The Finnish Point of View

Hello again!

There is an interesting mini-series in the Helsinki Hanomat newspaper (in print, and on-line in English, thank goodness) about some Finnish experiences in the real estate market in Bulgaria. I found them interesting, and you can read them on www.Good2004.biz/news.htm. If there are more, I will post those as well. I have the feeling that the experiences reported would also be reasonably accurate for other northern Europeans who are inclined to go according to their heads rather than their emotions.

The reason that I write about them here is exactly that: our credo at Good 2004 is "no surprises!" and these articles show some ways to avoid many.

All of this brings up a point that my wife made recently about visiting Bulgaria in general. My experiences in many countries on 6 continents tells me that Bulgaria is certainly no worse than the average of these countries. I also have found that the Bulgarians are -- for the most part -- nice folks and generally fun to be with. It is one of only a few European countries that I have found where the local culture is still alive and well. One indication of this is that nights out in a club that has dancing will have a mixture of western European/North American popular music (= MTV etc.), plus the local derivatives, plus modern Bulgarian and other Balkan and Greek folk music, plus traditional Bulgarian and other Balkan and Greek folk music. And the people dance to all of these! They also sometimes sing along with the music, particularly if there is a live band (yes, Virginia, there are still live bands in Bulgaria). Also, the food is often mixed in the same way, but this tends to be more western European ("Continental?") at more expensive places and more traditional Bulgarian in less expensive places. Also, you can eat and drink all night and not worry that you need to clear the table for the next seating.

Maybe this will give you an idea why I like Bulgaria as much as I do.

Ciao for now...

Craig