Our Christmas message …
Posted by asuasu69 on Dec 23, 2012 in Bulgaria | 34 comments(previously posted as Minus nine is a little chilly) but as I have been going back adding posts so they appear in the right order (as to when we went there) it sounds like my previous posts have slipped by unread. You can go to the menu bar on the right side down the bottom and click on country by country and remember the newest is always at the top!
Merry Christmas everyone !
We have arrived in Bulgaria and have made it up to Bansko, in the Pirin Mountains. Picture postcard Christmas scenes are everywhere.
We went to the Sunday market to get a little Christmas Tree, a few decorations and then came home to make some more – painting the ends of pine cones with glitter glue and cutting up a completed Mental Maths book to make paper chains!
Then it snowed for two days just after we arrived putting wonderful fresh powder on top of the mountain for the three days of skiing we have just enjoyed. It was -9°C on top of the mountain the last two days and a bit nippy to start but we soon warmed up.
Mind you it was -16°C the week before we arrived!
Christmas Day’s forcast is for a positively balmy 10°C in the village, up from the -1°C it is currently, but there is snow everywhere so we will still enjoy our white Christmas.
A few days ago the girls had never seen snow, by the second day on the slopes we all skied the eight kilometres back down to the village, and yesterday did the full run twice as well as hours on the higher slopes! We are now relaxing in our apartment (I am knackered!) that we have rented here for the month, complete with fireplace. Although we will have a fairly quiet Christmas far from friends and family, our thoughts turn to you and we will no doubt wonder what you may be doing…
So…we wish you all a safe and happy holiday and would love to hear what you are up to for the festive season – leave us a message via the comments box below – we look forward to hearing from you!
Cheers! DIPS
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Hi Sally, Dave and girls 🙂
Was lovely to get your XMas message and photos. Snow looks amazing! Congrats on your fabulous snowman – cause they are a lot harder to make than they look! Sounds like you are all having a great time! I am sooooo jealous!!!
Can’t believe how tall Phoebe has gotten!
Raining here tonight. Up until now it has been very hot and dry!
We are having a quiet Christmas at home. David working Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Only about 10 people for a quiet Christmas lunch and a swim in the pool!
Brayden just finished year 12 and ready to head of to JCU in Townsville in Feb 🙁
How time flies! Enjoy yourselves and treasure all the special moments together.
Shaye xxxx
Wow Brayden off to Uni – time sure does fly. Is Tom looking forward to being the only one at home or will he miss his big brother?! A swim in the pool sounds like it will be a popular theme all around Mackay with the temperatures I have been hearing…
Wonderful to hear from you – and I hope there are no fires needing to be put out David. The girls are wondering whether Santa will get a burnt bottom coming down our chimney into our fire here!
Sal xx
hey guys, isnt it funny was just thinking of you all and came into send a xmas message to you and look what i found in my emails. You look like you are having the best time. wish we could all come and join you for xmas. We are celebrating xmas on xmas eve as danni heads off at 630 xmas morning, mum and dad and liz and family are coming for dinner. xmas day will be very quiet with only peter, mitchell and i in the house. I will be working night shift xmas and boxing day nights. Have the best xmas and i will miss you all but will be thinking of you. love Marg
Hi Marg,
I’m sure you would love this colder weather Marg! Hoping to skype when everyone is at your place Xmas eve – we are eight hours behind you so if we call around noon our time that will mean 8pm. But we will keep it turned on for whenever it is a good time for everyone there….’see’ you then Sal
Hey guys – Looks cold. I have some tips from when i was in Russia that the kids may enjoy.
1. After a shower put your arm through a window and watch steam come off your hand.
2. Throw a bucket of water in the air and see if ice is formed by the time it hits the ground.
3. Buy a banana, leave it outside for an hour. Then get a nail and see if the nail will go into pine preferabbly and not hard wood.
Loks great,a white Christmas. Something you will remember for ever.
Good on yous.
Merry Xmass,
Borgy, Elena and George
Cool – we’ll give them a go, we like party tricks! Cheers Borgy, Sally
Hello there my Dear Friends. , it looks like you are having a fabulous time . I would love to be there !
We will all be together at mum and dad’s for lunch with Sonia and us staying on for the whole day . We will have the Faix’s for breakfast to start the festivities .
Second week in January the kids and I will drive to the Sunny Coast . We will catch up with Kylie and also Dave and Chris, as they will be moving there as of Boxing Day.
It’s ironic I was thinking of you and voila , there was your message right at the top of the list !
You are never far from my thoughts and I look forward to reading the next post !!
Merry Xmas to you all and give the girls a big hug xoxo
Hey Deb!
Pass on our wishes to everyone for a great Christmas – lots of babies together at your Mum and Dad’s then – great fun! Safe driving and say hello to Kylie – I saw her just before we left. A day on the Sunny Coast to thaw out sounds good about now, but we are enjoying the difference of it all.
