A woman from Burgas compared food and drink prices in the Italian towns of Bari, Matera, Lecce and Alberobello with prices back home in Burgas — and found Bulgaria comes out more expensive. She wrote about her trip on social media.
A coffee in central Bari costs 1.70 euros, and in Matera's old town it's 1.20 euros — "fragrant, unique Italian coffee," she called it. By comparison, that same summer she paid 2.50 euros for a coffee in a paper cup on Burgas's central beach.
The last time she ate octopus in Burgas — just one tentacle — it cost 50 levs, before Bulgaria brought in the euro. In Bari, a whole octopus cost her 20 euros.
Wine from the Puglia region cost 20 euros and, she says, was very good quality. In Burgas restaurants the same wine can run 35 to 40 euros.
Tuna steaks and sea bream in Italy were also good value, and a hearty plate of fritto misto cost her 17 euros. Service everywhere was excellent, even though staff knew they were serving tourists.
The pizzas — which she didn't manage to photograph — ranged from 8 to 12 euros, with thin crusts and quality ingredients, she says.