When Elly and I came to look at houses in Voditsa in 2005, we were the first foreigners that most
of the villagers had met. Since then, about 30 people have bought houses in the village so if you think about all of those people, all of their friends and family who visit, all of our friends and the very large number of volunteers that we’ve had, you’ll be able to guess that Voditsa is quite an international place now! But that doesn’t mean that it’s lost any of it’s character, charms or traditions – if anything, the influx of people has helped to support the local economy.
So why do people give up their lives in their neat, centrally heated houses with a huge supermarket and a retail park down the road for life in a village in Eastern Europe?
There’s no single answer to this. We can tell you why we came here but everyone has their own story and their own reasons.
Voditsa has a population of around 500 but it’s spread over quite a large area so it seems much bigger. We have a village square, three shops and a bar. There’s also a well used library which also hosts range of cultural activities – traditional singing and dancing for example. We have a Mayor and a wonderful Pensioners’ Club. more
We’re about 18k from Popovo (depending on which signpost you read) which is the main town in the area. You can pretty much get everything you need here plus Friday is market day when the town comes alive with people from all of the outlying villages in for their weekly shop. There are loads of cafes and restaurant’s and plenty opportunities for people watching.
One of the most dramatic things about living in Voditsa, is the weather or rather, the climate. The temperature in August can be over 40 degrees and in January, it can get down to -30 at nights. That’s an astonishing temperature range and one of the lovely things about living here, is adjusting to that. Summer clothes are shorts and a t-shirt – winter clothes are layers and super thick coats. But winter is also about hibernating – you can’t do the usual outside work, so you stay in, keep nice and warm and do the things that you don’t have time for the rest of the year – it’s a natural rest time.
We hope you have time to look through some of our photos and visit us if you want. If you are interested in the idea of living here, we suggest that you contact Gemma at Bulgarianpropertyexperts@gmail.com