Echoes of a newspaper

A fond memoir of the life and times of a certain English-language publication.

News Roundup

EXPLORER!Villages: Rambling through random villages

Sofia is not Bulgaria, it is often said, and there is little question that interest in spending some time in villages is growing both among foreign tourists, and people resident in the country, keen to sample something of the quiet, the atmosphere, and the cuisine that gives a pointer to Bulgarian village life of old.

The Veggie Home

Address: 10 Patriarch Evtimii St. Telephone: 981 56 77 (Delivery as well)

European Music Festival 2005

Between May 10 and 24 the European Music Festival 2005 will take place in various cities in Bulgaria and will feature many national and international stars. Plovdiv, Pleven, Rousse, Varna and Sofia are to take part in the musical spectacle. The festival will be opened with an international conference on European Union culture on May 10. The conference was initiated by Culture and Tourism Minister Nina Chilova and Italian ambassador Giovan Battista Campagnola.

Fruit of the Imagination

She sits, timidly and girlishly moving around on her chair constantly. But the words that flow out of her are steady and sure. Her long bushy hair covers her shoulders and her deep brown eyes are friendly. Kristin Dimitrova is an accomplished poet and writer, one of the most defining ones of her generation.

Mamma Mia

Address:39 Tsar Ivan Shishman Street; Telephone:981 2727

K2

Address: 6 Tzaribrod Street, Plovdiv Telephone:032 266 907

Plovdiv's Pleasures

Our car has broken down. I'd never thought I'd make a problem out it, but travelling to Plovdiv by Public Transport didn't seem very appealing to me. Visions of smelly villagers, with bags and boxes containing food that would dominate any other kind of odour, were pestering me. But I decided not to be a baby and just get on the bus.

Tabiet

Address: 1 Kiril and Metodii St. Telephone:983 3131

Fire of Devotion

About heart and soul

Those of you who have witnessed people dancing on embers in outdoors restaurant in Bulgaria may think that you know about the Nestinari (people who walk or dance on fire), but nothing could be further from the truth. For Nestinari dancing on embers is not about entertaining people; it's a personal spiritual ritual that cleanses and brings insight into past, present and future.

Reading Room 1: Past to present: position of the Bulgarian woman

According to the most recent statistics, every fourth woman in Bulgaria is a victim of domestic violence. In Bulgaria there is no special legislation to protect the victims of this kind of violence, even though a draft bill on protection from domestic violence has been pending in Parliament since April 2003. In honour of International Women's Day, March 8, The Sofia Echo explores the various issues women in Bulgaria and abroad face. Marlene Smits

READING ROOM: The Promised Land

ON February 18, Parliament gave its approval for amendments to the constitution making land purchases by foreigners possible. These new provisions will take effect after Bulgaria enters the EU on January 1, 2007. However, there is a seven-year grace period before foreigners will actually be allowed to own land in Bulgaria. This means that it will not be before 2014 that foreigners are able to purchase land in the country.

Chestita Baba Marta!

The legend behind Martenitsa Khan Kubrat declared himself an independent ruler in 632 CE, denying the power of the Turkut khagan. All Bulgarian tribes living in the region of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea immediately united under him...

Vitosha: slippery slopes

It's pure luxury, after a 10 km drive from Sofia you are in winter wonderland, a.k.a. Vitosha Mountain. On one cold Sunday afternoon I decided to make my way up, and see for myself. Slowly but surely the car made its way through Dragalevtsi, up the mountain. The road going up was covered in a mixture of snow and sand. Now and again I had to bite my lip, when the car decided to slip a little now and again in the curves.

Confetti

Address: 50 Solunska Street Telephone: 953 32 94

Form of an artist

"I WAS an athlete while I was at the academy. Many people don't know this, but for seven years running I was the Bulgarian Champion in the 400m sprint. Being an athlete, for me, was a way to be able to travel, when it was almost impossible. So when other students had to make do with reproductions of works of famous painters and sculptors...

Hungarian Restaurant

Address: 18 Oborishte Street Telephone:846 86 87

Constructing the future

Eco-and cultural tourism seem to be the magic words for Bulgaria's future in tourism. Dutch minister Sybilla Dekker of VROM (Housing, Spacial Planning and Enviroment) speaks about Bulgaria's potential in this area and Dutch involvement.

"I visited Sofia for a couple of days in June 2004. This visit definitely sparked further interest in exploring more of the country's historical, cultural and natural heritage. I was very impressed by the artefacts exhibited at the National Museum of History, Alexander Nevski cathedral and Boyana Church. The Bulgarian people are so proud to share their rich history with visitors, so that they made it a great experience for me. I think that if more tourists start to explore Bulgaria - and more and more peopl

Gwey Bin Low

Address: 32 Iskar St. Telephone: 983 2404

Dutch holidaymakers hot for Bulgaria

VAKANTIEBEURS, an annual tourist fair in the Dutch City of Utrecht, was held between January 11 and 16. At the fair almost every country imaginable had a stand or in some cases even an entire wing (the French) promoting tourism in their country. The venue was divided into The Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Restaurant Review-A few of our favourites

In addition to this week's special 2004 in Review pages of this newspaper, it is also an appropriate time to honour the tradition established last January of asking The Sofia Echo restaurant reviewers to say which restaurants they found most memorable during the course of their visits last year.

Reading Room 2-Taking the waters

Bulgaria is blessed with an abundance of mineral water. There are about 1600 mineral water springs.

Planet Club

Address: Oborishte 1a

Sex slave's story told

"I can get you a nice job as a secretary in the West," or "I'll pay for a good education abroad" or more bluntly girls are simply kidnapped and shoved into a van.

Sounding Board -Disastrous delivery

"I'LL just courier it off to you, that's easiest."

Dashing designer duo

WHEN designers Zwetelina Alexieva and Nikolay Sardamov met, they were already established, both in Bulgaria, and abroad.

The GreenCat Gallery

Belgian architect and art lover twosome, Marie Mannaerts and Kurt Houbrechts, and their Bulgarian partner Nadia Maneva, opened their gallery GreenCat on November 18.

Expat of the Week - Invisible thread of a globetrotter

BORN to a French father and a Vietnamese mother, Marie Halbherr didn't spend much time in her land of birth, Vietnam. With her father being in the military, her family lived in many of the former French colonies, like Morocco, Guadalupe and Caledonia.

Discovering Karlovo

A nice evening drive over the smooth road through Plovdiv ended in the town in Karlovo (144 km east of Sofia). A group of close friends invited me to spend a merry weekend with them in the birthplace of Bulgaria's greatest hero Vassil Levski (1837- 1873).