Winter approaches

The charm of Bulgarian village life

The English Angle: Charisma

One conspicuous absentee from the 20th anniversary celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall was former British prime minister Mrs Thatcher.

Never a dull moment

Bulgarian villages sometimes need an English-language speaker to plead for help

My darling Sofia

Staff in the capital may seem apathetic but bus drivers, at least, will go out of your way to make themselves happy.

From Wales to Sweden, with a stop at the ball

A preview of The Sofia Echo newspaper issue appearing on June 12 2009.

READING ROOM: Surgical strike

Consider drawing up a battle plan against cockroaches if you enter a Bulgarian hospital

As a boy, we lived in the valley of the Trent River in England. It was a damp place. In the winter everyone seemed to have bronchitis - cough, cough, cough. It was so common that the local chemists concocted their own remedies which were sworn upon by their various advocates. My father's favourites were Famel Syrup, which tasted like a mixture of bitumen and paraffin, and Tusmac, which tasted distinctly like creosote mixed with turpentine.

Bring the BBC World Service back to Bulgaria, campaigners call - The Sofia Echo reports

Six months after the BBC World Service stopped broadcasting for Bulgaria, The Sofia Echo reports on a campaign launched on Facebook asking for it to be restored. Gabriel Hershman gives an insight into the campaign and background into why the BBC World Service was forced to shut down.

TO THE EDITOR: Bulgaria's economy; taxi problems

I believe the definition of economic growth is the increase in per capita production, and the consumption of goods and services. It's quoted that the Bulgarian economy is still growing at seven per cent. I can believe that consumption is growing due to the increase in availability of credit, but not from any large increase in wages.

TO THE EDITOR: On the BBC

Sir Sometime in the mid 1990s, when I first came to live in Bulgaria, the first present I bought for myself was a small Aiwa portable radio. It has been my most treasured possession for all these years, apart from the fact that it needs three batteries instead of two or four, which is rather irritating. It has been tuned only to the BBC World Service for all these

READING ROOM: I do like to be by the seaside

"Quick," Ivo exclaimed, "The landlady is coming! Iliyana, get on the balcony!" Why was she being banished? It seemed unusual to me. It was the early 1990s and the coast was undeveloped and, arguably, more pleasant. We had been on business in Dobrich and decided to join Ivo's girlfriend and other friends for my first visit to the Bulgarian seaside.

Bulgaria and the `big bang' in The Sofia Echo

One of the most fascinating and controversial scientific experiments, involving the largest particle accelerator ever built, was scheduled to be held in Switzerland on September 10 2008 - and of the team of more than 6000 scientists involved, 100 are from Bulgaria. In a story especially written for The Sofia Echo published on September 12, science correspondent Bozhidar Stefanov explains the meaning of the experiments involving the "God particle".

READING ROOM: 2008: A Transport Odyssey

I have seen many programmes on television, and read many travel articles but have often been struck by their falseness. In the case of some articles I doubt whether the writers have even visited the places they describe. Although ex-comedians may be very good presenters and journalists, are they really travellers? I think not. We never see what's behind the scenes. When they ride off into the sunset alone on

Gay rights vs intolerance - The Sofia Echo reports

Plans for a gay pride march in Sofia on June 28 2008 have met a sharp backlash from political conservatives and some Bulgarian Orthodox Church leaders. In the issue of The Sofia Echo published on June 27, we outline the stances taken in the controversy.

TO THE EDITOR: KAT, again and How to define a millionaire?

The latest edicts from road police have spurred me into action. Immediately unpon hearing the news that motorists were to be fined for having dirty cars, I rushed outside to my car - no, not to check whether it was dirty, or that I have a helmet (?) for my daughter, but to be sure that I had 10 leva safely tucked in between my driving documents. Perhaps they are trying to give a hint to our garrulous mayor to clean up his city? Of course, since Sofia drivers are so law-abiding, we know that the KAT policemen have little else to do, and maybe we should applaud this attempt to clean up Sofia's image.

Rakiya

I've been living in Bulgaria now for about 10 years, but I never cease to be amazed at the difference when you leave the city and venture into the countryside. In the villages, it can be like stepping back in time 50 years or so. Although there are now many cars and, for the older villager, his horse and cart provides transport, the land is often cultivated by hand or with donkey and plough, and it's not unusual to see old folks walking home at night with hand tools over their shoulders. Shepherds graze animals on free land around the village and then bring them home in the evening. Old peasant ladies wearing traditional village dress sit on street benches in the evening sunshine, watching the world go by, chattering about the day's events and, these days of course, what was on the television last night.

