Hagia Sophia 5

Turkey (Istanbul) and Bulgaria (Sofia)

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June 17th 2012
As I flew from Dubai to Istanbul we flew over Saudi Arabia, part of Iraq, and part of Syria. A few things crossed my mind: First, I knew I was looking down on one of the most dangerous places in the world. Within the land I was able to see there was a civil war that had been going on for years, a fragile democracy that wasn't able to protect its citizens from violence, and enough oil to run th ... read more

Europe » Bulgaria » Sofia City » Sofia

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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, b... ... read more