Brown man - Black Sea

Well yesterday I got a much-needed break from the daily grind here. 3 weeks of 16 hour days was starting to take its toll on me.

Myself, along with about 50 other soldiers here got the chance to blow off some steam at the Bulgarian town of Nessebar.

Nessebar is a very small island that used to be used as a fortress during time the Byzantine Empire ruled most of the known world. It has a very unique architectural look that blends both Arab and Roman techniques. This gives the town a very old and noble look to it. More importantly however, is the existence of a topless beach down the road.

We had no idea of what to expect really. They only gave us a brief description of the place then cut us loose on the population. It is a tourist town, so we weren’t the only non-locals running about the ancient city.

We started off in Nessebar, and quickly hopped onto a boat that took us around the horn of the island. The view was great even though the boat was horribly slow, and the driver was a large overweight Bulgarian who insisted on driving his boat without his shirt, exposing a gorilla like back. Nasty.

After about a half hour ride we reached the dock to Sunny Beach. Unfortunately there was no room for us to dock. So we pulled close next to another boat, and proceeded to jump from our boat across 3 others to reach the dock.

This beach was packed! It was so awesome. There were people there from everywhere: Russia, Armenia, Kosovo, and a host of other countries. First things first, I was dressed in jeans, polo shirt, and tennis shoes. I had to get some new gear.

First off I had to get a sea shell choker necklace. Well, there was no short supply of those. I picked one up for like 3 lev, then ran across the street to the shoe store. I picked up a pair of very imitation Nike sandals and paid about 20 Lev for them. Which figures out to be 15 dollars roughly. So I popped on the sandals and necklace. Then gave my jeans a Capri pant-like cuff, unbuttoned my shirt, and tada! A Tropical outfit in less than 30 seconds. Sexy!

With my new ensamble intact me and my fellow soldiers went back down the beach and picked out a choice spot with an umbrella that we didn’t have to pay for. The next move is obvious…

We went Swimming in the Black Sea.

There were no waves, but the water was nice and surprisingly clean and devoid of any visible trash. We did the typical water wrestling, throwing, and dunking. I was able to hold my own but the bastards ganged up on me and threw me into a near by crowd. I barely missed some little kid. I could see the terror in his eyes as my shadow fell over him, but I turned to the side enough just to give him a through splashing.
Next on our list was the Jet Skis. So we waddled on down the beach making sure to take note of the very “friendly” beach goers as we passed. Luckily, the jet skis were not out at the time and we got to ride right off the bat. Like I said there weren’t any decent waves, so we had to settle for jumping the wakes of the Parasailing boats. Those jet skis were a Blast! We had so much fun. Laughing and talking shit to each other was we rode past one another.

So with that out of our system we went back to our spot on the beach and back out into the water for a bit. There we hooked up with some girls errr…women…I forget my age now. Anyway, these chicks…yeah, chicks… were from Armenia. One was a teacher, the other a Dental assistant, and the other was an assistant of some type. They weren’t too bad on the eyes, but one was hot like fire. She was into my friend Levi, but Levi has a girlfriend back in Germany, who is pretty hot in her own right. Levi was like…

“X, help me stop! She’s so hot, but I have a girl.”

I proceeded to instruct Levi on the 3rd world rule.

“What happens in the 3rd world is stays in the 3rd world and not to mention you are protected by Amnesty International.”

Levi did not seem to think that was an actual rule. The girls invited us out that night for drinks, but damn the luck. We had to be back at the pick up spot at 8pm. Levi was crushed. As was his new Armenian girlfriend Sonja. And we all know there is only one cure for heartbreak.

Ice Cream. Lots of sweet, sweet, ice cream. Then liquor, sweet, sweet, liquor.

In about hour Levi and the rest of us had all but forgotten about our brush with Black Sea babes. Then we went shopping.

The main strip leading out of Sunny Beach was like a huge flea market. Knock-off everything. Burberry, Louis Vutton, and all other named brands. It was very cool. One of my friends bought a pretty cool switchblade, and other guy went nuts and bought like 3 soccer jerseys for like 50 Lev. A very sweet deal.

After that little excursion we headed back to Nessebar and went looking for dinner. We found a cool restaurant by the sea that had some really great seafood. We ate, drank, and laughed for about 2 hours before having to head back for the pick up spot.

It was a great trip and we all had a blast. If you ever get the chance you have to see Nessebar. I spent about 100 US all day. The dollar goes far here, and everything is naturally cheap. The beach is lined with hotels, bars, and clubs. I know I am defiantly heading back.

Thank you taxpayer. I partied on your dollar. Woot!