Our first day on a family ski trip to Borovets, Bulgaria

Hey, snow lovers (and haters… What are you doing here? Welcome anyhoo ;)) We are spending the week in the beautiful and hugely underrated country of Bulgaria! After a hectic day on Saturday involving a four-hour-plus flight delay, a drunken yob being restrained on the plane, a midnight coach transfer through icy mountain roads and a 3am bedtime, we are settled into our rooms at the Samakov hotel in the resort of Borovets.

The first 24 hours of being in any new destination is always a bit bizarre, and especially when there are small people involved. The time difference, new smells and sights, different food and beds all add up and we spent the first day (yesterday) establishing a bit of balance and joy. We had a little walk to see the snow (it’s not difficult, they had 28cm in one hour!), bought a sledge for the kids to be towed in and had some fresh chocolate crepes, hot from the pan at the bottom of the slopes. Our experience of travelling with kids tells us that if you focus on the basics- some good familiar food, family connection and rest- everything else will fall into place.

Today we branched out a bit and hit the slopes, and the two older kids had their first taste of ski kindergarten, which they didn’t enjoy too much. I think the combination of bulky awkward layers of clothes, the painfully tight ski boots and the general feeling of overwhelm meant that they just weren’t feeling it. I’m disappointed that they didn’t love it, of course it would have been lovely for them to really enjoy it but I realise that my goals for them may not match up to their own goals for themselves, and at that point I need to respect their autonomy and not be a pushy parent. After all, skiing is not exactly an essential life skill (especially when you are five years old)! Patrick and I can take turns skiing and being with the kids, and thankfully we came with friends and family who are very happy to babysit so we can get some time together too. We’ve also booked ourselves a meal in the Panoramic restaurant which is supposed to have a lovely view, so we have a special date night sorted 🙂

Here at the Samakov (a decent, huge hotel about 100m from the slopes) we have interconnecting rooms. I would always recommend these to families as it means we can have the security of the kids just a few metres away, but the privacy of a door between us. Seeing as they’re not yet into The Big Bang Theory or Louis Theroux documentaries, and we aren’t too partial to Mr. Bean cartoons, it’s working well all round!

If you want to read our full Borovets skiing review, click here. For more full time travel stories, guides and tips, click here. 

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