SOZOPOL: ARTICLES & REPORTS
Sozopol met us with clouds, strong wind and waves. Last week weather in Bulgaria was cool and cloudy, not typical for Bulgaria, where August is the hottest month in the year, with temperatures reaching 35-38є Celsius. Despite the bad weather, Sozopol is over-crowded as usual, but this year seems that there are even more people. It's difficult to find place to park our car. Our hotel is on the main street of the new town, where it's absolutely impossible to leave the vehicle. Even in the smallest streets it's difficult to leave the car, it seems that there are many people like us... Finally we found a place.
People say that long time ago Sozopol has been a quiet place where people mostly did fishing for their living. Has been a favorite place for artists, musicians and writers, where they stopped for some time to relax and concentrate on their arts. Now the things are changed. Sozopol is a romantic place, but got more commercial in the good and bad way, with more tourist infrastructure, restaurants and new hotels. Today Sozopol attracts mostly young people and young families from Bulgaria and Europe.
Local people here rely mostly on those 4 or 5 months during the active season to make their living. Almost everybody here offers rooms in his own house for people on low budget, who do not mind the basic conditions with no private WC and shower, no TV and poor security. I would recommend you choose a hotel, to have all needed facilities and to be sure that thefts from the rooms (something usual for the private rooms) will be minimized. Now the private initiative in Sozopol has developed a good selection of different hotels, so people can find a suitable place according to their budget and their requirements.
Because of the bad weather that day, there was nobody on the beach, and we are spending our time walking around the Old town and it's interesting architecture. Most of the old houses there are National monuments and the owners are not allowed to make general re-constructions or change their design. The old town of Sozopol is placed on high rocks, so many small restaurants are build everywhere around. People can enjoy the view to the Sea while having dinner. We stopped in few of those restaurants and I found the atmosphere and food good, but the prices where little higher than the restaurants in the New town. Anyway, people coming from the Western countries will find the prices quite reasonable and I'm sure that they will be happy with their choice. More about this, please read here...
As for the night life of Sozopol, there is one good disco called Teodora, few other bars you can find on the Port of Sozopol and in the old town.
On the next morning the weather improved and finally the Sun was shining. We got up quite late, so when we went to the beach (the Central beach of Sozopol) there were too many people there, so we could hardly find where to stay. The Central beach is quite narrow, so gets over-crowded very easily. Therefore we decided to go to the other beach of Sozopol, called Harmani. It is located in the New town, around 10 minutes walking from the Old town. This beach is bigger, so even there were also many people, finding a place was not a problem. The temperature got higher during the day, but still far from the usual high temperatures for Bulgaria. The water was like 25є Celsius. The waves were big, so the bay watch life-guards were not allowing people to go swimming far from the beach. Things improved next days. We were sunbathing around 5 hours every day (1-6 pm). Make sure you have a good cream to prevent your skin from the hard Sun. If you get hungry while on the beach, you can have a lunch or buy refreshments from the small restaurants located around the beaches of Sozopol.
On the next day we went to the beach called Gold Fish, approx. 3 km north of Sozopol. There is a wind-surfing school and rental there. One of my friends learned to do surfing for just 1 hour of private tuition. This could be a good alternative to those who do not like to lie under the sun. To reach Gold Fish you will need to have a car, or hire a taxi (not expensive). More for the beaches of Sozopol, please read here...
Some quick facts about Sozopol:
- People speaking Russian language will not have problems in Sozopol, some people speak English and German language. In the hotels English, Russian and German are widely spoken.
- Some restaurants charge 10 % service, which is not included in the price of the food.
- There are 2 open-air cinemas in Sozopol, where you can see some new movie (with subtitles in Bulgarian) for just 1.50 $ per person.
- The best place where you can use Internet is in the main post office in the new town, only 0.50 $ per hour!
- If you will be using a taxi, be sure to agree the price first.
- The prices in the shops on the main street are high. You can find normal prices in the shops that are located in the small streets away from the centre.
- When exchanging money we recommend you always do it in the bank offices. Some of the exchange bureaus on the street may cheat. Never change money on the streets with people offering their services.
- Cheap music CD's (cost 4 $ for one cd) were still available this year. Lots of small shops on the streets.
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