THIS IS NOT COOL. Modernity, capitalism and Westernisation should not equate defacement of other people's property. Why do parents not teach their pubescent boys that tagging will not make them the next Dark Knight?

HER 80TH BIRTHDAY: This central Sofia residential building dates to 1928. What was once a beautiful, if modest, art déco façade has been neglected and, most likely, wished to be gotten rid of. Her tears echo mine.

GROSS: You'll note that there are insets on Bulgaria's streets, allowing for the placing of rubbish dumpsters. I wonder when the last time was that these streets were re-planned... 50 years ago? Which would make sense, because at that time, perhaps two whole apartment blocks would only produce enough trash to fill one dumpster a week. Not now.

The piles of rubbish were one of the first thing I remarked (negatively) when returning from holiday abroad recently. A properly functioning country does not have such problems.

(This photo was taken when the rubbish collectors “quit” their jobs around the time of the release of the European Union's July 23 2008 monitoring report on Bulgaria. A few days later, they were “re-hired”.)

GROSS II: This is so perverse. It advertises a brand of Bulgarian mastika (like ouzo). The text says nothing more than “Watermelon season / Mastika [brand X] / Passion for iciness”. I cannot believe that this sort of image is allowed to be put up for public viewing. And what about its influence on children (“Mummy, what does that mean?”), not to mention women (self-esteem issues, abasement) and men (women are only good for sex and serving me alcohol). Where's Boiko when we need him?

BAKED ALASKA: Let's guess that the dumpster is alight because of a cigarette butt. We all know how horrid it smells, but what about additional effects, like environmental pollution and lung damage?

NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE SAY, I still love this ugly monument. It's somehow mysterious, mournful, magnetic in its present state. Plus, it's history. Sofia would not be the same without it.

IT LOOKED LIKE ITALY: In truth, it was a street in the older part of central Sofia. But for a moment, I thought that I was elsewhere.

AND THE GREATEST OF THESE: This is in an abandoned school in a mahala (hamlet) near Tsurvishte, somewhere in the wilderness around Doupnitsa. The text reads: “Обичам родинтата си” (Obicham rodinata si/I love my homeland). Someone did, once. And now...