Читать книгу Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks. Pirin, Rila and Central Balkans National Parks онлайн

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While slowly eating their salads, many Bulgarians also enjoy drinking a glass of rakiya, a brandy-type liquor made from distilled fruit such as grapes, plums or apricots. Commercial varieties normally have an alcohol content of about 40%, but home-made brews are sometimes nearer 50%. The other drink for which Bulgaria is famous, of course, is its wine. Some archaeologists believe that the territory of present day Bulgaria was the first place where vines were cultivated and wine produced. Today, one can still enjoy some traditional indigenous Bulgarian wines, such as mavrud, pamid, shevka and broad melnik, the latter reputed to have been a great favourite of Winston Churchill.

Language

Bulgarian is a South Slavonic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Although more and more young people are learning and speaking English, and many signs are starting to appear in Latin letters, you will certainly find it helpful if you familiarise yourself with the Cyrillic alphabet and carry with you a small phrasebook or dictionary such as the Chambers Bulgarian Phrasebook (Chambers Harrap, 2007) or Bulgarian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook by Ronelle Alexander (Lonely Planet, 2008).