Even in winter the area around the seaport in Varna bustles with life. Now, things are very different. The cafes and restaurants around have closed doors due to the coronavirus measures, there are no customers, and few are out taking a stroll along the seafront.

The only people who are here, rain or shine, are the anglers. They are actually pleased with the restrictions because the fewer people there are, the lower the noise, and fish don’t like noise.

For the anglers of Varna Nikulden (St. Nicholas day) starts early in the morning. Some have come out with the sunrise in the hope of catching their Nikulden fish.

They have deployed their fishing rods some metres from one another, not so much because of anti-Covid requirements, as because they want to have enough space for their gear. One of the anglers who seems unafraid of the cold or of any virus, is Misho. But the fish is not biting. “There’s no fish,” Misho says and continues casting his line in the hope of catching something.

Borko is known here, at the seaport, as a kidder. They say he is the most famous pensioner in the area, an angler and he sells the best bait:

“There is fish to be caught here. The anchovy for a couple of hours, but the water is very cold,” he says and adds: “There’s no getting away from the bars and restaurants here. It’s supposed to be a pedestrian zone here, but they keep building and building.”

But now all is quiet here and the anglers are in their element. We leave them wishing them a good haul of fish for Nikulden. They smile wryly and say that even if they don’t catch any fish they won’t go hungry because they will get their fill of fish stories.

Reporting by Valery Velikov, BNR-Varna

Photos: library