Hi guys! Sorry for my lack of posts, we are now back from our week of skiing in Bulgaria. We got back late Saturday night (2am UK time, 4am Bulgarian time – which was the time that our bodies were still in) so we were quite tired!! So I’d thought I’d do a recap post to tell you all about it if you don’t mind 
The taxi picked us up from our house 11ish so I had enough time to get up early to get in one last run before having a week off. Yes, I know, sounds a bit obsessive but I thought if I was just sat travelling all day it would be nice to think I got a run in the morning! So I ran my first ever 12 miles and was fairly chuffed with my speed.
It was quite a tough run, I’m not going to lie. By mile 8 I was feeling fairly tired. But I got there in the end about 8 minute a mile. This is the speed I’m planning for the half marathon and I know shouldn’t be running this speed already on my long runs but it just came naturally to me so I’m thinking I might aim to go quicker on race day. Not sure though as honestly I felt absolutely shattered at the end. I did lots of foam rolling at home afterwards!!
We got to the airport just after midday and by the time we got through security it was lunch-time. We decided on Jamie’s Italian (yes, I know, I am little bit obsessed with this restaurant at the moment!)
I had a vegetable plank to start, which was so yummy.
I loved that they put this in the middle of the table…as if I was sharing it. Ha! There was a small ball of mozzarella and a slice of fontina cheese, some chutneys, roasted vegetables and a mini carrot salad. Oh I do love variety!
Then for main course I had my standard turkey Milanese. I just absolutely adore this dish (it’s my third time having it…)
So huge! And so filling. Perfect for a long day of travelling.
We then caught our flight and then had a three hour coach journey to the resort. By the time we arrived it was around midnight. We were shattered! My legs also ached a lot from the run which wasn’t so great. It was 2am Bulgarian time and we had to set our alarms for 7am to get up for breakfast and meet our group to get our skis and boots etc. at 8.45am.
I’ll talk more about the food on Wednesday for WIAW as otherwise this post will be huge. But let’s just say I’m not a huge fan of the Bulgarian food!!
The first day was very stressful. Getting up after so little sleep, rushing to meet with our group, queuing for all our bits and pieces, then meeting with our tuition group…I felt so frazzled. Then Ben and I got split up in our groups because Ben was a better skier than me (he’s been three times before) and I felt a bit lost without him if I’m honest. This was my first time skiing on snow and I was already stressed and tired so I wasn’t too happy to start with!
However, after Ben managed to calm an emotional Anna down and I began properly skiing I loved it. After flying (read: slowly winding) my way down the first slopes, I was hooked and it no longer mattered that Ben and I were apart.
And it was just beautiful. I had to keep pinching myself when I was skiing down the slopes and just seeing the views in the distance. So beautiful.
Each morning we got up early, had breakfast and got to the slopes as soon as we possibly could. We were skiing by 9am together before our tuition began at 10am. Then 12am we broke for lunch and Ben and me would try and get a couple of slopes in before the lessons began again at 1pm and finished at 3pm. Then Ben and I would meet up again and ski until 4pm. Needless to say we were shattered by the end of the day. Literally we would fall asleep at 9pm. Now for me this is no big deal (hello, I’m an old lady) but for Ben this is CRAZY talk. And in the morning our legs ached like crazy. My calves were SO tight.
But we loved it.
Thankfully I wasn’t in the beginner’s group where they were taught the absolutely basics. I was in the intermediate group and we were taught how to parallel turn and basically improve. Though my moves are by no mean perfect, I can happily say that after the first couple of days I looked like a proper skier (not an expert, but I didn’t look like an absolute newbie!) Ben was amazing. He was a smooth criminal with his skiing and he even got to go down a black run on the last day! I got to go down some reds so I’m happy
I just couldn’t believe the views. It was terrifying seeing the heights we were going when we took the different chair lifts up. I only made it to the middle of the mountain but that was just phenomenal (Ben got to the top and he said it was just another world up there). Do you know what else was terrifying? Trying to take a photo of the views when on said chair lifts. This involved a lot of careful navigating of ski poles, gloves and phone. Scary stuff.
And yes, I fell over – a fair few times I’m proud to say! Nothing major, no broken bones thankfully. It didn’t hurt at all to be honest. The snow was like a big pillow. It did dent my ego a little but, hey, I’m still learning! My instructor gave me a great compliment when he asked if I was in training for something as he said I was able to jump straight back up and carry on so easily. So there’s a silver lining!
Our hotel wasn’t the greatest I have to say. But we weren’t there for that so we shrugged it off as something to improve on next time. We already know we want to go back to the same place and we chatted around to different people and know the hotel we want to go to. So we’re putting it down to experience!
