Featured Destination
Greece
Five Places in Greece That Are Not To Be Missed in June
June is the “last train” to Greece, before the summer season is in full swing and its coasts cave into the sea, made heavy by the crowds. The summer is already breathing hot air into our necks and the cooling blue of the Mediterranean starts to become irresistible. On the hills of ancient and medieval ruins the wind that blows is still fresh, and, around noon, the octopuses start to wave around their tentacles invitingly, served with a half a litre of chilled Retsina wine. Free hotel rooms are easily found and start from 25 euro per night, and the spaces in front of the tavernas and the ouzerias are still crowd-free. Now is the time to grab the pleasures Greece offers by the handful. Full Story
Balkan Cuisine
Greece
Octopus's Garden
You can't help being suspicious about the Greeks if you ever see how they treat their octopuses. The scenes of violence you can witness along the 16,000 kilometres of Greek coast are too shocking for people with a humane attitude to the animal world.
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Routes Less Travelled
Greece
The Dönmeh: the Judeo-Islamic Mystery of Thessaloniki
Neither Muslims nor Jews, but rather a bit of both, Thessaloniki’s Dönmeh were the most influential group in the city over a period of almost 400 years. The rumours that the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, was one of them remain unconfirmed. But spending a few days in present-day Thessaloniki makes one wonder whether the city has really managed to rid itself of the influence of the eclectic, and often purely extravagant, tastes of the now extinct sect. Full Story
Urban Browser
Greece
November Weekend in Thessaloniki
If, on a Saturday morning, you wake up surprisingly early in your Sofia flat and decide that you have nothing to wear; if the thought of greasy meat stew makes you feel sick; and if you have respiratory problems that make you feel like you played alongside Dizzy Gillespie all night long, don’t call your shrink! Full Story
Curiosity Chest
Balkans
Blue Amulets Guard Against the Evil Eye in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria
If you’ve ever spent time in Turkey or Greece, you’ll surely remember the feeling that you’re constantly being watched. Blue circles in the shape of single, stylised eyes constantly observe from everywhere – dangling from cars’ rear-view mirrors, hanging on houses’ doors, adorning people’s necks, wrists and ears in the form of jewellery, or painted onto boats or even planes.
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Bulgaria 3/7/14
Bulgaria
Bulgaria in 5 days: Shumen, South of Nowhere
Patriotic ruins, a Coca Cola-branded mosque, a “stud factory” and a capsule, containing a message for future generations: these are only part of modern Shumen’s surprising charms
If there were three places in Bulgaria where one would never consider spending a week of vacation, those would probably be Pernik, Karnobat and Shumen. The last one, however, does not deserve its wretched reputation.
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Bulgaria in 3 Days: Sofia and Mount Vitosha
Hidden Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Genghis Khan’s Descendents Swap Central Asia’s Altay for Bulgaria’s Balkan Mountain
Picture this: In the foot of the Balkan Mountain, in Central Bulgaria, tourists gather for an authentic taste. But not of the quant villages scattered in the skirts of the mountain. Rather, for an authentic taste of Mongolia.
The recent move of six Mongolians who set up their yurts on a meadow near the town of Sopot created an exotic island where visitors can experience the tastes, smells and images of Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan.
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Kabiyuk, The Horse "Factory" Bulgaria Inherited from the Ottoman Empire
Useful reads
Greece
The Maze (2004) | By Panos Karnezis
This novel offers a new interpretation of the events in the aftermath of the First World War and the Greco–Turkish War that lead to the Greek population’s expatriation from modern Turkey’s Aegean coast.
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Music Box
Greece
Unbearable Nostalgia, After Theo Angelopoulos
Eleni Karaindrou | Elegy of the Uprooting |Crammed/Dyukyan Meloman, 2006
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Balkan Coasts
Samothrace: Nike Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Greece
If she were still standing in her spot with a head on her shoulders, the winged Nike would see a surrealistic landscape: trees, twisted in unnatural forms; pieces of shiny marble columns, scattered about like an enormous luxurious Lego set; a dark green mountain, drowning in a gray, still sea. Full Story
Balkan Mountains
Meteora, the Second Sky Over Greece
Greece
The unearthly view of the 700-metre high stone pillars, crowned by monasteries, is a James Bond film décor and an inspiration to the musicians of the neo-metal band Linkin Park who named one of their albums after this place. Full Story
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
Annoyances in the Balkans
Balkans
Relentless Homophobia Rages in the Balkans
Be IN-tolerant! Be normal!, appeals a poster (pictured above) that recently flooded the streets of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
As the first gay pride parade in Bulgaria is about to take place, amid strong opposition by nationalistic organisations and a large part of society, the high levels of persistent homophobia in the country and the Full Story
Insiders' Advice
Is it easy to drive in the Balkans? Depends. If you are looking for adrenalin, this is a cheap way to get it. Expats say the best tactics is not to get annoyed.
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How to pick the right time to go? Winter is beautiful in the high mountains, the problem is, it can be so cold! Then again, who cares how cold it is - the locals have a cheap cure: heavy red wine. Sometimes warmed up.
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You can't trust local maps. Nor some international travel guides. One of them, for instance, says, that Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina flows FROM the Adriatic towards the inland of the Balkans, never reaching the sea. OK, how about the Neretva delta and channel in Croatia?
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The Big Book of Travelling
United States
The Rise of Burlesque in New York: Tassels and the City
Burlesque – the more audacious relative of commedia dell'arte, is in revival. A reality in “upside down style”, this creative, witty and softer version of striptease is back on stage, following an absence of nearly 80 years. In New York, Anjeza Bojku scoped out several burlesqee venues for BalkanTravellers.com. Full Story
Thailand
A Short Guide to the Peculiarities of Thai Food
Travel News
30 June 2008 | Montenegro is declining as a summer destination for tourists from Serbia, while the Greek islands and the Chalkidiki Penninsula draw Serbs and Bulgarians en masse.
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Blog
Christopher Deliso : The Hurricane Christopher Deliso : Macedonia's Village Tourism Christopher Deliso : Big Railroad Blues
