Hich Flyer
Viktor Azmanov, a former student of Veliko Turnovo University who is now studying martial arts at Shaolin Monastery in China, is going from strength to strength. His personal coach is the same one who coached Hollywood star Jet Li. If Jet’s name is not familiar to you, rent Lethal Weapon 4. It would appear that Viktor is set to become the new advertising icon for the monastery.

Macedonia
Professor Zoran Todorovski, a Macedonian historian at the Institute of National History in Skopje and former director of Macedonia’s National Archive, was a guest at Veliko Turnovo University where he delivered a lecture on The Terror of the Communist Totalitarian State 1944-1998.

In the Guiter
Residents of Veliko Turnovo are being warned to be aware that a band of itinerant Roma are posing as builders. They quote a very low rate to householders to replace their guttering (irrespective of whether or not it needs replaced). If their offer is accepted, the old guttering is then ripped brutally from the house, replaced by shoddy work and the home owner is given a revised quote substantially higher than the original. Householders intimidated by the presence of several burly “builders” seldom have a choice in the matter of the revised bill. To make matters worse, after the new but inferior guttering is in place and the rogue workers have vanished, it is is not unusual to discover that not only does the new guttering need to be totally replaced, but that most of the roof does as well.

'Holy Tourism!' 
Eight students and four teachers from the Dr Vassil Beron High School of Tourism, who specialise in hotel management, are assisting the development of religious tourism in the area. They have printed out brochures detailing the attractions of the Transfiguration and Saint Trinity monasteries. The work is part of a two-year project sponsored by an Austrian association promoting the development of religious tourism in the area.

Cyrillic Celebrations
St St Cyril and Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo celebrated the day of its patrons, the two holy brothers St Cyril and St Methodius.
A ceremony was held on May 11 at the university’s ceremonial hall. Veliko Turnovo mayor Roumen Rashev was in attendance and was awarded a gold medal for his contribution to the development of the university. Silver medals were awarded to two local businessmen, Ichko Lozev and Vesselin Chamourkov, in recognition of the grants they bestow on talented students annually. The ceremony was attended by other dignitaries, local MPs and noted scholars.