Our first five days in Bansko were spent settling into our new apartment. Normally by this time at home the tree and decorations would have been up for some weeks, so we had some work to do to make our apartment ready and looking like Christmas inside to match the scene outside.  I had romantic notions of getting a ‘real’ pine tree – knowing that Bansko is surrounded by pine forests. But alas, it was not to be – although there were plenty of real trees in the town covered in lights they were firmly in the ground and any trees inside buildings were all of the ‘fake’ variety, much like home.

So a trip to the markets yielded a small tree, some tinsel and a few other decorations. Together with a few strands of lights we had purchased in Istanbul, we transformed our apartment into a twinkling mini wonderland.

As mentioned in our Christmas message post, we spent a day making our own decorations too – painting the pinecones we had brought from Gallipoli with glitter glue and cutting up a used Maths book to make paper chains.

With that job done, and a few school lessons here and there, we now felt ready to hit the ski slopes!

We wanted to take advantage of the quiet time on the mountain before the holiday crowds moved in during the Christmas/New Year week. We had arrived in Bansko on the 15^th December which was the ‘official’ start of the ski season, and some online research revealed that our ‘meet and greet’ friend Tosh was offering the best package for ski equipment hire, lift passes and ski lessons.

We contacted him by email and he dropped off the vouchers and also met us at the ski equipment hire shop at the base of the main Gondola station to assist us getting ‘kitted up’.  Then with skis in hand, we made our way up the stairs and straight into a gondola, not a queue in sight at a little after 8.30am on December 21^st.

Everywhere you look is like a postcard, and recent snow meant every tree looked like the quintessential Christmas tree. There is the most incredible view looking down into the crown of the pine trees from the Gondola as we glide along on the 25 minute ride to the primary base area called Banderishka Poliana.

From here the ski area fans out and includes over 75km of ski runs, with 27 chair and drag lifts, and with lifts  right up to the summit elevation of 2600 metres.  From Banderisha Poliana you can also head south for further ski runs and also the ‘ski road’ around 10km long that takes you all the way back down to the lower Gondola station in the village.

At the top gondola station, we met the ski instructor who would be with us for the next three days as we had purchased the three day package which included lessons for the girls – two hours tuition in the morning, a break for lunch and a further two hours in the afternoon.

The first day the four of us stayed together as the instructor took everyone through the basics. It was around -10°C but we soon warmed up with all the sidestepping back up the nursery slopes for the first couple of hours.

As the two girls hadn’t skied before, the instructor spent almost the whole time with them, often leaving Dave and I to our own devices and we started off by just following the girls and reacquainting ourselves with skiing as it had been more than ten years since we had been on skis.

By the second day, Dave was itching to crank it up a notch and the lure of the chairlifts and no queues soon meant he was venturing further up the mountain to explore some more challenging runs.  The snow cover was excellent and he got the rhythm back very quickly only stacking it once or twice!  I on the other hand was more cautious and took it relatively easy just staying with the girls who had now graduated to using the drag lift and thus enjoying a longer and slightly steeper slope. The second half of day two we were enjoying another more challenging slope and finished off the day skiing all the way back to the village together down the ski road. Despite continually telling Phoebe to ‘lean forward’ and Immi to ‘slow down’ we all made it and were grinning from ear to ear.

There are not many sports that involve and appeal to all ages but skiing is the ultimate in family fun.  The girls had become more confident and despite a few falls we were really proud of the way they would just get back up, dust themselves off and go again. By day 3 we did the long run all the way down the mountain together, twice.

I discovered muscles I didn’t know I had (or perhaps it was just that they hadn’t been used for some time) and was very happy to have a sleep in the next morning – for it was Christmas eve and the girls were getting even more excited.  Would Santa find them here in Bulgaria? We even had the fireplace this year and Immi expressed concern that he may get burnt on his way in so we let the fire die down and the bikkies and milk were left out in readiness….

Christmas Day started early as it does it most houses with children and the girls were delighted that indeed Santa had still found them miles from home.  A few new toys – specifically some cars that the girls had been hankering for since Turkey were much appreciated.  The paints and plasticine stocking fillers were put to good use over the coming days.  Although the stockpile under the tree was well down on previous years it was more appreciated and while the girls were happy to play with their new ‘toys’ and after a couple of skype sessions with family back home I indulged by hoping back in bed and reading a new book on the kindle.

