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Bulgaria Travel Blogs

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

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By Caroline and Scott
November 5th 2009

Bloody borders Europe » Bulgaria » West » Sofia

Well umm dont know where Caroline left the last one!! Think we just left 2 days of glorious sunshine on the med and headed north (getting sick of Turkey) We first went to see the calcium pools at Pamukkale and so old ruined city the pools could have been fantastic but as water wasnt flowing over the edges it was quite dull. From there to Ephesus another ruined city from way back when Jesus played fullback for Jerusalem....way over priced being a tourist destination and alittle concrete than one would have like and coach parties coming out our ass. So a [View Full Entry]

By supergran
October 29th 2009

Waiting Europe » Bulgaria » East » Boyana

Cleaning large carpets
It was nice to have a use for my large terrace other than sunbathing.Georgie and Meta make full use to get their carpets cleaned after the invasion of the grandchildren was over

I've entitled this blog waiting as it seems to sum up my life currently. Firstly I am waiting for my funds in the UK to reach my bank a/c here so that i can 1)Pay for my extensive double glazing to make life so much warmer and cheaper. 2)The same funds will provide for jeep insurance and winter tyres as necessary - need both before travelling to Uk on 28th November. 3) For Stan to provide his billhead for the repairs to Yunets and independant assessment that they have been completedThen the insurance money should come. 4)For Monday when I will [View Full Entry]

By Panchoy
October 21st 2009

And I thought we would never make it here on bicycles... Europe » Bulgaria » West » Sofia

Village Scene

Total Distance Cycled: 854km over 9 cycling days The forecast for Tuesday and the rest of the week was suppose to be nice, but overnight and into the morning there was no sign of that. I'm not sure if we had even seen the sun since a week ago Sunday. We took our time until there was some confirmation that the weather was starting to break. It finally did, and we were off by 9:30! We found a side road for the first 25km that avoided the main highway that had driven Shauna bit nuts the other day. The road was [View Full Entry]

By Panchoy
October 19th 2009

There is no doubt about it... We are in a different country Europe » Bulgaria » South » Sandanski

Cyprus
25 years on, the Cyprus issue still remains unresolved.

Total Distance Cycled: 672km We seemed to had a window to cycle on Saturday. It was warm and overcast, but no rain, so we went for it. Other than climbing out of the hole we had in Kavala (on the coast, but totally surrounded by hills), the ride was pretty good and we did have the aid of the wind for most of the day (that makes three in a row now :-)). This was certainly our second best bike day of the trip so far. Just like the other day from Komotini to Xanthi, we spent most of the day [View Full Entry]

By pn76
October 15th 2009

Bansko to Plovdiv Europe » Bulgaria

Plains of Plovdiv, 40km away

Continuing on down the Rhodopean mountains, we were blessed with lovely fien if chilly weather. The town got it's first dump of snow the night previous, given the cool temps (!) and we woke to snow capped mountains and ice on the roads. That made for bracing jogging but that could not stop me, of course. The private transfer to Plovdiv took less than 3 hrs and we settled into the Pension Plovdiv guesthouse in the old town by 1pm, ready to explore. The afternoon saw a brief tour with Jenni, our guide, and then we were let loose until 7pm [View Full Entry]

view from liberators hill towards old town ruins

By pn76
October 13th 2009

Sofia to the Rhodope mountains Europe » Bulgaria

Alexander Nevaski church, Sofia

Entering Sofia after a 3 hour plus bus journey was absolute delight after bustling Bucharest - it is half the size, has indications of more investment thanks to joining the EU several years ago, good tourist infrastructure (bus, train stations near eachother and commute to or within town on trams, trolley buses etc). Having had a rough deal since the earthquake and loss of some buildings, many have also been well preserved. I would have noticed no fewer than 10 churches on my wander around the city that afternoon. Our guide with Intrepid gave us a quick tour of the key [View Full Entry]

By MikeAndKelly
October 5th 2009

First Port of Call, Varna, Bulgaria Europe » Bulgaria » East » Varna

Balchik Royal Palace

We arrived early in the morning for our fist port of call, Varna, a seaside resort town on the coast of Bulgaria. After booking our cruise I checked out the cruisecritic.com website and was fortunate enough after a few e-mails to have a private tour at every port of call with a group of 6 for five of our stops and along with those same 6 part of a group of twenty for two other stops. Oscar (along with Debbie) organized all our stops along with Keith and Debra (from Canada). Oscar and Debbie (both retired) travel every 6 months and [View Full Entry]

By GregCath
September 28th 2009

Sofia to Plovdiv Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Sofia

Enjoyed an excellent Bulgarian Merlot 2003 before settling in for a quite night in the village. On the morning of the 27th, pushed on out of the Shiroka Laka valley and continued on twisted, narrow, barely-maintained mountain roads. Surprisingly close to SL, we came to the Parapova ski resort. This looked great in that the forest was dense and evergreen, but not so great in that it was like an outpost of Pomland inserted in the Bulgarian mountains. Pubs, and chip butties. Worth another visit though. Dropped back into Bulgarian villages pretty quickly and then onto the Chepelare district. [View Full Entry]

By GregCath
September 27th 2009

Country Bulgaria Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Sophia is clearly in transition or has been for the last hundred or so years. Soviet-style apartment blocks are everywhere with new smarter blocks being built with methods which would challenge most OH&S policies. Picked up a Citroen on Thursday morning and headed out of Sofia. As we drove from chique inner Sophia, Greg was chanting "keep right", and the big hair ladies came out in force. At least there was only 5km of cobbled streets heading out so the plastic cable-ties holding the cars hubcaps on, are still in place. On a pretty good highway we reached the village of [View Full Entry]

By GregCath
September 23rd 2009

Sofia and the start Europe » Bulgaria » West » Sofia

After the basic 30 hour haul we arrived in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. A city of old European architecture, mosques, synagogues and cathedrals. The day started with feta pastries and strong coffee and ended with a chicken goulash. The autumn weather is kind with sunny skies and daytime temperatures in the 20's. Cyrillic is hard to spontaneously fathom but is a necessary part of getting around. Lacking Cyrillic we bought 4 tickets each for the 2 rooms of the Ethnographical museum not under renovation. [View Full Entry]

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