Bulgarian Village Life

Where we are

In this post I will describe typical Bulgarian village life. Our village is situated about 15 kilometres from the main town of Karlovo . It is a typical village for the region, being mainly agricultural. It is a small village with just a few streets and a village square. Natural wells are situated on some of the street corners where the mountain spring water can be collected.

There are three small shops and a small bar. There is also a large building containing the mayor’s office. He can often be seen around the village checking on the state of the roads, drains, crops and the very important roses. He is polite and courteous and has welcomed us into Bulgarian village life.

Other ex-pats in the area

There are a couple of other English people in the village, we have been told, though we have never met them. We have met other English people in the neighbouring towns and villages though, and have regular ‘ex pats’ gatherings.  But we like to mingle mainly with the locals. We have no desire to create an English enclave where one can purchase fish and chips, and bacon sandwiches with ‘brown sauce’! Why would we – when the local food is so much tastier.

In England we tend to criticise immigrants who gather only in certain cities and create mini states. And when they do not mingle and adopt the ‘English’ way of life. My biggest piece of advice to any one wishing to move to Bulgaria would be threefold – integration, integration, and integration. The country and the people have so much to offer – why not embrace it?

Small farming – typical Bulgarian village

A further aspect of Bulgarian village life is the ‘small farming’ or homesteading that takes place here.  Many of the villagers own their own goats, chickens, pigs and horses.

The fruit and vegetables grown in the village also take on a new meaning.  The tomatoes grow as big as a person’s head!   When planting tomatoes here for the first time we used the same flimsy canes that we used in England, much to our neighbour’s amusement. He turned up a few minutes later with armfuls of vampiresk stakes to burgeon our growing crop.  

Other vegetables also take on a ‘Guliveresque’’ size – butternut squashes reaching up to our middles when stood on the ground, and melons too big to carry.  Leeks also are nothing like their English counterparts.

The soil is rich and fertile in the valley and most gardens also contain a variety of fruit trees and vines.  We are blessed with an existing  collection of  fruit trees: apple, pear, peach, plumb, walnut, olive and ‘paradise’ fruit – as it is called here. We also have two cherry trees – one sweet and one sour, which makes the perfect conserve for cold meats.  At the bottom of the garden stands an old gnarled fig tree which is so laden with fruit each autumn as to provide a ‘Keatsian’ overload for the many honey bees who visit our  garden from their local hives. This is typical Bulgarian village life.

A pastoral scene

The village is also a pastoral one. Each morning the shepherd enters the village at around 5 am and collects the goats to take them up to pasture.  The evenings see them trotting home again – each once separating independently from the herd as they reach their individual homes. The goat’s milk is used also for cheese and yogurt – the finest in the world.  Anyone who is allergic to overly farmed cows milk will find this region a haven.

Customs and traditions are part of Bulgarian village life

Many of the villagers own a pig also.  Christmas here is not Christmas without the traditional pig slaughtering.  This ritual really brought home to us just how sanitised we have become to the killing of the animals we eat.  

Early each year the family purchase their baby pig to ‘fatten up’ ready for the festive season.   There is a saying here “a pig is like a wife – when you choose one you never know how she will turn out!”  Some pigs obviously get plumper than others!  But whatever the case, the couple of weeks before Christmas finds the village filled with the roar of the blowtorch removing the hair from the pig skins and the smell of blood.  

The pig killing ceremony is carried out usually by a neighbour rather than the owner of the animal, and the favour is reciprocated.   Glasses of warm Rakia are passed around to null the senses.  The family then all gather around the table as the pork is served the same day in various forms to celebrate the event and of course is delicious. And do not expect the thin sliced manufactured bacon that we have come to tolerate in England here.  The remaining pork is preserved in various ways to last the family through the winter.

There are many other customs and traditions which are equally as rich and interesting, which I will write of elsewhere. Since moving to Bulgaria, we have been enthralled by the wonderful traditions that take place here. So much has been lost in England.

A Wine growing region

And then of course there are the Vines! Millenniums of wine making in the region have produced a perfect natural yeast for wine making. Both wine and rakia making are a natural part of Bulgarian village life.  Nearly every house has its own grape vines and a still. There are also larger commercial enterprises in the locality that produce really excellent wines. Bulgarian wine is fast becoming a world favourite.

Village economy

Apart from the ‘small farming’ that forms an integral part of Bulgarian village life, rose picking is the main outside income.  Eighty percent of the world’s rose oil comes from our valley. May and June are a frenzy of picking the delicate rose petals that smell unbelievably beautiful.  I have never smelled roses like this in England. At this time of year the road to the village is filled with workers carrying sacks of petals over their shoulders to the waiting transport vehicles.

The roses bring with them the yearly rose festival – which I will write about elsewhere.  This is just one of the various festivities that brings the village to life with music, laughter and traditional dancing.  

Many of the villagers also own a horse for transportation and often also a cart. Horses and carts are often seen on the roads here and deference is given by more modern traffic.

A village of music, dancing and good neighbours

The villager is always a lively place in summer time, people greeting each other in the daytime streets and music wafting through the warm evenings.  Families regularly meet up after a days work to share a meal.  

Life here is reminiscent of my childhood in the close mining community where I lived.  We have lost much of the fraternity and trust now in England that still exists in this village.  Neighbours share door keys and watch out for each other.  They gather at the local shop for morning coffee – some of the older ones lingering for hours there for the company.  Children play safely in the streets – there are few vehicles and strangers are instantly recognised as such.

Wild life and nature in the village

Each morning here is punctuated by the call of the cockerels and other farm animals.  The village is alive all day with the sound of cuckoos, woodpeckers and other native birds. At dusk they are replaced by the twilight serenade of the farm dogs and the ‘jaba’ of the pond frogs and crickets.  I have never seen fire flies before coming to live here; they inhabit our garden at night, golden against the black of the night sky where the star formations are clearly visible.

The seasons are still clearly defined here.  Spring fills the surrounding fields with wild flowers that give way to the later roses, lavender and sun flowers of summertime.  As the nights draw in – the sound of the chain saw marks the start of autumn. This is the canning and bottling season for the harvested fruit and vegetables we have so lovingly grown.  The winter brings the pervading smell of wood smoke and thick snow that I remember too as a child.  It covers the valley and the surrounding mountains until spring turns them green again. Bulgarian village life is the perfect way to live in my opinion.

 In many respects the mountains remind me of Switzerland – though the vernacular architecture differs.  The village is surrounded by fields of roses, sun flowers, pasture and the regular rows of fruit belonging to the local vineyard.  Since moving to Bulgaria, we have definitely enjoyed a much better quality of life in our Bulgarian village.

The village is secluded – set back from the main road to Sophia.  We have no actual post box. We are still largely hidden from the outside world, which is just how we like it.