It’s totally Obzorbing
Keir Mudie discovers why ancient Romans loved to invade the Black Sea coast
According to something I was reading before I headed off on holiday, Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast was where the Romans used to go to get away from it all for a bit.
And they, it’s fair to say, knew how to enjoy themselves.
So I was looking forward to working out why – with most of the known world at their disposal – they picked this spot. It didn’t take long to find out.
I went in early June, just before the real heat arrives. The setting was beautiful – golden sand, calm water and just the right amount of sun.
Some stretches of this coast have been victims of a total tourist takeover, but the resorts around Obzor feel a little more unspoiled.
Getting there is easy enough with flights from 18 different UK airports and it’s a transfer of about an hour or so from Burgas.
We went with Balkan Holidays, and it was easily one of the smoothest travel experiences I can remember.
We arrived at night, so it was a great surprise in the morning to wake up surrounded by rolling hills, blue sea and a beach that seemed to stretch for miles.
Our stay was at the four-star Aquapark Sol Lunabay Resort. It’s a long time since I’ve been to an all-inclusive property and I was a bit worried about getting bored, but there was no chance here. The hotel is massive, and just exploring it took a while. There are hundreds of rooms, various restaurants – more of that later – and lots of things to do.
It’s a perfect place to take a family, and one of the reasons for this is the animation team. I must admit that before I went I had no idea what an animation team was. But I do now.
These are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met – and at the Sol Luna they start early in the morning with a dance round the pool to let everyone know they’re up and about.
They then start rounding people up for the activities that are on throughout the day – and there’s quite a choice. For the adults there are things such as fitness, Zumba, yoga, archery, volleyball, shooting, shuffleboard and more. For the kids, the list is equally as long.
The team also help put on the entertainment at night. We saw a magician one evening, a comedy show another – everything delivered professionally and enthusiastically.
And the last night party on the beach with torches leading down to the sea was a great spectacle and a nod to the area’s Roman heritage.
Now, the food: again, the prospect of getting bored frightened me. You’re there for a week, right? Sure to get sick of what was on offer. Again, no chance. There are
I worried I’d be bored, but no chance of that here
Excursions tempt you from sunbeds
hundreds of different items on offer everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There’s a main restaurant, snack bar, Italian, Bulgarian and I’m sure I’m forgetting others. The food was always tasty, fresh and there was something for everyone.
So food, entertainment, drinks and activities are all on tap and you could, in theory, stay at the Sol Luna for the full week with no problem whatsoever.
After all, that’s the point of a holiday. It’s good to relax and do nothing. But there are a couple of good reasons to leave. The hotel offers a shuttle bus into the nearby town of Obzor, which has the usual couple of streets of souvenir shops where you can get anything you want – and I mean anything – with ‘Obzor’ or ‘Bulgaria’ written on it.
But that’s not all there is to the town. There’s a very nice looking square surrounded by restaurants and bars.
I suppose it kind of defies logic to leave somewhere were you are getting free food and booze and go somewhere where you have to pay. But it’s nice to have a change, and the town is also home to some Roman remains.
The food was great too – local meat and fish that was good value, nicely presented, and enjoyed in lovely surroundings.
There is also the legendary Bedrock Bar, complete with Fred’s car. It’s the perfect place for fans of the Flintstones and European dance music – which is, admittedly, a small niche.
Also tempting you to abandon the sun lounger are the excursions on offer. After much deliberation, we opted for the ‘Three-in-one’ which involved a trip to a local market, a city and then a vineyard.
We wanted to buy some local crafts and stuff at the market, but it wasn’t that sort of set-up.
It was more like an actual market – ie cheap clothes, fabrics, etc so we bought some of that instead.
The city was next. I couldn’t really hear the PA properly on the coach, but from the snatches I could make out we were heading for Burgas and that it was ‘‘one of the largest fish processing cities on the south-west Black Sea coast’’.
Expecting Grimsby – not that there’s anything wrong with that – we were delighted with a couple of hours in a leafy, friendly city with lots of great looking lunch places.
The vineyard was superb – the perfect way to round off a busy day. It was then back to the hotel, where we whiled away the rest of the holiday doing very little – and thoroughly enjoying it.