Sting concert in Nesebar

Last week we had an offsite meeting in Nesebar (accent on the “se”) on the Black Sea coast. One of Vladi’s professors from business school agreed to come to Bulgaria and consult with the company for a few days. The offsite meeting and location was purposely designed to coincide with a Sting concert in Nesebar on Monday evening. I had tickets to the concert, but the trick was getting out to Nesebar in time to see it. We left Sofia just after 4pm. The Sting concert started at 8:30pm. The drive is normally 5-5.5 hours. We made it in less than 4 even though we were stopped by a cop (where the driver was able to talk his way out of a ticket). Because we dropped off some stuff at the hotel first we missed the first couple songs (although we still heard them on our way to the venue). I didn’t bring my camera assuming they wouldn’t allow them in the concert, but I forgot this was Bulgaria and everything is allowed. The concert was fantastic. He basically played all his greatest his from the Police era to today which made for a good show (in my opinion). He played a reasonable length set and came back for two encores. I think the show had 20,000 or 25,000 people. It was basically a field so people could stand wherever they wanted.

Throughout the show the weather was threatening a downpour. Behind the stage lighting would go off and the whole crowd would let out a “ooohhhhh.” I’m sure Sting, who was facing the wrong way to see the bolts, was wondering what all the “oohhhh-ing” was about. We were lucky and the rain didn’t start until just as the concert was ending. We left the concert through one of many holes in the fence making me think I didn’t even need to buy a ticket.

Tuesday started a day full of meetings which was fine because it rained all day making a trip to the beach pointless. The weather cleared on Wednesday, but it still wasn’t warm. Regardless, we were able to wander around Nesebar for a bit. Nesebar is one of the few entire towns on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. The town is on a peninsula connected to the mainland by a manmade isthmus. It has been inhabited since the 6th century BC and was controlled over the years by the Romans, Byzantines, Bulgars and Turks. There are remains of some old fortifications surrounding the town. One of the ancient walls is now part of a hallway to the bathroom in a restaurant we ate at one night.

The offsite meeting itself was very beneficial. It basically covered mission, core values and the overall direction of the company.

We headed back to Sofia Wednesday night and made it back in about the same amount of time as the trip out despite having a different driver.

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