The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004. To be updated
April 11th 2008Europe » Bulgaria Mikkel and I are headed for Turkey!! After everything that went on last night, I called him at 7 to make sure he was up in time to meet me at the train station at 8:30. He said it was a really good t ... [full story]
April 22nd 2008Europe » Bulgaria » Valchi Dol » Boyana It wasn't until a friend contacted me to see if I was OK that i realised it had been 6 wks since last communication. Got 200Lv off car repair as they said that part looked reasonable first time so to ... [full story]
March 13th 2008Europe » Bulgaria » Valchi Dol » Boyana Just as I thought things had settled well I found that my expensive clutch had started to slip already - as a result i am having to loose the car for 2 days while it is sorted. Yesterday went to gara ... [full story]
February 26th 2008Europe » Bulgaria » Dobrich With the houses and myself on mend I belatedly turned my attention to Bottie,made especially important at the first hint of pungent smell from flowers on porch!! He has got himself linked with the oth ... [full story]
February 6th 2008Europe » Bulgaria » Valchi Dol » Boyana So to continue.As you know the winter weather had arrived in style on my return thus cramping my actions to a degree.However now,although some roads still have snow verges, most of the land is clear.I ... [full story]
January 21st 2008Europe » Bulgaria » Sofia In theory I traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria for the EGEE-II All-Activity Meeting, but in reality I just traveled towards it. I will be damned if this doesn't become part of my travel blog to Sofia, Bulgar ... [full story]
January 17th 2008Europe » Bulgaria » Valchi Dol » Boyana Can't believe how long since the last blog.1st thing is rest of journey with motor uneventful except for trying to get through Romania.heavy fog and poor roads conspired to make an o'nite necessary as ... [full story]
September 29th 2007Europe » Bulgaria » Sofia
You will notice that from here on, my attitude kinda changes. After Istanbul I am more concerned about taking it slow than trying to see as many sights as possible. The reason for this is fatigu ... 10 photos[full story]
Map of Bulgaria
Bulgaria's Flag
