Postcards from abroad
Thanks to those requesting more about the aspects of Bulgaria we’ve been experiencing but not writing about so much, You’re right - we need to give more of a sense of how lovely Bulgaria is to travel around in. First - the people. We have had lovely experiences with charming people who have been warm… Continue reading People, food and hotels
Regular readers of our blog will already know about Bulgarian National Revivalism - for everyone else, check out the previous explanation. Turns out the old town of Plovdiv is full of wonderful examples, both restored and unresurrected: you can tell which is which, I think? We bought tickets which would cover five houses, although our… Continue reading Plovdiv’s buildings
We left Kazanlak, the rose town, to continue our exploration of Bulgaria, and stopped at the most unprepossessing village so far - except for one attraction. Belozem is a European Stork Village, apparently one of fifteen villages in fifteen countries, recognised for adopting farming practices and conserving large areas of wetland to protect storks. We… Continue reading Stalking storks
It’s been a rather wet and cold day spent in Kazanlak, a town in the very centre of Bulgaria, known for its Thracian tomb (again!) and its Festival of Roses. Although the festival takes place at the beginning of June, we had been hoping to see lots of roses, but obviously it’s been a very… Continue reading Scenes from Kazanlak
Bulgaria claims to be the home of yoghurt - probably for two reasons: a) the Thracians (yes, them again) were very good at milk products and the word yoghurt is believed to come from the Thracian language; b) the Lactobacillus bulgaricus, the secret of Bulgarian yoghurt, was discovered in 1905 by Dr Stamen Grigorov. Since… Continue reading In search of yoghurt