I have just finished the last post on India and posted that last night too, and will get onto Turkey soon – we just lovvved Turkey – I could easily live there I reckon. Miss you… Sal xx
Hello there DIPS clan,
You appear to be having a wonderful adventure – it all sounds so exciting. You are obviously living very close to Father Christmas at the moment, because you are experiencing the same weather he is. His reindeer love it, but the extreme cold gives Santa a red nose. Are your noses going red?
As you know we are at Margs for Xmas Eve,. Then we fly virgin to Melbourne late morning on 25th, as we need to catch up with Joes mum because she missed coming to Italy with us in June due to ill health, and our Bestman John , as he is also very ill and waiting on a kidney transplant. It will be a short trip as joe is on call for emergencies over closure period – down 25th back early morn 28th- 3 nights/2 days – crazy I know!!!
Anyway we are lucky to be able to go – thank you Tiger!!
We are experiencing beautiful rain at the moment, although i have my fingers crossed it clears for Fri 4 Jan- as we have Jasmines 18th party that night.
Well, I must go its 1.16am here and I should be ASLEEP.
Love to you all and a very very Merry White Christmas. We miss you all xxxxxxxx
Hi Liz,
we all had very pink cheeks and noses out on the slopes – I had to wear full balaclava as it felt like my face was frozen. That is a quick trip but yep better than not going – we heard Tiger was flying again. We are hoping to skype with you soon at Margs. Did you get our birthday greeting email for Mikayla?
Sal
Merry Christmas you snow bunnies! I hope you got our card we sent last week? We have had 160odd mls of rain since late Saturday night and boy did we need it. I have never seen this place so dry. Gardens are smiling and we now have a nice green runway for santas slay tonight…
WE are having a very quiet yet fun fille xmas day here tomorrow. The girls want to spend the day at home playing with all that santa brings so we couldnt argue with that and honestly a day at home will be the first christmas in a long time that we share quality time with just our girls. I am sure Bryan and I will be kept busy though with all the requests from them 🙂 We are heading out in the boat for a few days boxing day 🙂
Take care and continue to enjoy with your amazing exploration of the world.
Mel and family
Hey Mel, yes we did get your card thank you, – very cute, liked the one of the girls on the horses and bull!? Have a great quiet day at home and I hope the weather is good for the boat trip. cheers Sal
Hey dips!
It all looks amazing! A white Christmas is definitely on my bucket list… one day! It’s raining here in Mackay which is greatly preferable to the relentless heat we’ve had the last month or so. We’re spending the day with Paul’s family, which is always a hoot. Just need to do a bit of last minute shopping today for salads and things to take over there tomorrow.
I hope Santa finds you all and that your adventure continues to be the magical ride it has been thus far.
Looking forward to your next update, Sal.
Stay safe.
Lea 🙂
Hi Lea/Mrs Arnold,
Glad to hear it is raining, we recently saw a picture of our backyard from the real estate agent inspection and have never seen our backyard so brown/dead!
Christmas shopping is one thing I have not missed – we have picked up a few little things here and there for the girls over the last month, but as we have to carry everything it really not much. Hopefully they can see the value of experiences over ‘things’! Here’s hoping anyway – however being kids I think they are still expecting the pile of presents that Santa usually brings – we might have to tell them he got lost trying to find us as we keep moving!
Updates for our fabulous time in Turkey coming soon….
Cheers Sally
ps Phoebe was worried that you might have got angry when you found out we pulled the Mental Maths book apart and cut it up for a paper chains – I said I’m sure you would understand and as it was finished anyway that you would be very happy that we are recycling!
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy Christmas. I am sure you will be having lots of fun, especially enjoying your first white Christmas.
I have been enjoying your blogs and look forward to more to come.
Safe and happy travels, now and throughout the coming year.
Love & best wishes, Joy & family
Thanks Joy, no doubt you will be seeing Joc and Trev soon as they are heading down your way. Best wishes to the family, love DIPS
Looks awesome guys, Have a wonderful Christmas and keep enjoying your travels and 2013. Brilliant stuff! Hugs from Cairns. xxxxxxx
Hi Sandy, now you are a snow bunny from way back – but it’s usually the States isn’t it? The scenes and snow here are amazing followed then some good Bulgarian hot pot or sizzling plate washed down with a local beer. Yum. Thanks for the message and Merry Christmas to Jeff and the kids! DIPS
Hi DIPS! So pleased to see you are all having an amazing time! So totally jealous… We hope you have a fabulous Christmas and Santa manages to find you happy and well! Much love xxxooo
Hi Charlotte and Mrs Odger,
thanks for the message – yes pretty hard to take sitting here by the fire looking out our window up to the snowcapped mountains, glass of Bulgarian merlot in hand(that’s me not Phoebe!), but someones gotta do it!
Have a great break !
