Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey (1995) | By Isabel Fonseca
Going around gypsy settlements in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and as far as Albania, Fonseca records the stories of all kinds of characters.
Her book describes in detail the Roma's traditions and the way they have been layered with their modern ideas and life – on anything from food and music to religion and taboos. Bury Me Standing is a good cultural guide for journeys to the numerous Roma-populated regions in Bulgaria and Romania. It would also be a useful read for the local ethnic majorities, which – despite a long-term cohabitation, don’t know the Roma communities well and continue to feel a traditional hostility towards them.
Epicure
Croatia
The Truffle Rush
The Istria Peninsula in Northern Croatia is the Klondike of the culinary world. Every October, among the Motovun forests near the Livade village and along the banks of the Mirna River, there are swarming hoards of people and dogs – some sources claim as many as 15,000.
Full Story
Curiosity Chest
Balkans
Stecci to be Nominated as Joint Cultural Heritage by 4 Balkan Countries
5 November 2009 | In a rare move of cooperation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro recently agreed to nominate the medieval tombstones, known as stecci, scattered across the four countries as their shared cultural heritage to the UN World Heritage List. Full Story
Useful Reads
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Povratak | By Snjezana Mulic
A powerful new novel follows the fortunes of five Bosnians, trying and not always succeeding, to find their way home. Full Story
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
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