I had a couple of lovely massages though in the spa (which I definitely needed). I had a Swedish massage and an anti-stress massage. But can I just say that having a Bulgarian masseuse who doesn’t speak much English makes getting a massage a little bit awkward…
So I’m hooked! I love skiing and will definitely be doing it again. Probably next year and in Bulgarian again. It was so cheap there (all the gear and lessons) and the slopes were amazing, the snow perfect and the experience just unforgettable.
But I am knackered! We had today (Monday) off to recover and we definitely needed it. It’s back to work tomorrow unfortunately but such is life!
Have you been skiing before?
Have you been to Bulgaria before? To be honest we would have never gone there ordinarily if it wasn’t for skiing.
Do you prefer more active holidays or really relaxing holidays? I’m definitely a more active holiday fan!
Wow it looks and sounds fantastic! I much prefer active holidays too- I don’t want to waste time sitting around.
I went on quite a few skiing holidays when I was younger as my Dad and siblings ski (we had dry slope lessons before we went) but they were all so much more confident than me (and I am the oldest!)- I would stick to greens and blues, and find a slope I liked and go up and down it all day- I was happy with that. But a few times they persuaded me to go with them- and all I remember from those were lots of tears from me- one run was a green run but it crossed a black run (mental) so one leg was about 2 ft above the other one- with people flying down- I wanted to take off my skis and sit down but it was too steep for even that. My poor Dad has so much patience to deal with me! Once we skied to Italy from France (as it was all in one resort) and then it turned out the way back included a red run, which I refused to do, and ended up walking back with my ski boots on, carrying my skis and poles. Oh dear!
But, Andy got some skiing lessons for his birthday last year, so I think when he has them I might book on too, as I think I need a bit of a confidence boost! 🙂
Longest comment ever???
Haha I love your long comment!
I wasn’t confident at all to begin with. Just going over the edge and seeing the slope freaked me out, but eventually it was fine as you just focus on what you’re doing not where you’re going. We cut so many turns in the slope as well that we never picked up huge amounts of speed so it was all relatively tame thankfully.
A green run crossing a black sounds mental and I don’t blame you for wanting to stop. I had a bad run and just had to snow plough at like 1mph down the slope and had a bit of a paddy with Ben haha.
Definitely try again! I would totally reccommend it. Get lessons out there and they test your ability before you begin to know what level you are. They never pushed me to do something I didn’t want to do either.
Longest reply ever??
To be honest a skiing holiday doesn’t appeal o me at all! I’ve only been skiing once, and that was a dry slope, and I was absolutely hopeless, but then again I was only 11! I am a big fan of relaxing holidays cos Iestyn and I don’t get the chance to spend much time alone considering we don’t live together, but we usually end up walking a lot on holidays. I think its always nice to have a few days off after a holiday to recover from it! 🙂
Ii guess it’s not for everyone! It was a strange holiday. Not very relaxing at all. Oh walking holidays are great! Like somewhere scenic in Britain, and staying in a cottage with a cosy fire.
Yep you definitely need a holiday after the holiday haha.
That looks like so much fun! I can’t wait for the WIAW post too 😉 I’ve been skiing before but only a few times. I definitely need to take some lessons to improve. I’ve also tried snowboarding but I found skiing to be much easier. I’m so glad you guys had such a great time!
Snowboarding looked a lot more tricky. They were the ones that fell over by far the most. We’re going to go again and still take lessons as we found it then best way to get better. Some of the stuff the instructor was saying to me I didn’t even realise I was doing, like leaning back. I definitely think we’ve got the bug now!
Awesome job on that 12 mile run! 8 min miles, way to kick ass! And skiing in Bulgaria looks gorgeous, I’m already dying to get back on the slopes! My calves were the only thing that was sore for me too, it’s like you use muscles you forgot you had.
Oh my calves were sooo tight after the first day. I thought I’d be fine because I run but it’s a whole different ball game!
Wow, even a snow-hater like me can appreciate those views; the pictures are stunning! Glad you had such a good time. I’d love to try skiing as I’ve only done it on a dry slope once but I know my hands just wouldn’t cope (I’ve got a blood condition which makes them so painful even in British temperatures!)
I was looking at Bulgaria for a summer holiday last year; it looks so beautiful because not many people go there…
I’m intrigued too; what’s that triangular egg thing?
Ahh that sucks abot your hands. My mother-in-law has really bad circulation so she can’t go either as she just feels the cold so much (not sure if this is at all similar!!)
It was so beautiful and apparently a lot of people go to Bulgaria in the summer as it’s great for walking and chilling. It’s very inexpensive as well.
Triangular egg thing?? Not sure what you’re referring to – if it’s the greyish thing on the egg on the turkey Milanese it’s truffle as the egg was fried in it. Very tasty! Sorry if that’s not what you meant!