The Sofia Echo and the word from Bansko

The leaders of Bulgaria's tripartite ruling coalition cloistered themselves in Bansko for a weekend, emerging with announcements of a host of proposals for changes to social and health policies, and having discussed the country's troubled Interior Ministry. In the issue of The Sofia Echo published on May 20, the newspaper has three pages of details of what came out of the meeting - along with reports on the searing criticism of Bulgaria in a letter from the European Commission.

INSIGHT: Headlights

Longstanding expat David Clark shares his unnervingly `exciting' experiences of driving in Bulgaria

My recent letter to The Sofia Echo about the use and misuse of headlights set my memory working, thinking about some of the fun (without laughing) I've had over the past 15 years of driving in Bulgaria. My first driving experience came during the dark days of 1992. Some friends had hired an Opel of rather dubious vintage, and brought it to Sofia airport for me. When I arrived they immediately

TO THE EDITOR: A warning light on headlights

The recent bright sunny days have been a pleasant reminder that spring is on its way. This has lulled many motorists into summer mode, causing them to forget to put on their headlights as the law demands. This, in turn, has led to a spate of policemen waiting at the side of the road, specifically to catch the unwary. They don't want just to give us a friendly warning, but threaten to write out an "act" (indictment) for this

TO THE EDITOR: On Borovets and Bansko

This week an old friend of mine was holidaying in Borovets. We hadn't skied there for a year or two, so we decided to join him for a day. Apart from hearing many people muttering about it, we very soon realised what a very expensive place this had become. Six leva for a Pliska brandy - a bottle is about this price in the shops! this must be something like 1000 per cent profit. Seven leva for a hot chocolate, I

TO THE EDITOR: More on Palfreeman

On reading your letters section, I could hardly believe my eyes seeing such blatantly, anti-Bulgarian, racial comments by your readers (Letters to the Editor, The Sofia Echo, January 11 2008). The first one called the knife-wielding Australian brave. Ridiculous! Why was he carrying a knife in the first place if not to use it? Let's not forget that he killed someone. Anyway, I'm sure he will get a fair trial and justice will prevail.

Raikkonen on fire

Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari can now be considered true contenders for the F1 championship title following his victory at the British Grand Prix on July 8. The 27-year-old Finn set a blistering succession of laps just before his final pit-stop to take the lead from McLaren's Fernando Alonso and went on to win by over two seconds.

FILM REVIEW: The Sentinel

Secret agent man succeeds

The Sentinel is an old-fashioned thriller that goes about its business with methodical workmanlike efficiency. It is a product of meticulous construction rather than inspiration, but in the context of today's filmmaking creative malnutrition, this is a reasonable praise rather than a complaint. In an age when manic editing and absurd camera angles are used as substitutes for storytelling, it is reassuring to see a

DOUBLE DUTCH

In Retort

I AM a poor man, your honour, and I haven't had my tea yet, and I therefore rarely respond to the usually very negative, misguided and terribly boring comments placed in the Sounding Board section of The Sofia Echo. But this week I have to make an exception to this rule, since the publisher of The Sofia Echo, the always lovely Christine Milner, decided to disagree with my writings of the previous week.

SOUNDING BOARD

I FEEL obliged to respond very briefly to Koos Schouten's Double Dutch column last week (`Goodbye', The Sofia Echo, June 3). Although I sympathise with his problems in dealing with the bureaucracy in this country, I can't help feeling that he is tarring all areas of the system with the same brush and thereby misrepresenting state employees in certain sectors to our readers, who don't necessarily have any personal experience to fall back on when forming an opinion.

SOUNDING BOARD: It depends on your point of view

Sir EVENTS in Uzbekistan are unfolding and it is a confused and tragic situation, but we are fed two points of view. On the one hand, the BBC says peaceful protestors from a subjugated people have been attacked and gunned down by the police and security forces.

SOUNDING BOARD: The Great Expat Debate, continued...

Trashing 'Eurotrash' comments

Sounding Board

Let there be light Sir MAY I suggest that the Government pass specific legislation regarding the use of headlights during daylight hours that says that dipped headlights should be used when there is poor visibility regardless of the time of year.

Sounding Board - Two responses to 'xenophobia'

WHILE one might agree with Gier Thomassen (The Sofia Echo, Issue 25, June 18) that it is important that immigrants aquire an understanding of the language of their adoptive country, I am not sure that legislation is the correct way to address the issue.

Film Review - A standard superhero

IN terms of primitive entertainment value Daredevil justifies its creation. It works fine in today's preferred popcorn-and-coke cinema environment and delivers on its contract with the collective filmgoer: competent effects, beautiful actors, an open happy ending that brings immediate primitive satisfaction.

Sounding Board - Tales and opinions from the expatriate community

Breakfast included? Not really...

I AWOKE from a nightmare to find that the steady drip, drip of water was not from a torture chamber as in my dream, but from the leaking cistern in my hotel bathroom.