SKIING in Bulgaria sounds like a fantastic holiday, but I have to say I was more than a little nervous.

I had been on a school skiing trip many years ago and I am not ashamed to admit I was not very good at it! But that was along time ago, and I thought being older I was hopefully more co-ordinated than then, so off I went. From Plovdiv airport it was two hours before I arrived at Borovets, the oldest Bulgarian winter resort - and it's most famous. When I arrived it was a hive of activity, from skiing and snowboarding to more apres ski pursuits! The next morning, standing in the Hotel Rila looby I could see people making their way up the slopes and whizzing back down again without a care in the world - and that was just the children!

Once I had eaten some breakfast and got my ski boots, skis and poles I was raring to go - well until I got on the slopes that is! I was in the beginner's class - shocking, I know - and the instructor was called Mitko. He started us off slow and only took us a few metres up the slope to teach us the basics. After a few minutes it all started to come back to me and once I'd mastered the snowplough, which is how you slow down, I was ready for anything. We went on the pulleys to bring us a little higher up the slope and after a few times I definitely felt more confident. After lunch at a cafe at the bottom of the slopes we headed for the green run. Each resort is split into four runs according to difficulty.

The green run is the easiest and suitable for beginners, the blue and red runs are more difficult, with the black run being the hardest. Skiing on the green run proved to be great. I didn't fall once but I did come close though as it was very icy. After a tough day skiing the group I was with decided that a pub crawl was in order! Borovets has a large amount of bars serving cocktails, wine and beer, depending on your personal preference. I have to say the Bulgarian red wine and beer became firm favourites! The nightlife attracts people of all ages and nationalities and caters for most musical tastes. The karaoke bar is very popular as is the nightclub in the Hotel Rila - the hotel I was staying in.

The next day I felt more confident and joined the advanced class. We met in a quaint cafe on the green run called George's. The owner George built it himself and it is a favourite among regular skiers. After a chat and some hot wine the two groups went their separate ways with a plan to meet later for lunch. The green run didn't seem as difficult the second time around and I took the sharp turns in my strides. At the end of the run I knew I had been bitten by the skiing bug! Both the beginners and advanced groups met for lunch as planned in one of the many restaurants at the foot of the slopes and in most places you can have lunch for less than 10 lev which is about £3.50. When lunch was over some of us decided to go bargain-hunting in the shops around the resort. The shops stocked anything from designer gear to tacky souvenirs, all priced very cheaply. The small shopping mall on the basement floor of the Hotel Rila was a bit more upmarket, with shops selling jewellery, watches and sportswear. So, after a morning ski and afternoon shopping what else could I do but take advantage of the Hotel Rila's luxury spa facilities. The hotel has a swimming pool, two jacuzzis, a sauna, and also offers massages and aromatherapy treatments. All of this is housed under a glass roof so while you are having a swim you can look at the beautiful, snow-capped mountains. It was the strangest feeling walking around in a swimsuit with snow outside!

Feeling refreshed and rejuvenated I returned to my room to try and pack my suitcase as I was leaving Borovets the following morning to travel to Pamporovo, another ski resort in the heart of the Rhodopi mountain, about 85 km from Plovdiv. The bus left at lunchtime the following day and I was a little sad - I didn't want to leave Borovets or the Hotel Rila! The four-hour bus journey was not as gruelling as I had thought it would be. The scenery that we passed was beautiful. We drove through towns in the middle of rocky valleys and saw houses that were built as though they were a part of the mountains. When the bus arrived at Pamporovo my first thought was that it reminded me of a sleepy village somewhere in the North Pole and The Hotel Snejanka, where I was staying, has a rustic charm all of its own and the wooden balconies and furniture gave it a warm and cosy log cabin feel. Borovets has a more laid-back, relaxed feel to it but and you have to make a short bus ride to the slopes which comes about every 15 minutes. But the buses only run in the morning and late afternoon, so you might have to get a taxi to the slopes which will cost you about 10 Lev. After we had settled in we were all taken for a traditional Bulgarian meal in the hotel restaurant. The first course was a traditional Bulgarian dish, the shopska salad which I thought was delicious. It consists of tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions and olives covered in shavings of Bulgarian feta cheese. The salad is served with the Bulgarian national brandy, Rakia - powerful stuff! We then had chicken and potatoes followed by a slice of chocolate nut cake. Wine is taken generally with every meal and the red wine is exceptionally good. The first day skiing in Pamporovo was fantastic. The new ski instructor, Nelly was lovely and really encouraging. She felt we knew the basics so it was time to work on our technique. Pamporovo is a lot different to Borovets. While all the activity was at the beginning of the slopes at Borovets, there were a lot more cafes and restaurants up in the slopes at Pamporovo. I felt that Pamporovo catered more for beginners than Borovets. The snow was better and the green run was excellent. By the end of the day I felt really excited about skiing the next day. While I wasn't ready to go onto a more advanced run yet I felt I had improved a lot since the first day. Later that night I went to a traditional Bulgarian feast in the Chevermeto restaurant, famous for roasting lambs on a large fire for hours before chopping it up and serving it to you there and then. A band and dancers perform traditional Bulgarian folklore between courses and all the serving staff wear full Bulgarian costumes.

The next day, the practice I had done really paid off. I learned some new and more difficult techniques and after the lesson was over some of us decided to go back up the mountain again. We were feeling confident and tried a blue run. It was much harder than we were used to but we got through it without any breakages! The party I was with were all invited to the 30th birthday celebrations of Balkan Tours, taking place in the hotel restaurant. It was a very traditional affair with Bulgarian singers and musicians. Some members of our group even joined in the celebrations by performing traditional Irish songs on the tin whistle. The party then moved to a nearby pub, BJs, where many cocktails and beers were had by all! But we all - well some of us - managed to get up for our final day of skiing.

We took it easy that day and went very leisurely down the green run taking in as much as we could. At the end of the final run I did feel a bit sad that I wouldn't be skiing the next day. So to cheer myself up I went for a massage at the hotel's spa. I couldn't believe that a full body massage was only 30 lev, about £10! That evening, after dinner, we all went to Daks where our ski instructors presented us with ski certificates for a job well done. It was a fitting end to a great trip. I would definitely recommend Bulgaria's ski resorts and hope to go back there next season.