A Balkan Summer

George East is not everyone's idea of an author. After leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, he set out on a varied career path which included (failed) Rock god, Impressionist (house) painter, plumber, welder, demolition engineer, pickled onion manufacturer, private detective, male model, lorry driver, brewer's drayman, PR and Marketing guru, magazine editor, freelance journalist, hotel manager, snooker hall owner, seamstress, night club bouncer, DJ and radio and television presenter and pub landlord. After winning the title of Britain's Worst Publican for two years running, George and his wife Donella decided to see what life across the English Channel had to offer. They bought a ruined mill on ten acres of meadows, woods, streams and mud in Normandy, and set about surviving from self-sufficiency. As they struggled to survive, George wrote a book warning other Brits about the perils of buying property in and moving to live in France. To the surprise of the Easts and the astonishment of their bank managers on both sides of the Channel, Home & Dry in France (A year in Purgatory) was a best-seller. More books about the East's adventures and travels in rural France followed.Then George turned his hand to crime fiction and wrote the Mowgley Crime series about a seedy detective in charge of Portsmouth ferry port. He based the book on his experiences in travelling to and from France, and of his time behind bars when his pub was the local for a squad of CID officers. George continues to travel and write about his experiences and divides his time between France, England and the rest of Europe writing travel and crime books, and, as he says, winkling out the best and cheapest bars and restaurants.To find out more about George and his work, his website can be found at www.george-east.net

Other books by George East,About the author,Common knowledge,Timeline,Money matters,Health matters,Author's Note,On The Road,Meeting the President,Eating and drinking,Shopska Salata(shopska salad),Kashkavel Pane(breaded cheese),Elenkoas miesanina(Elenko's mish-mash),Saraliya Banitsa(stuffed flaky pastry),Off the Road,Lyutinitsa(spicy tomato relish),Tutmanik(cheesy bread),Bob Chorba(bean soup),boza,Home from Home,Going to Town,Skhembe Chorba(Tripe Soup),Surmi(stuffed vine leaves),Mekitsi(Bulgarian doughnuts),Meeting Mr Big,Konfityur zelena smokinya(green fig jam),Monastery Gyuvetch(hotchpotch stew),Purzheni filiiki(French toast),Staying local,Kisselo mlyako(DIY Yogurt),Kyufte(meatballs),Sladki topki testo(sweet dough balls with syrup),On the train,Popara(cheesy bread and milk),ruska salata(Russian salad),ulneni sharan s orekhi(stuffed carp with walnuts),Bulgarski yabulkov sladkish(Bulgarian apple cake),Field studies,Tarator(Chilled yogurt and cucumber soup),Kavarma Kebap(Kebab),Pecheno tikva s med i orekhi(roast pumpkin and honey with walnuts),On the house,Time out,Property matters,Chushki BjurekByurek peppers,patatnik(potato pie),gris halva(semolina pudding),A walk in the woods,On the rocks,Kyopoolu(aubergine salad/spread),Musaka(Moussaka),tsreme karamel(creme caramel),Gold fever,dinya i byalo sirene(watermelon with white cheese),Bulgarskite sirene kartofi(Cheesy Bulgarian potatoes),Tikvenik(pumpkin and walnuts in filo pastry),Donkey's years,Market forces,Tsvekloto supa(beetroot soup),luk skumriya(onion mackerel),sliva lokum(plum Turkish delight),Learning more about Bulgaria,Bibliography,Travel guides,Information & non-fiction books:,Fiction.