A Gang of Romanian Rebels
After a few concerts in Belgium and the recording of an album under the CramWorld laber, Taraf de Haïdouks quickly topped the European chart for world music, and gathered a large following.
Their cheerful, unrestrained and high-energy music became famous for its specific Turkish sound, mixed with the Indian roots of the Balkans’ Roma.
Through the years, the group members have continued to go back to Clejani, leading their usual daily existence in between concerts: playing at weddings, funerals and christenings. Their recordings, however, evolved and made gypsy music more accessible to and loved by a larger audience, including people who aren’t usually ethno-music fans.
In 2006, Taraf de Haïdouks came out with one of their most interesting albums – Maskarada, in which they “gypsified” classical composers’ works, such as Albeniz's “Asturias”, Ketelbey's “In a Persian Market,” and most of all the Roma-motif based “Dance Suite” by Béla Bartók.
Epicure
Turkey
Balkan Culinary Wars III: Other People’s Meatballs
Ćevapčići from Leskovac, köfte from İzmir or Bulgarian kebapche? Greek keftedes too, please!
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Curiosity Chest
Romania
The Red and White Strings that Welcome Spring in Bulgaria and Romania
I remember walking along Canal Street in New York’s Chinatown on March 2 a few years ago, when I saw a man sporting a small ornament made of red and white thread pinned to his coat lapel. He must be Bulgarian, I thought to myself with a sudden rush of homesickness, but now realize that he may have been Romanian as well.
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
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
If the relentless homophobia is already that bad, what's the attitude in general towards HIV/AIDS, given the rather worrying HIV-prevalence in Eastern Europe and Russia?
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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
10 October 2008 | The Future Shorts festival, which started to take place in the UK five years ago, opens in Romania for the first time today, national media reported.
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