For the modest sum of 144 euros per square meter, anyone can buy a medieval Italian village, wrote the newspaper Corriere della Sera. ” The total cost of the project is € 550,000. These are the village Valle Piola, which is on the outskirts of town Torichela Sikura in the Italian province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region. Valle Piola village consists of 11 uninhabited medieval stone houses with a total  [ Read More ]

Start shopping early if you’re booking a flight for any holidays…. or a wedding or a cruise.  There have been capacity cuts on all the airlines these last couple of years, so there will be fewer seats for those holiday flights. If you’re going on an impromptu trip, you can look and book at the last minute, but if you HAVE to be there for Christmas or Mother’s Day or  [ Read More ]

What is a passport? Bear with me as I start at the beginning of planning for an international trip.  If you’re a citizen of the world where they are commonplace, you’ll be wondering “Who doesn’t know THAT?”  Well, many Americans for one thing. The United States is a large, diverse country.  People can and do live their entire lives without leaving its borders.  There’s plenty to see and do here.   [ Read More ]

You have to deal with that foreign language if you’ve decided to travel abroad.  This is true no matter what your native language is.  It’s handy to know English.  English is widely spoken around the world.  When someone from Greece or Poland meets someone from Italy or Germany, they speak English. Since English seems to be the lingua franca around the world, we’ll look at it from that perspective.  If  [ Read More ]

There are security lines in almost all airports in the world these days.  If you want to get through those lines like the frequent flyers do, there are a few tricks that will make it easier for you and everyone around you.  Think ahead, so you’re not doing all of this just as you get to the head of the line. Empty your pockets of loose change.  Wallets and cell  [ Read More ]

The Bank of Spain announced on Thursday that it had approved the capital-raising plans presented by 13 banks and savings banks, known as cajas, including a 2.8-billion-euro application for state funding from the troubled Caja Mediterraneo (CAM). In a statement, the central bank said that nine financial entities may need to tap into money from the FROB bank restructuring fund. Four have agreed to seek private investors to raise up  [ Read More ]

French hotel operator Accor said on April 14 2011 that it would invest 22 million euro in the construction of hotel in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia under its Novotel brand, which will be built in co-operation with local investment company MHQ. The hotel will be accommodated in a 15-storey mixed-use complex on Tsarigradsko Chaussee Boulevard, near shopping centre The Mall. Accor has already started construction work at the site and expects  [ Read More ]

Sofia International airport has reported a three per cent growth in passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2011, Investor.bg reported on April 14 2011. A total of 778 955 passengers were processed by the airport authorities, representing a three per cent growth from the same period in 2010. The number of passengers travelling internationally was 22 300 more than last year. Foreign carriers traveling to and from Bulgaria reported  [ Read More ]

I think some changes could be made to the current Constitution of Bulgaria, Dimitar Gochev, a former constitutional judge and former judge with the European Court of Human Rights, said in an interview with FOCUS News Agency on the occasion of April 16, Day of Constitution and holiday of Bulgarian jurists. I think it is not unfounded to discuss the issue of amending the Constitution, because the society is changing.  [ Read More ]

It is Saint Lazar’s Day, the day when Jesus Christ made one of His miracles – resurrection of Lazar. It falls on Saturday before Palm Sunday and is a week before Easter. All churches across the country will hold services on that occasion. The day is known for a custom called Lazaruvane. Traditionally, green willow twigs are picked and on the next day, Palm Sunday, they are pinned on doors.