Issue 238

The story of Iliyan Naydenov deserves a Hollywood film. He started his first business while still in school and turned his inability to study medicine into an opportunity for a bodybuilding career and the foundation of the successful tea and food supplements company, The Green Bear. Today, Mr Naydenov runs several companies and understands both the price and the secret of success. Yet he consistently believes in one thing above all: that the most important mission in his life is to be a good person and an exemplary father.

Seasoned ancient mariners caught in a storm along the west Black Sea coast would become weary when they saw a light, indicating the nearby presence of terra firma. This did not always mean that there was a safe haven nearby. Sometimes, people living on the shore would set fires along treacherous cliffs to lure hapless ships to their demise. Then they would rob the wreck.

In the spring of 335 BC, Alexander III, the new king of Macedon, was climbing a hill in Thrace. It was not an ordinary hill, but a rocky stronghold of fortifications, houses and towers, protecting something famed across the ancient world: the Thracian sanctuary of Dionysus. There, the god's will was revealed when wine was poured onto the flames of a sacred altar – one that had never been known to fail in its predictions.

Four bronze figures look towards the sky as a plane flies over Sofia's City Garden. One holds his left hand above his eyes; another keeps her right hand around her ears. Aeroplanes 1943 is a strange, yet distinctive sculpture by Bulgarian artist Nikolay 'Shmirgela' Vladov (1911-1999). About 2,000 kilometres north of Sofia, in Belgium, an identical copy of this sculpture stands in the serene garden of a museum.

Take in the elaborate wooden ceilings of some of the house museums open to the public and you will know why. What is unavoidable, however, is the old clock tower right in the town's square. Years ago the local clock-man had devised a mini Foucault's pendulum inside which you could see just for the asking. Next to it is one of the first modern schools in Bulgaria and further down the road the old bath house is now an art gallery featuring artefacts from the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Мen dressed in early 20th century military uniforms, patriotic songs and speeches, lots of banners and grilled meat stalls: the people who flock to a pristine meadow, overshadowed by a sombre stone monument in the Strandzha, in the third weekend of August, are here for a purpose.

Their annual gathering, at Petrova Niva, or Peter's Field, at a picturesque bend of the Veleka River, marks a heroic and traumatic event in Bulgarian history, the St Elijah-Transfiguration Uprising.

1. Which city is known as Bulgaria's maritime capital?
A. Varna 
B. Sozopol
C. Nesebar

2. How long is the Bulgarian Black Sea coast? 
A. 502 km 
B. 208 km
C. 378 km

3. Mesembria is the ancient name of which Bulgarian coastal city? 
A. Kaliakra 
B. Burgas 
C. Nesebar

Strictly speaking, this is not an idiom, but specific usage of the phrasal verb "let out", one that has become obsolete. Under Communism, the Bulgarians had to survive chronic shortages of anything from tomatoes to toilet paper. To create some feel-good factor amongst the populace, the Communist Party periodically "let out" various "luxury" goods in the retail market. Ordinary citizens were only allowed to eat oranges and bananas for New Year. The situation was the same for a series of other articles, for instance suitcases.

The people now need bread and circuses. There is no bread in the budget, but the people will be given circuses.

Diana Damyanova, PR expert

We cannot possibly govern for 100 years, but in 100 years, we are going to be in the textbooks.

Milen Trifonov, MP for Progressive Bulgaria

Progressive Bulgaria continues to act like a presidency. It only criticises and makes excuses.

Boyko Borisov, GERB

A small, neat bag full with dried lavender: the souvenir is ubiquitous in Mediterranean countries. It should be in the portfolio of Bulgarian souvenirs, too, along with vials of rose water. For over a decade now, this country has been the world's leader in production of fine lavender.

In times of political, economic and technological disturbances deemed historical even by contemporaries, luck becomes a key concept. It is the defining feature between success and failure. Every culture, religion and social and political system has given its own answer for what defines "good" from "bad luck": grit, hard work, virtues, agency, bravery, inventiveness.

Dear mother, dear mother, the church is cold,
But the ale-house is healthy and pleasant and warm;
Besides I can tell where I am used well,
Such usage in Heaven will never do well.

But if at the church they would give us some ale,
And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
We'd sing and we'd pray all the live-long day,
Nor ever once wish from the church to stray.