Free Walking Tours in Russia's Moscow and Bulgaria's Sofia

Problem
If you are not confident in negotiating buses and taxis, how about a walking tour? But I'm scared even to step outside the hotel! Where do I start?

Answer
Easy peasy.
BULGARIA - SOFIA - FREE WALKING TOUR! THREE TIMES A DAY!

When else to go?
Bulgaria - first week in June is the Festival of the Roses. For a description see Rachel's travel blog.

Easy Language
Thank you is the French word merci (In Bulgaria and Romania).
Goodbye is ciao, the Italian word, (in Bulgaria and Romania).

Quick and Easy Travel Between Bulgaria, Bucharest and Moscow
The capital of Romania, Bucharest, is only an hour away by public transport.

The cross country train from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia to the beaches on the East is cheap.

You can catch a train from Sofia and Varna to Moscow and vice versa (and Kiev in Ukraine).

This is just a summary of what I found most useful. See Wikitravel for great details on all forms of transport.

Travel Tip - Bulgaria - Sofia
http://www.freesofiatour.com Free walking tour, three times a day. The map on their website shows the guides and places on the route (which you could walk on your own) including a synagogue and a mosque so a wide variety of both popular and minority interests are well covered.

Travel Tip - Russia - Moscow
Take a walking tour of statues and check out the captions and life stories on Wikipedia. See my blog post on Moscow statues and Kalashnikov.

Free Walking Tours - Are They Really Free?
Yes and no. Sometimes they seem completely free. Maybe they are sponsored by the government.  Or students want to practise English. Other times they drop you off at a restaurant. Other times they end up asking for an entirely voluntary tip.

Sometimes they hope you will take a second trip with the same guide. Or the website which advertises the free trip - and the guide actually pays the website to advertise his free trip! Sometimes they hope the good days will subsidies the low tip days.

Sometimes they hope to get a job as a paid guide later. Sometimes they hope everybody will give a small tip and the big tippers will make up for the mean tippers. Sometimes they hope just one tip from a rich elderly American will make up for all the poor students who leave a pittance or nothing. If you want to know, ask the guide, or ask on TripAdvisor.

Useful Websites for Language Learning and Travel:
http://www.freesofiatour.com
http://thetravelbug.org/books-articles/articles-on-bulgaria/festival-of-the-roses/
http://www.bulgariantouristboard.com
https://wikitravel.org/en/Bulgarian_phrasebook
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/russian-alphabet-made-easy-b-v-go.html
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/learn-bulgarian-in-three-minutes.html

http://visitrussia.org.uk

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. See my previous post on Bulgarian. Please bookmark and share your favourite posts.

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, language teacher.

Learn Russian, Bulgarian and Cyrillic by comparing the words for months, travellers walking tour tips

Bulgaria in Europe. 

Problem
How do I learn the Cyrillic alphabet easily?  How close are Russian and Bulgarian alphabets and vocabulary and will learning one help me learn the other?

BULGARIAN MONTHS (from Wikitravel)

Months[edit]

January 

янyapи (yah-noo-AH-ree)

February 

фeвpyapи (feh-vroo-AH-ree)

March 

мapт (mahrt)

April 

aпpил (ah-PREEL)

May 

мaй (mai)

June 

юни (YOO-nee)

July 

юли (YOO-lee)

August 

aвгycт (AHV-goost)

September 

ceптeмвpи (sehp-TEHM-vree)

October 

oктoмвpи (ohk-TOHM-vree)

November 

нoeмвpи (noh-EHM-vree)

December 

дeкeмвpи (deh-KEHM-vree)

RUSSIAN MONTHS (from Wikipedia)

Russian	English	Transcription
Месяц	Month	Mésyats
Год	Year	Goad
Январь	January	Yanvár'
Февраль	February	Fevrál'
Март	March	Mart
Апрель	April	Aprél'
Май	May	Maj
Июнь	June	Iyún'
Июль	July	Iyúl'
Август	August	Avgust
Сентябрь	September	Sentyábr'
Октябрь	October	Oktyábr'
Ноябрь	November	Noyábr'
Декабрь	December	Dekábr'

You can see which months are exactly the same:
MARCH

March 

мapт (mahrt)

May 

мaй (mai)

August 

aвгycт (AHV-goost)


Start learning the easiest word, for the month of May. The first two letters are Ma. The last letter is a bit like the English letter i. I think of it as the backwards letter n being hit on the head and shouting 'ee!' MA-EE. Of our three words which are exactly the same, this has only three letters, and the first two are the same as English.

We now recognize the word for May in both Russian and Bulgarian.

Using the months of the year, we can learn to recognize the individual letters and at the same time learn twelve words in two languages. We can also discuss, in English, the Cyrillic alphabet, when talking to somebody from Russian or Bulgaria about the Cyrillic alphabet, or learning Russian and learning Bulgarian.

For the word for March, I think of Martha or Marta was born in March. Imagine that either a thief or a worker who went off for a tea break or left work early put up a sign and did not finish the letter R, so what looks like the letter P was left. When you see the Bulgarian or Russian letter P you know it's mean to be the letter R. Alternatively, think of the abbreviation for Public Relations, PR. When you see P in the Russian or Bulgarian it is the letter R in English.

Call To Action
Every day for a week, or every hour today, read through the entire list of months in both Russian and Bulgarian.

When visiting Russia or Bulgaria, every time you see a calendar in a cafe or newsagent, look at the words for the months of the year to remind yourself of the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet and the months of the year in Russian and Bulgarian.

Places To Visit And Practise Your Languages

BULGARIA

Bulgaria: Capital Sofia in the north west. The beaches are on the east.

RUSSIA

Russia. Major cities include Moscow in the west and St Petersburg (Vladivostock) in the east.

Travel Tip - Bulgaria - Sofia
http://www.freesofiatour.com Free walking tour, three times a day. The map on their website shows the guides and places on the route (which you could walk on your own) including a synagogue and a mosque so a wide variety of both popular and minority interests are well covered.

Travel Tip - Russia - Moscow
Take a walking tour of statues and check out the captions and life stories on Wikipedia. See my blog post on Moscow statues and Kalashnikov.

Useful Websites for Language Learning and Travel:
http://www.bulgariantouristboard.com
https://wikitravel.org/en/Bulgarian_phrasebook
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/russian-alphabet-made-easy-b-v-go.html
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/learn-bulgarian-in-three-minutes.html

http://visitrussia.org.uk

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. See my previous post on Bulgarian. Please bookmark and share your favourite posts.