Bulgaria- my new beach vacation spot

Our ship made the journey up the Bosphorous Strait from the Marmara Sea and into the Black Sea before docking in the port city of Varna.

Laura came to visit me in Varna, making the trip on her own from Finland via Greece. We spent most of our time on the beach in Varna. It wasn't that crowded, the sunshine was perfect, and the drinks (I got tons of bottled water and fruit smoothies) at the beach bars were cheap and delicious. We explored Varna a little bit, but there wasn't that much to see. The entire area is still recovering from war so there were massive construction projects everywhere. Varna and the surrounding north coast of Bulgaria is becoming famous for beach vacationing, especially among young Europeans looking for a cheap place to relax and party. The food and drinks were definitely cheap there, and actually were amazingly scrumptous. We ate at the same local restaraunt (Godzilla) once every day, I got something different every time we went, and it is now my favorite restaraunt; it's distinguishable by the huge Godzilla outside of the opening. Behind the beach there is a beautiful park with massive trees and tinkling fountains that we got to walk through a bit.

We stayed in Gregory's Backpackers, an amazing hostel 17 km outside of varna in a small Bulgarian town. We met so many cool people there and it was a really nice place to stay. It was a nice change to get out of the city proper and see what a more rural area is like. They had a bar, garden area, computers for use, TV lounge, and kitchen. Most of the people there were Australian or English and being there felt very safe, like we were visiting a family's home. One of our dorm-mates was Zach, an American working for the US Embassy in London who was visiting one of the LLC's on my ship. He's a ManU fan and promised to take me to a game if I get a chance to visit him in England. He came out with Laura and I on our last night in varna; after a delicious late dinner we went to a local bar that was having salsa night before going to a local club and dancing till the early morning. The salsa bar was filled with locals and the dance floor was always full; we were very entertained watching it.

Overall, Varna was very relaxing and I enjoyed it so much that it has definitely made the list of places that I would like to go back to as a vacation spot.