Freedoms lost.

Am currently with some customers on a tobacco/cigarettes shopping trip. They've never been to Bulgaria and have been very pleasantly surprised with this ex-communist Soviet Bloc country. They can smoke in bars, restaurants etc with no-one treating them like lepers because smoking is here is normal. lt's part of lfe, you either smoke or you don't. lt's a personal choice and no-one condemns you, shuns you, turns their noses up, make offensive comments ... nothing!

They particularly loved the park in the centre of Sofia. lt was a very hot day which had brought everybody out to the park ... couples, families, people walking dogs, kids, seniors etc. There was live music in sections of the park and many folk could be seen drinking alcohol ... and of course smoking.

What my customers noticed most however was how the kids were enjoying themselves. They were climbing trees, statues, messing about by the little rivers and lakes with not a care in the world. What was even more noticeable to my customers was the lack of warning signs and wardens prohibiting and stopping these activities.

One of my group commented "England was once like this"