After coming across a website for English expats living in Bansko we answered an invitation for anyone wanting to get together for a ‘Traditional English Christmas Dinner’ at a local Mehana off the village square.  Although we don’t intentionally usually seek out English speakers it had been a while since we had enjoyed a chat so we emailed our request to join them which was enthusiastically received.  And so what meant to be a traditional English Turkey dinner with all the trimmings was one with a Bulgarian twist!  First a large bowl of soup, then the vegetables came out on a platter, followed by another huge bowl of potatoes and lastly the Turkey. Our table was completely covered with food and it was simply too much for us to eat!

The music was an eclectic live mix of ‘80’s music interspersed with the odd Christmas song and back to some Eric Clapton with the guy walking around the cosy Mehana with his Electric guitar!  The bench seating we had was very conducive to the girls lying down and somehow they even fell asleep amid the noise while we enjoyed wine and conversations with families from various counties in the UK, most who have apartments here and who try to head over at least one or two times a year.  Around 11pm the Marks & Spencer Christmas pudding came out, and at around midnight we rolled out of the restaurant in search of a taxi.

The next two weeks we stayed close to home, often venturing out just for the odd grocery item. We usually cooked our own meals in the apartment, but every third day or so we would explore our surroundings and partake in some of the local cuisine on offer.

One afternoon we went  ice skating, another afternoon to a local hotel to use their heated pool, and another day we took a taxi for the 5km trip to a nearby village called Banya.

Banya is known for its mineral spas and we spent some time at a spa hotel enjoying the pool, sauna and a delicious lunch of Sach in their restaurant.  Sach is the traditional Bulgarian dish around the Bansko area.  Cooked and served on a clay dish they usually contain a variety of meats over a selection of vegetables like onion, zucchini, aubergine and carrots.  They are usually quite generous portions and a real meal in itself. The Mehana’s are warm with roaring fires and sheepskins over the benches adding to the cosy atmosphere.  Our favourite meals were the sach dishes, the bean type soups and we had a delicious pork knuckle as well.

For New Year we stayed at the apartment until around 11pm (we had all enjoyed an afternoon sleep in readiness) then we ventured out toward the village square where we had heard the celebrations and fireworks would be in full swing.  On arrival though we found the square was deserted – 4 silly Australians about the only ones standing out in the cold with everyone remaining inside the warm Mehana’s. At around 11.30pm, the locals began arriving and the whole square suddenly swelled with people.  A screen was showing a the live concert from the Bulgarian capital Sofia until around 11.45pm when three local singers came on.  Then in complete surprise to us at 11.55pm  the President of Bulgaria appeared on the screen to give the traditional speech to the nation.  I couldn’t help but think if this happened at home it would be met with boos and hisses, but everyone gave their full attention. When his speech ended, the ten second countdown to the New Year began and finished with a burst of fireworks. It was at this point things got a little crazy as some of the locals had come armed with their own arsenal of fireworks and their own ideas on how a fireworks display should look. Rockets shot into the air all around us and although we didn’t feel in any real danger, it certainly felt like we were getting front row seats. The partying in the square kicked into gear and we stayed a while until the girls began complaining of cold feet so we headed home to bed after walking back to the main road to wave down a taxi, getting back in around 1am.

David thought he might venture up to the slopes again by himself during this New Year week, but he was back within half an hour after he found the queues snaking from the gondola station down the road – a wait of easily two hours or more for the gondola to head up to the mountain.

So we would wait therefore, until the crowds thinned after the first week of the New Year and head back for another three days skiing in our final week on the 7th, 8th and 9th of Jan.

This time without any tuition we spent full days discovering different trails and heading higher up the mountain combining gondola, drag and chair lifts.  Although not nearly as quiet as our first time the wait times were now around an hour for the gondola and certainly more crowded on the slopes.  This time it was even colder than our first time getting down to -15°C!

Each day we ended with the long ski road home.  The last day David and the girls took the lifts as far as they could go and skied down, however I joined them for the fantastic view before taking the chairlift back to the midway point and waited for them and continued with them from there.

The last couple of days I had found it harder and harder to breathe unaware at that point that I was soon to be struck down by a bout of pneumonia. Returning our skiing equipment on the last day I was especially relieved that we all came through without injury or incident and set about packing up our belongings ready for our trip back down the mountain.

What a wonderful month we had, doing exactly what we had intended with a few surprises along the way to keep things really interesting!

The last day we went for a final walk down into the village and to Nikola Vaptsarov Square to visit the St Trinity Church and to see its clock bell tower the ‘symbol’ of Bansko and once the largest Basilica in Bulgaria.  The girls made some ‘snow angels’ inside the church yard (very appropriate!). On the way back it started snowing and as always we tried to find the perfect snowflake …

We bid Bansko farewell – you shall always hold a special place in our hearts …

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” — Vesta M. Kelly