Modern Sofia is a city stuck in transition, a mixture of more or less preserved pre-1944 architecture with all its highs and lows, of menacing or just plain ugly administrative and residential buildings from the Communist era, and of striking or, more often misguided developments from […]
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As any visitor to foreign lands knows, there is a tendency to play it safe when it comes to eating native. Most prefer to stay out of harm’s way at inviting-looking cafés and restaurants with Latin letters or at least pictures. However, by sticking to this […]
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Tarator is a Bulgarian cold soup made with Bulgarian yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, chopped dill, sunflower oil, walnuts, and a bit of water or ice. However, there are numerous varieties of this refreshing soup (especially in North Macedonia), so some ingredients might be omitted, while others might […]
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To the British, He gave mastership over the seas, while the Swiss received the mountains, the Russians got the great plains, and the Germans took possession of the thick forests. When God ran out of gifts, He noticed that there was a people who were still […]
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Viktor Teplyakov, a “special missions officer” in the Russian army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, abruptly reined in his horse at the sight of the six stone pillars. Huge in size, they emerged from the sandy, shrub-covered wilderness by the village of Gebedzhi, now a […]
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Raids and pillage were their main sources of income, and their neighbors, from the rich Greek town of Agatopolis, were their usual victims. As retribution for the raids, the Greeks called the Thracian settlement Varvara, the place of the Barbarians. The story is hardly true. But […]
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When the summer is over and the last visitors for the year have gone, Sozopol quickly returns to its former life as a quiet fishing town. The hotels are boarded up, the restaurants are closed and the streets are empty. In itself, this is an incredible […]
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Nesebar is a mosaic of ancient fortifications, medieval churches, and romantic 19th-century houses scattered on a rocky island connected to the mainland by a causeway. They are the accumulation of 2,600 years, the result of a never-ending balancing act between the forces of nature and political, […]
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The similarities between the two are not only in their names. Both are located on rocky peninsulas that have provided security for their inhabitants since Antiquity. Both were founded by Greeks well millennia ago. Both were until the early 20th century Greek-populated and both have been […]
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