1st Dec 1971

1/12/71

Sofia

Dear mum and dad

Sorry I have not written for so long as usual. I became very depressed while I was here without Tony- I really don’t like to be away from him as long as three weeks. However he came home last Saturday and I am quite cheerful again.

We are beginning to get ready for Christmas and I am writing all our cards. I am enclosing a photo taken of Tony at the marine ball while I was in England. While Tony was in England I was quite busy entertaining Dr S. I also went to supper with the BEA representative and his wife.

The new flat is very nice and we feel quite at home here. There is a big fireplace and we are looking forward to roasting chestnuts on a log fire at Christmas. Nearly all the ICL people are staying here for Christmas and we are spending Christmas day at the Nettings so we shall have their small children to play with. I think it will may the day a proper Christmas.

I expect we shall be coming home about the 31^st December. Our course on the 3^rd January is being held in Brighton at a Hotel which will probably make it pleasant. I have another 3 day course a bit later but will let you know the exact date when I have it.

We have not got our telephone installed yet so I cannot give you the number but you can always contact us via Terry C if an emergency occurs.

We are both very tired at the moment due to our hectic social life. On Monday Terry and Tanya came round for dinner and we played cards. On Monday we went to the ballet with Frano and Tanya. It was an extremely good modern ballet based on classical Greek stories. The audience did not appear to understand it and were not very enthusiastic.

The weather is quite mild here at the present but there is snow on the mountains so we should be able to start our skiing lessons soon. We are expecting to stay here another six months and have some interviews with ICL scheduled for January when we are in London and hope we can find a new job. Tony’s parents are thinking of coming here for a holiday next year which I think is a good idea- it will keep their minds off their problems.

My new watch is lovely but I keep forgetting to put it on in the mornings because it is so long since I had one.

You can certainly have our old record player- the new one is fantastic and we are both very pleased with it. We may not be able to bring the old one back with us for a while because of the customs regulations.

No more news-we are going to be busy the next few weeks paying back all the dinner engagements we have had in Sofia. The best way is a couple of massive dinner parties which should keep us both busy for a while.

I shall be thinking of you at Christmas

Lots of love from both of us

Gillian and Tony

The cut and fill software produced for Institute of Constructional cybernetics by Dr S worked. So Gill was popular with her customer again and an instant expert in civil engineering programmes. Motorways were just starting to be built in Bulgaria and the first one was scheduled for the road to Greece. Large piles were being set into the river bed to take the proposed bridges. The construction work slowed the journey somewhat especially as they used a technique of putting down the hard core and then allowing the traffic to drive along the road to produce a foundation for the motorway. Of course bumping along on the uneven surface slowed our trips to Greece considerably. Other things we had to contend with driving round Bulgaria included finding a herd of sheep on the dual carriage way that left Sofia which caused us to brake violently. We had less traffic accidents than we had in Czechoslovakia mainly because there were less cars on the road and we had got used to driving in foreign countries and expecting the unexpected.

The new flat was part of an older, once luxurious house. It boasted a marble bath and was in a select area of the city. We took our cleaning lady Dancha with us. The new landlord was very friendly and spoke some English and would often turn up unexpectedly for a chat and to practice his English. When we finally left Sofia we gave him some spare parts for our cars and a non stick frying pan which made him very happy. The house still suffered from the frequent electricity cuts which we had learned to live with.

Importing the new sound system was another fight with the customs police. We had bought the system in the UK and it was an up to date system with separate turn table, amplifier and speakers. I seem to remember we did not intend to buy it but Terry C had bought a system and taken it with him and then been told that was one going to be shipped to him as the retailer had got in a muddle. We agreed to buy this second Hi Fi system and it arrived on the plane and was taken to the customs warehouse. We then had to go through a series of steps, filling forms and paying the tax on it. Nothing was simple.