Sun, Nov 22 2009
About 48 results were found.
Arbanassi is a surreal dream village that retains vestiges of what it must have been like in the Balkans hundreds of years ago. The high walls of the village's houses and courtyards rise to make its pot-holed streets feel like alleys. Its tiny square, where a wedding was taking place in a nearby tavern when I was there recently, isn't paved over like so many others in Bulgaria. Lastly, the view Arbanassi affords of Veliko Turnovo
I have a friend whose uncle died in the Bulgarian army's siege of Erdine in the First Balkan War of 1913. A fellow soldier on the battlefield found a spent artillery shell near the uncle's body - presumably the one that killed him. The soldier brought the shell back to my friend's family. It was passed down until my friend inherited it. Now he keeps the shell in his bedroom.When my friend finished telling me this story, tears welled up
Dirk Auer is a German sociologist-turned-journalist who came to Bulgaria because it seemed like the nicest place to live near Kosovo, where he does most of his reporting. Auer works for radio and newspapers, often producing stories with partners from Austria, Bulgaria and Germany. Originally he is from outside Frankfurt, but the place he's lived longest recently is Oldenburg, where he attended university and later taught.
Darwin could have studied evolution by observing Tom Brailsford's progress through his adopted country. In a year the 30-year-old Englishman from Nottingham transformed himself from a budding entrepreneur to a successful real estate agent and father at the centre of a "kompaniya" of Bulgarians and expats. The metamorphosis began on a flight from Sofia to the UK two years ago. Brailsford was helping
It's humbling to stand in a tomb dating from the late fourth century BCE. Millennia ago, a painter drew the delicate hand of a woman holding her chin. Perhaps the artist used a friend as a model for his drawing of a soldier carrying a spear. The plate of fruit a servant hands to the seated nobleman is like a plate of fruit one might find on one's own table. Kazanluk is now officially one of my favourite cities in
My experience at Slavyani consisted of a series of false starts. But don't hold that against the place. Because my false starts consisted of dropping by for dinner, only to discover there were no seats. The place was packed full. Set on the eastern edge of the Doctors' Garden neighbourhood in Sofia, Slavyani in some way mirrors the popular chain restaurants dotting the capital. It has solid fare, lots of beers and
Friday September 1: On my recent trip to Kazanluk and Kurdjali, I experienced a reaction from people that was opposite to the one present when I had been there six months before. The last time I went to the eastern Rhodopes, I found Bulgarian ethnic-Turks who were still recovering from the trauma of having their names changed decades ago. This time I met up with Bulgarians who expressed frustration with
Many have complained of the hassles surrounding the acquisition of lichna cards at 48 Maria Louisa. I write to share a story about how I had trouble giving my card back. Expats are supposed to return their lichna cards to the authorities when the cards expire. So, as a law-abiding citizen - and because I expect to come back to Bulgaria soon on another visa - I headed to Maria Louisa a few days before my card was
Sunday: My recent visits to Greece and the Czech Republic have got my head spinning with comparisons to Bulgaria. Greece is Balkan, but it remained "Western" in the 20th century, though admittedly its people served time under a military junta. The Czech Republic is a Slavic nation that suffered under Soviet rule for 50 years, but it's traditionally been in the sphere of Central Europe. In Greece, I saw a cafe culture where
On my visit to Awadh I was joined by a companion whose judgment regarding Indian food is beyond question: A Londoner of Punjabi descent who often delivers scathing criticism of poor Indian fare in her hometown. I took her to Awadh thinking about the flak Bulgaria has received lately in the British press and from the rest of the "outside world" in general. I'm thinking of newspapers featuring "corrupt"
In America, a man is often expected to approach a woman directly. One simply expresses one's interest based on the obvious: You say hello and ask, say, for a woman's number based on the fact that she's attractive and you'd like to see if the two of you might get along. After the ice is broken, we have a complicated mating ritual involving the amount of days before we should call the number, whether we
Turkey's ambassador to Bulgaria, Mehmet Gucuk, is absolutely bullish on Bulgaria's economic future and EU membership bid. He started his job in Sofia only five months ago, but says he's been here long enough to bear witness to spell-bindingly rapid - and positive - change that's sure to benefit Bulgarians and Turks. "During the last couple of years we have observed a leap" in economic activity between the two countries,
A definition of the title `dean' used in an unofficial capacity has always proved elusive. We know about the official titles of university deans or deans who are senior clerics in a church. But what about those people referred to as `dean' of a group of members of parliament, the dean of the press corps in a particular city or the dean of a group of painters and poets? Whatever the title means, Julian Hill can safely be called the
Primavera is one of my local joints, a collection of restaurants near my house, each serving an individual purpose depending on the time of day, my mood and my companions. It's role in this constellation is clear. I take friends to Primavera on those evenings when we want Bulgarian fare in a setting that's cleaner and more well-lighted than typical, smoky mehanas. With two floors, art pieces (odd driftwood-like constructions)
