - I passed on the soup

Main course then were chicken or chicken, any meat on it was an option and if you were not there 10 minutes after the resturant opened then it was all gone. But we never complained because it was all part of the fun.

Now I see a country and resorts blooming from a not so long ago deprived communist nation to an international favourite for summer and winter holidays alike.

I take this opportunity to thank the Bulgarian people from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful times I have shared with them in their country, and I look forward to many many more visits before my snowballs finally melt away.

NASTRAVE EVERYBODY AND NASTRAVE BULGARIA.

NOW BACK TO BUSINESS -- Is it snowing yet

(Maybe a poem later)

PP

Congrats Pete you made it then
My god 5OOO just seems inpossible but You managed it well done.you'll have to have a couple of
Cheers 4 Now
Dave