St Vlas Square and Marina

Well, Ros and her mum made it back in one piece. By all accounts they had a 'relaxing' time, mainly due to it being the start of the season and little really being open. The main updates are that the St Vlas square has been refurbished and is now a bit more friendly and attractive. The Dinevi Marina, which is one of the main attractions, is almost complete, with a selection of shops and bars opening by the day. We did find out that a new complex (Bells 3) is being built on the land that was vacant in front of us, it remains to be seen whether this will impact us too much, but the plans look like it's an attractive complex with a design that will complement the area. Photos are on Bulgaria Photos.

I work, she plays

We've just booked flights for Ros to go out to St Vlas with her mum next Saturday to check things out at Bells 2 and get a little break. The weather looks pretty good at the moment, hitting the 30's during the day!
The flights were pretty decently priced, I've been watching them for a while using the site I built and waited till they were under 200 quid each, and they ended up well under that.
I've armed her with a camera and instructions to take photos of everything so I can update the photo gallery and map with a bundle more snaps.
She can also take photos of the new complexes that are being built and get a feel for their locations and look. If anyone's interested in some advice/opinions on the new locations, give me a shout using this

St Vlas, maps, apartments and holidays

Wow, it's been a quick year (well, almost).

Most of the apartment stuff is dealt with, I stayed for two weeks last year, and my parents went over with my sister and child for a couple of weeks in August. The good news is that the apartment is great, very roomy and the spare toilet comes in handy if you go out with Robin Barrasford the night before (yeah, I blame the chicken).

On the whole it's been a pretty painless experience, pretty much all of the Barrasford and Bird staff are as helpful as they can be, though you need to make allowances for the Bulgarian work ethos, which I haven't really discovered just yet.

I've put together a website for apartment rental which shows the apartment and a number of photos of the area that I thought were nice. I plan on being over there a few times this year, so the availability is quite sketchy. Of course, customers come first...

I've also put together another couple of websites. One to track the flight prices from the UK to Bulgaria (Watch Flights). One to allow owners/visitors to share local knowledge by adding them onto a map of the area (Bulgaria, Vlas map), and I've moved from Flickr to my own website for hosting photos, just to save the membership fee they charge (Bulgaria Photos).

I'll be updating all the information as I get it this year - the marina is coming along nicely, the amphitheatre is about finished, Vlas square has been revamped and there will be a number of new complexes. It'll be exciting to see how it all fits together.