Shopping in Bulgaria

Shopping in England was a chore, I much prefer shopping in Bulgaria! This is one very memorable shopping trip. One of the Roma families who have befriended us here keep a horse and cart for transportation.  Long journeys, therefore, rarely  happen and they have spent most of their lives in the village.  We recently offered to take them further afield to visit the large supermarket  in our local town to do some shopping.  They suggested instead that we visit  the ‘pazzar’ at Banaya. 

Local Markets

The ‘pazzar’ proved to be a far more fascinating place than the supermarket!  Made up of a plethora of bustling market stalls and open vehicles spilling their wares on to the ground. It provided a shopping extravaganza unlike anything I had experienced before.

Meandering through the isles we came across everything from antique gramophones to local church music, colourful rugs and throws, home-made baskets, and local honey.  The honey cost just over three pounds in English money for a large pot of the genuine article.  Vegetables straight from the garden were laid out in the sun, the lovely pink tomatoes looked particularly inviting.  

Seasonal stalls proliferated also: summer’s canning season was provided for with large pans, jars and shiny lids of various sizes.  Harvest-time was represented with giant containers for fermenting the grapes, apple crushing barrels, and alcohol thermometers. Shopping in Bulgaria is very seasonal.

Buying Livestock

Picking our way to the edge of the bustle we reached the animal section.  Baby goats packed into their little stall looking worried and shy.  Ducks, chickens, rabbits, of all sizes.  And then there were the pigs.  Three open-topped lorries sat stationery, framed with pink snouts.  “Which to buy?”  The proud farmers asked, as they prodded the clinging  throng on request with a pole for a better view of each pig.

 “This one or that one?” queried our friend.  Never having been asked to peruse  a pig before,  I had no idea!  Choosing one at random, haggling commenced, ending in a firm handshake and I suddenly panicked as to how on earth we would fit the large animal into the car!  No worries, the deal included a ‘drop off’ and our friend rode away, smiling, in the back of the truck with his prize.  

Supermarket Shopping in Bulgaria

Of course, there are the average shopping experiences also, though every day here feels like an adventure even with the most mundane circumstances.  Even our very functional and none aesthetically pleasing supermarket looks stunning with a back drop of mountains, and shopping there is a pleasure.  The food there though tends to not be much cheaper than at home, as much of it is imported.  

We tend now to shop like locals, visiting a small local vegetable stall, a local butcher, and using the Saturday market for plants and seeds, etc.  Like locals, we can our fruit and vegetables to get us through the winter, and we bake our own bread daily.  Our little local shop provides butter, milk and delicious Bulgarian yogurt. And one of the local houses sells fresh eggs, and another one honey from their own bees. We can even buy unpasteurised milk fresh from the cow.  We also eat out regularly as the food is so reasonably priced here.

Purchasing Furniture

I have mentioned furniture else where, so will not repeat myself. A lot of the furniture here tends to be made of melamine, solid furniture and antiques are more expensive and harder to come by. Nonetheless they are available and can also be custom-built at very affordable prices.

I have had three bespoke pieces of furniture made for me so far in this country. This is my most recent. I gave the carpenter a picture of a desk I wished to emulate from Pinterest and this was the outcome. I am so pleased with it! I chose the colour exactly and it goes perfectly in my room.

Shopping for Clothes

Clothes are the remaining staple item.  Like most things, they tend to be much cheaper than at home, and living here has meant that I have been able to afford my first ever designer Items!  However, they do tend to be rather on the small side as the Bulgarians are, on average, smaller in stature than us Brits.  My husband found it almost impossible to find a suit for his daughter’s wedding – going from shop to shop, where he was referred to as a ‘gigan’ (giant).  Shoes are virtually impossible to find for him (he’s a size 12).

I tend to have similar problems, the Bulgarian ladies being small framed and delicate on the whole.  I found an exquisite jacket in the city only to find that I couldn’t even get my  arms into it!  The shop assistant sympathetically brought me a larger size, which proved to be too small also.  When I realised that it was an ‘extra large’ I slunked dejectedly from the boutique. I am a size 12 – 14 back home.

A clip of Banya Market