Hello,

My name is Polina Tzvetanova. I live in Vratza, Bulgaria. I am 11 years old. I go to Secondary School ‘Hristo Botev’. I’m at 5th grade. My favourite subjects are English and German. When I grow I’d like to become a doctor.

My hobbies are watching TV and reading books. My favourite animals are cats and dogs. I’ve got six cats and three dogs. My favourite colours are pink and blue. My favourite flower is the rose.

Hi!

My name is Plamen Nicolov. I’m 11 years old. I live in Vratza, a town that is situated on the foot of Balkan Mountains not far from our capital Sofia. Out town is very nice. There is a very beautiful cave near it-‘Ledenika Cave’ and many museums, shops, cinemas and parks in it. I go to Secondary School ‘Hristo Botev’. It is very big and old school with a large schoolyard around it. There is a computer lab, biology and chemistry labs and a large gym. There is a big concert hall, too.

I study English, German, Literature, Math and other subject but most of all I like Arts. My hobby is swimming and I like playing games on my play-station. My favourite animals are cats. This is all about my school and me.

Hello,

My name is Hristo Hristov. I’m eleven years old. I study at ‘Hristo Botev’ Secondary School. My favourite subject is math and my favourite sport is football. My favourite animals are dogs. My favourite hobby is fishing. When I grow up I would like to become a fireman.

Hello,

My name is Tzvetan Petrov. I’m eleven. I go to a school named ‘Hristo Botev’ in Vratza. My favourite subject is History. My hobbies are playing football and watching football matches on TV.

My name is Tzvetan Philipov but my friends called me Tzvety. I’m eleven years old. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. I live in Vratza and go to Secondary School ‘Hristo Botev’. My favourite subject is math; my favourite sport is football and my hobby is playing Yu-G-Oh. I would like to become an engineer when I grow up.

My name is Teodor Konstantinov. I’m eleven years old. I live in Vratza with my family. The name of my school is ‘Hristo Botev’. My favourite subject is math. I want, when I grow, to be an archeologist. May hobby is reading books.

Hello! My name is Patricia Gergova. I’m eleven. I’m from Vratza, Bulgaria. I’ve got a little sister. Her name is Desislava and she is 7 years old. I’m a student at ‘Hristo Botev’ school. I’m a student in 5th grade. My favourite subject is history. I want to become a doctor when I grow up. My hobbies are watching TV and drawing. My favourite animals are dogs, my favourite colours are red and green, my favourite flower is the rose.

My name is Simona Mironova Ivanova. I’m 11 years old. I’m from Vratza, Bulgaria. My sister is 14 and her name is Petia. I’m a student at ‘Hristo Botev’ Secondary School. My favourite subjects are math and English. My hobbies are drawing, reading books and playing volleyball. My favourite animal is tiger. I’ve got two pets-a dog and a tortoise. When I grow up I want to become a dentist.

Our town

Our town Vratza is one of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria. It is situated on the foot of a part of the Balkan Mountains, called Vrachanski Balkan, in the north-west of Bulgaria. Vratza is believed to have founded in the 12th-13th century not far from the present town near the Vratzata gorge of the Leva River. Vratzata is famous with its up to 400 m high cliffs where international mountaineering annual competitions are held.

There are about 80 000 citizens in town now. There are many schools and parks, a very big culture building with a theater, cinemas, a historical museum and many monuments. In the town historical museum you can see very ancient Thracians’ treasures, dated to the 5th-4th c. B. C. There are silver vessels with gold decorations, silver greaves with gold figures, gold jewelry and many others. There is also an Ethnographic Revival complex with several National Revival style houses in the local architecture style, a church with fine icon collection, exhibition that show local arts and crafts, and traditions.

In Vrachanski Balkan there are about 300 caves but the most famous is Ledenica Cave. In the mountain you can ski from November to May. There are also many tourist paths all over the beautiful Balkan.

Come and see our town!

Paola, Tzvetelina, Liubov, Mladenna, 6th grade

Our School

Our school is named on a great Bulgarian poet and revolutionary-Hristo Botev. He fought against Turkish slavery for freedom and was killed near Vratza on the peak Vola in Vrachanski Balkan in 1876.

Our school is very old one with history and traditions. There are about 900 students in it-from 5th to 12th grade. But even old, our school is very big and nice. There are three floors, a cafe, two computer labs, a literature room, a music room, a biology lab, a chemistry lab and a gym.

There is a large school yard with many old, tall trees and gardens with flowers. In the autumn the school garden is just like the ones from the fairy tales-the trees are red, yellow, orange and green, the flowers blossom-just like the rainbow! In winter it's all white with snow and the only things that make it visible in the evenings are the bright windows.

After school some of us play volleyball and basketball at school or go to computer lessons at the computer lab.

It's fun at school and our teachers are the best people and this is the best school we could have!

Magdalena, Liubov, 6th grade

Events

Public holidays in Bulgaria include New Year (1st and 2nd January), Liberation Day (3rd March), Cyrillic Alphabet Day (24th May) and Christmas (24th and 25th December).We observe a number of traditional customs. Trifon Zarezan on 14th February is the ancient festival of the wine growers. Vines are pruned and sprinkled with wine to ensure a bounteous harvest. On 1st March Bulgarians give one another martenitsi, red and white tasselled threads which are worn for health and happiness at the coming of spring. When wearers see their first stork of the season, the martenitsa is tied to the nearest tree.