I write in response to John Dyer's "Primer on Bulgarian Higher Education" (The Sofia Echo,April 21) to which I take some exception. I too have been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer (Spring 2004) at the University of Sofia, teaching both undergraduates and MA students in the Department of English and American Studies. Because of the satisfying experience two years ago, I have returned this spring as a
Monday: Recently the nightmare scenario happened: I was in Bulgaria and needed surgery. Smack in the middle of the semester, with a new journalism project just off the ground, after I'd only been in the country for three weeks since returning from holiday break in America, I needed surgery. Back surgery. Where they play with your spine. I remember California 12 years ago, jogging everyday in Angeles National Park
Expats will find working or studying at Sofia University to be similar to conducting business at other Bulgarian institutions - if you can move beyond the inane bureaucracy, the quality of the people you encounter will surprise you. The university draws a lot of expats to Bulgaria because it's one of the few internationally accredited institutions of higher learning in the country. We've all met them: Swedish language
The ride to Kurdjali reminded me that we are in a country where the mountains stamp the people and their history. Rolling hills studded with rock formations. Vistas of snow-covered peaks. Add to the scenery a mixture of Bulgarian and Turkish rolling off the tongues of bus drivers and newspaper hawkers. Set deep in the Rhodopes, an island surrounded by mountain walls, going to the city felt like going to
I had been waiting for a couple of minutes. We had been climbing for an hour already. Sando was two steps behind me. As usual, the climb was just long enough to turn the weekly tears into drops of sweat and empty the stomach so that it started growling. My T-shirt was completely wet, and snow was all around me. "So, whoever didn't go to the seaside this summer..."
BULGARIA'S most charming qualities include its singular folk traditions, many of which originate neither from Byzantium, Christianity nor the Ottoman period. The Kukeri, who descended on Pernik last weekend, are one such pleasure. Dressed in sheepskin costumes and other furs, sporting homemade monster masks, antlers, wooden swords and belts hung with loud cow bells
AS dribs and drabs of information emerge on American proposals to use Bulgarian military bases, arguments for and against the plans have tended to focus on the geo-political aspects of moving US forces closer to the Middle East and Central Asia. Will the bases compromise Bulgaria's independence? How will Russia react? Why move forces out of Germany and other West European countries?
NIKOLA Stamboliyski, (19), plans to study business at the American University in Bulgaria, where he is a freshman. A native of Shumen, he says he'll probably go abroad for graduate school or for the first years of his career in order to build up his resume, but he foresees returning and settling down in Bulgaria.
QUENTIN Derzelle likes to draw parallels between Bulgaria and his native land, Belgium. The monarchs of both nations are from the Saxe-Coburg family line (though, of course, Belgium's king is still the official head of state). Both countries have traditionally been influenced by larger neighbours: Russia and Turkey in the case of Bulgaria; France and Germany in the case of Belgium.
THE red lights outside Rouge suggest a den of sin rather than a simple, cosy bistro, but they're apt. The cuisine in Rouge is excellent enough, and the space small enough, for regular patrons to want to keep the place secret and hidden. Expats especially will enjoy this restaurant because it's totally eschewed the rustic feeling of most Bulgarian mehanas (traditional taverns) and fully embraced the fin-de-siecle aura of a corner spot in Paris or Barcelona.
IT'S no coincidence that Bulgaria is simultaneously pulling its troops out of Iraq and embarking on the expected final year of its long march towards EU membership. The concurrence of events is a good occasion to examine the country's track record of successful foreign policymaking over the past few years.
THE best way to stay in Bulgaria, it seems, is to leave. Because of an ironic quirk in Bulgarian law, expatriates - except for those eligible for long-term residence through marriage or certain other criteria - cannot just walk into the Interior Ministry office at 48 Maria Luisa Boulevard and pick up a visa that would allow them to reside here on a long-term basis.
IF you are reading this story, there is a good chance you'll have to go to Thessaloniki, Greece at some point in your time in Bulgaria. Thessaloniki hosts the Bulgarian foreign consulate nearest to Sofia. One goes there to obtain visas. While there, be sure to visit the Byzantine ruins, which run throughout the ancient city. But orient yourself as soon as possible. The consulate is difficult to find.
KARLOVO was the home of Levski. Need I say more to establish the town's place in Bulgaria's heartland? If you are interested in the real Bulgaria, you must journey to the homestead of the nation's most beloved founding father. Because of his dauntless courage, Levski was called the lion, a figure that became the national symbol of Bulgaria and the name of its currency.
DAVE Hutton recently added Bulgaria to the long list of his life's adventures. The South African native has been here for a week. Sofia is very new to him. "I've never been more surprised," he said. "The guidebook we got was totally out of date. It said there were shortages."
BOLO reminded me of a type of lunch spot I've encountered in lots of trendy neighbourhoods worldwide, the kind with modernist, sixties-style chairs and garish red and orange interiors that transforms itself at dusk into a watering hole for the hipper-than-thou crowd. In other words, I liked it.
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