Borovets Day 6

Weather:

Sunny, breeze.

Instructor:

'Good skiing'. Couldn't get a better comment from the instructor!

Slopes:

Strong winds meant the gondola was shut again. There seems to be a pattern here...

Again stuck at the crowded Stinyakovo area. Dodging skiers and snowboarders whilst trying not to catch an edge on the fluffy snow became part of the lesson and quick reflexes are mandatory.

The black Martinovi Baraki 4 was closed for slalom competition which reduced the options even further.

By half morning we were bored of doing the same over and over again and of queuing on the very busy chairlifts. 10min descending and 20 min queuing were boring us to death. Mitko then promised me something 'naughty'. 6 days and the man already knows what makes me tick!

We descended the black and mogul riddled Cherveno Zname, marked as 'freestyle only' today. It was not as bad as I thought. The start of the run is pretty vertical and scary but the remaining is manageable. It was fun! We only did it once because it is against the rules for instructors to take students on runs that aren't technically open. 'Freestyle' means 'you'd better know what you're doing or you can get hurt'.

Lunch at the Derby again. Food is good. Today I had hotch-potch, apparently the Bulgarian breakfast, a mix of eggs, tomatoes, peppers and cheese. Tasty!

As you arrive at the Derby, you are given a shot of some kind of Bulgarian spirit, sweet and strong. I would highly recommend having it for 2 reasons: it's good and it's antibacterial properties are important. There was a queue for the toilet as several groups were preparing to leave at the same time. The employees allowed us to use the staff's toilet, a small cubicle with a toilet but no sink to wash hands... Ew!

Lessons ended early on the last day. The runs were crowded. The chairlifts were crowded. It was the last day and we were tired. We decided to return the equipment and hit the hotel's swimming pool instead. We enjoyed the pool until 4pm, when too many children meant it was getting too noisy.

There was a ski school gathering tonight at Franko' for food and drinks with live music. A way for the local business to squeeze some more money out of tourists. We decided to skip it. Food at the hotel is better and these social evenings are usually too noisy!