DIPS xx
Have a wonderful Christmas guys and many more great travels in the New Year. Gosh it’s only taken me 6 months to get in touch! (That’s what Christmas’s are for, keeping in touch). Jami is in Japan right now on a 2 month exchange trip. It’s cold there too, but not as cold as where you are and no snow (near Tokyo). Julian has asked when are we taking 12 months off to go travelling (like it’s the norm), I’d do it tomorrow if I could, you never know… Ella heads off to Tassie for a big circus training workshop (or series of) late Jan for 10 days. We’ve just had our pancake day, pretty massive this year, but sooo much fun. (Went through a batter of 8kgs flour, 15 ltrs milk and 2 doz. eggs!) On a sad note Daryl’s dad passed away on Dec 5th, it will take some time to get used to him not being around …
I’d best get myself to bed soon so Santa can do his thing. Julian has left out chopped carrot, some bikkies and milk (decided beer would be no good, didn’t want to risk Santa, or the reindeer getting, drunk on the job!). Love to you all. Tatiana & co. xxxxx
Hi Tatiana,
great to hear from you! You have people going in all directions… had to laugh at Julian’s question – I must say though it is so much easier once you are actually out on the road – David is already making comments that we could do this for longer and he was the one who needing a bit of convincing in the beginning! If it wasn’t for the schooling issue I could do this for years – so much to see, so little time… a big hug and love to everyone. Sal
Enjoying all your travels, especially spending Christmas in true wintry style.Have alovely Christmas and enjoy your travels in the New Year
Hi Margaret,
just checked the forecast for you – cool and raining,well that seems like the typical English Christmas! Hope you have a great day.
It is clear and bright here with snow all around. Mum tells me there will be wedding bells ringing there soon??! Pass on our congratulations … Sal
Merry Christmas DIPS,
Hope you have a wonderfully white day!
It’s warm and still here, perfect beach weather…or would be if we could put down our new books, and pick up the beach towels…still it’s great to be at home chilling. Off to Catherine’s for dinner which will be lovely.
Sounds like you are having such an amazing time, gives us all itchy feet!
Look forward to hearing more of your adventures.
Love Jen, Hamish and Molly
Hi Jen,
great to hear from you!
The sun has just come up on our Christmas morning – it has just gone 8am (mind you the girls have been up for a few hours already!) and it is very white and bright.
The kids are happy, playing with the few toys they received, and we can go back to bed to read some books also – via kindle!
Then we might go out for a play in the snow later today…getting together tonight with some English expats here for a traditional English Christmas dinner of Roast, yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings…
Give our best wishes to Catherine and the boys, and your Mum and Dad of course. Love Sal
Merry Christmas to you all!!
Wow Immi, you look like you are having so much fun in the snow! I especially love your snowman. I can’t wait to learn to ski one day.
Did Santa find you? I was very spoilt and was lucky to get lots of lovely surprises! Love & hugs from Nicola
Hi Nicola,
Yes Santa found us – Dad cleared the fireplace a bit so he could get down… we have some new little toys to play with. Are you all packed up now ready for the move – I would love to skype. Love Immi
Dear DIPS, so lovely to see all your adventures again. A white Christmas sounds dreamy – 30+ deg here on the Sunny Coast today. I hope you get to sleep in a little later than our 6am wake-up this morning. Merry Christmas to you. May you enjoy love and laughter. Clare, Tom, Caitlyn, Paige and Ethan. xxx
Hi Clare!
Well no we were up a little before that! As the sun doesn’t come up here until nearly 8am it seemed very early. Hope you had a great day and the great Sunny coast beaches featured in you day… cheers DIPS
Hi DIPS crew! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas – it’ll be one you’ll never forget, that’s for sure. We were all at Marg’s for Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and we were all crowded around for the skype! It looks like a Christmas card from your window! Grandpa and I had a quiet Christmas Day, but it was a lovely day after all the rain. Now it’s getting hot again – wish I could fly through the air and land on your doorstep to see you all, (and get cool). Keep having fun, and let all you see soak into your heads so you’ll never forget anything!
Lots of love…….Nanna
Hi Nanna / Mum,
you would be welcome on our doorstep anytime! We did have a very interesting Christmas dinner – a very interesting Bulgarian twist on a traditional English roast! DIPS
Hi DIPS,
Lovely to hear from you and sorry for taking so long to write back.
Your trip sounds fabulous & I especially liked those snow photos – made me feel cooler just looking at them.
We have just returned from a trip to SE QLD ( sounds so boring in comparison to your journey) – spent a lovely week in the lovely cool, green Bunya Mts with my brother & his family & my mother – children had a “ball” – playing in the forest and on the grassy slopes – we adults did lots of walking & serious relaxing. Spent a night in Cania Gorge national park on the return trip – had a spectacular thunder storm and Harry actually saw hail for the first time ever. (not quite as specky as snow!)
Belated Merry Xmas wishes and may 2013 be an equally wonderful continuation of the journey you commenced in 2012.
Peter, Harry & Fiona Rosier xxx
Hi Fiona,
great to hear from you – sounds like you had a lovely get away and no not boring at all – we love that area of QLD, there is so much to see and do, they really do ‘tourism’ well there. I think the girls would love to run on some grass about now too, but everywhere is slick with ice and snow, so we have to walk very carefully! Thanks for your kind wishes … we are looking forward to an interesting few months ahead yet too. Best of luck gearing up for the return to school – is Harry happy with his new class for year 4? cheers Sally