Popsheitanova Kushta

Shoumen is not considered by many to be the garden spot of Bulgaria. There's an overabundance of Communist-era concrete, moulded and fashioned into various oversized and unattractive forms. In the centre of town stands the skeleton of an unsalvageable architectural abomination - a permanently unfinished apartment building resembling a huge, fossilised caterpillar stood on end. High on a distant hill stands

EXPAT OF THE WEEK: An oasis of calm

If at times you wonder where the peaceful and calm people have gone, or whether they exist at all, then look no further than 28-year-old Daniela Stuebi. The young charitable Swiss woman has spent the past year in Bulgaria and now shares her story. Most recently she arrived here in Bulgaria last June, but this is not Daniela's first experience of Bulgarian life. Two years ago she visited Sofia for three months with

EXPAT OF THE WEEK: The essence of Bulgaria

Caroline Carr, from: Lancashire, UK

Caroline Carr, from Lancashire in the north of England, a Cardiff University graduate and newly-qualified teacher, shares her first experiences of Bulgaria. An avid lover of mountains, Caroline moved to Bulgaria only last July with her husband Lewis. "We both love the mountains, in summer we go biking or hiking, and in winter we hit the snowboarding slopes. I'm impressed with the Bulgarian mountains

YOUNGER VOICES: Pot and politics

LOOKS can be deceiving. I myself found proof of that, when I went to interview people in the skateboard park opposite the national stadium. Indeed, what I expected were fairly uniform answers. I couldn't have been more mistaken. To many people, skaters and others who hang out at places like skateboard parks are simply youngsters caught up in their own circle, in their own lives. To others they are simply normal kids, who have come out to have fun.

EXPAT OF THE WEEK: A travelling salesman settles down

Rudi Schramme, from: Germany

GERMAN expat Rudi Schramme, aged 54, has lived in Bulgaria since 1998; the reason being his Bulgarian wife Spaska. Rudi's life began in 1951 in Germany, in the beautiful and scenic land of Sauerland near the city of Dortmund. He studied quality management in Germany and proceeded into a career, where he stayed for 10 years, after which he changed his attention to a future in plastic material processing.

My day at the zoo: Deprivation & Despair

THE Blagoevgrad Zoo is like most zoos in Bulgaria: no one knows or cares that it exists. Poor funding and underpaid animal keepers make the conditions for some of the animals almost unbearable. Built in 1959 and located on a hilltop overlooking the city on beautiful and well-maintained grounds, it was once a thriving zoo during Communism but is now falling to ruin. This does not stop the zoo from keeping animals.

READING ROOM: The promised land

ONCE known as Bulgaria's Manchester, Pernik, a beautifully ugly relic of the twentieth century, has taken on the character of a small tired city waiting for something to happen, whether it be its renaissance or just Armageddon. Only 50 minutes by train outside of Sofia on the opposite side of Vitosha Mountain, Pernik served as the centre of the country's coal mining industry from the 1890s. Throughout the Communist era it was a great factory town with a population of 110 000.

A teenager at the Bulgarian seaside

THE Bulgarian seaside - a beautiful, peaceful and clean place. Or is it? For a teenager, the beauty of the seaside is irrelevant. The seaside for them means a long day at the beach, playing Frisbee and beach volleyball; swimming, diving, fishing - anything to do with water. They spend their evenings in a bar, or restaurant, depending on taste, and at night, they go wild. Discos, night clubs, loud music; that's a regular teen's evening.

YOUNGER VOICES: A Bulgarian Teen's Reality

BULGARIAN teenagers - the future of Bulgaria, but no one seems to actually consider what they think, believe, want or even need. So, I've taken some time to ask the Bulgarian youth about what the world is to them, their plans for the future, and what they think about current political issues around the world.