We just arrived in Bulgaria, more specifically in the capital, Sofia. The sun was burning hot. We had to pull off our clothes.
The average temperature is 23 degrees and the climate is favorable for growing fruits, wines, vegetables,...After breakfast, we were ready and set to visit a local market. Agriculture plays an imporant rule in the Bulgarian economy and it's one of the few sectors which has a positive trade balance.
We were really curious about the main industries. When we finally arrived at the market, we saw a lot of market stalls and with different sorts of wines. It's no surprise, agriculture is one of the main industries, with his rich nature and continental climate. We had the oppurtunity to taste those generous Bulgarian wines :)...Bulgaria is a famous producer and exporter of wine to more than 70 countries. It's the second largest producer of wine, with France being number one.
There are many vineyards to be found throughout Bulgaria, except in the capital Sofia, because of the unfavorable climate over there.
For geographical reasons, the vineyards are widespread in five regions. Each region has his own quality to build up a vintage. In the centre of Bulgaria, we discoverd a lot of hilly areas with a fertile soil perfect for producing red wines such as Bulgarian Merlots and Cabernets.
In the Eastern region, they produce a lot of white wines because of its temperate climate around the Black Sea. Khan Krum and Varna are specialties of this area.
Some important Bulgarian labels are:
- Mavrud: it tastes like Bordeaux
- Gamza: It's a wine that is identical to the Kadarka in Hungary
- Melnik: This name traces back to his producing town 'Melnik. It is the smallest town in Europe. Its wine has a dark red colour and a thick taste.
There is a story that someone who wants to have a baby boy has to drink this wine a lot.
Bulgaria is not only famous for his wines but the country is ranked on top of the world for many other commodities such as anise, raspberries, sunflower seeds. The economy is a free market and can the country itself be classified as industrial and agrarian. Bulgaria's major products consists of refined petroleum, iron, copper, gold, coal and weapons. Accordingly, the most important industries are mining and energy.
Mining is one of the most important export earnings. Much of the production takes place in Kremikotsvi and Pernik.
Tourism is also one of the key sectors because this country is an attractive place for visiting historical museums, nature parks and other special places.The Bulgarian tourism shows an upward trend. The number of foreign tourists who visited Bulgaria is now over 2,7 million.
When we arrived in Bulgaria, we were amazed by the beautiful nature of the country. The temperature was for the time of the year very high; it was 20 degrees during the day. This was perfect to visit the numerous parks in the country. We decided to visit three nature parks, namely National Park Pirin, Rila National Park and National Park Central Balkan. The first park that we visited was the Rila National park (it comes from roula what means a lot of water) consisting of many springs, 28 lakes and two of the biggest rivers (Iskar and Bulgaria Msarista) . The biological diversity of the flora is large and we saw a lot of different sort of flowers species: freshwater plants, mosses, ferns, taxus, We made with our guide a bike ride over bumpy roads During that tiring ride, the guide told us that Bulgaria counts approximately 350 different bird species. We saw a lot of birds, but unfortunately we recognized only a few in contrast to our guide who knew most of them.
Later that day we visited the health center. After a day walking and cycling that was the best way to relax. We overnighted in one of the many mountain cabins. Fortunately there was extra linen provided, because at night the temperature can drop below the freezing point. The next day we decided to take it easier because this week there stood another two visits to national parks on our program. The second nature park we visited was the National Park Central Balkan. This park is located in the heart of Bulgaria, between the central and higher portions of the Balkan Range. During our walk we came face to face with endangered and rare species of wildlife such as wild boars, wolves and bears. We left the most beautiful and I think the biggest nature park of Bulgaria for the last 2 days. National Park Pirin has an area of 26,479.8 hectares and a lot of different trees such as chestnuts, ash, beech, oak and ash. We have even seen a fir of more than 1200 years old. The park also contains 70 glacial lakes, a lot of caves, waterfalls, magnificent canyons and cliffs. It is certainly worthwhile to visit 1 of those 3 nature parks!
The last day of the week we left very early in the morning to Sofia where we took the plane to Athens.
