This friday night we travelled from Sofia to Shalba with my best friend Dimitar Paskalev (a.k.a. Nomen). We started the trip from Mladost 3, bl. 351B, we took a taxi with Svetlana from Mladost to Mitko’s address Citi Jarden gen. Georgi Raichev 21. From there we had to wait for a while Mitko because he had to go for some shopping with his girlfriend Margarita. Because of that we started the trip quite late about 21:40.

We had to take two other friends Kliment from Goce Delchev and Samuil (Samuel) from Sofia University. We left Sofia about 10:20 and had to travel to Shabla until early morning about 06:00 morning. We had a nice useful talks on topic of Christian faith and philosophy.

We stopped about 4 times on oil stations to put some gas and have a rest and had safely arrived Shabla passing by near Balchik’s villa zone and seeing the beatifulness of sun rise and beatiful hills nearon Balchik. Travelling in this region of Bulgaria, just like my birth place Dobrich one sees a lot of planes and planted land with sunflowers, corn and weed.

It is my second coming to Shabla,the first time in Shabla was about 8 years ago when we were in cave place nearby Shabla called Rusalka and into Shabla camping and it was just for less than hour so I don’t have much of memories.

Now I have a good chance to refresh my memories on Shabla. From my impressions so far Shabla, is a tiny beatiful and cheap place to live nearby the sea (the sea coast) is just 7 km from Shabla. On the city center there is a beatiful church st. Haralampios (who by the way is a saint who helps to people who have demonic attacks).

Around 06:00 we were in Mitko and, following their old ways tradition the friends had a morning beer. We went to bed for some hours just to wake up about 13:30. We prepared dinner the bulgarian infamous “djidji-papa” which is simply torrefyed bread walloed in eggs.

After having the quick break-lunch. Around 05:30 we went to beach on Mitko’s car. The water temperature was awesome about 22 / 23 degrees celsium. The beach is located 8 km from the village and is probably one of the last left “wild-beaches” not seriously filled with buildings.

Shabla’s beach is nice the only unpleasent think is when you enter the sea, there are sea shells which might cut your toes, apart from that the beach is quite nice and there are not many, so if you want to have without stress in solitude it is a great place to go. Shabla’s beach is the perfect beach for Christians with children who want to enjoy some swimming without the ruling vanity which is ruling on most beaches.

Nearby Shabla is a healing salty water and a healing mud, just like in many of the sea resorts in Bulgaria. Something unique about Shabla is richness of south birds to which the small village and nearby Shabla lake gives shelter during summer and spring.

Shabla is a “city of birds”, just walking the village streets you can see tons of swallows flying all around.

After the beach we were invited to have a our dinner in hospital neighbor, who always seem to invite Mitko when he is in shabla. As he lives here he produces always for himself the traditional bulgarian alcohol Rakia, his own vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes) etc. and all the food we were offered tasted much better than the usual food we ate from the supermarket. Shabla is a very quite and peaceful place, there is good developed infrastructure and most people here like typical villagers grow their food and a lot grow animals for meat (rabbits, chickens, pigs) etc. etc.

Actually I started realizing Bulgaria is very unique country with immersibly beatiful nature and very hospital people. Bulgarian hospitaliy is notorious. Tell me in how many countries someone will invite you to a dinner in his house if he doesn’t know you at all?

Mitko’s neighbor did that and I think this is worthy for respect.

This morning as it was Sunday, I went as usual to Church to Holy Liturgy to thank God for all the sent great mercies, pray for the world and well-being of the Church, my wife, my parents family, friends and enemies and all the world as we do always in the Orthodox Church. Unfortunately there was not to be a Holy Liturgy in the Church and we took Mitko’s car and went for the Church service to father Vasilij in Kavarna in the Church the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos. As always it is a blessing to be on a service led by fr. Vasilios, by Christ’s mercy, I confessed and took the holy sacraments – by the way today is an important feast within the Church we mark the memory of Saint Panteleimon (who is a healer a doctor and prays and helps with his fire prayers to all sick in the world).

After the Church service, we went for a coffee nearby the church and after that we went to eat from the delicios Bulgarian traditional “fast-food” Banitsa (which by the way is not so unhealthy like McDonalds / Burger King etc.).

We went back to Shabla with some pills to sober Mitko, Nomen and Samuel who drink heavily last night and needed way to fix their heavy headache 🙂

Also today the neigbor needed internet so I, Kliment and Mitko run a cable between mitko’s home with Internet and “Chicho (Uncle) Toshko” – the neigbor of Mitko.

Around 6 I went to see the small Shabla museum located in the city center. The place is very nice with a artificial lake with ducks and some rare plants. Also inside the big building there is small composition of photos a computer lab from which you can take a look to flora and birds nearby Shabla Lake as well as a small room with some found historic artifacts, most of which dating back 5 centuries (B.C.) Before Christ. I was played in the museum a short 20 minutes movie about remarkable things (birds, historical founding and way of wife) in and nearby Shabla and Dobrudja region.

Coming back I helped to the neibor of Mitko crimping few UTP cables and making their internet from Mitko’s house to Mitko work via a switch.

Here in Shabla you feel much more joy than in big stressed city like Sofia, you feel much free than in the big metropolitan cities and you feel God’s grace much abundant and the small village houses the greeny trees and everything set you in a true prayer mood.

Glory be to God and thanks for letting me one more day pass by!