Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 67

bake); mish mash (a surprisingly delicious egg, cheese, and red pepper mix); burek
(red peppers or zucchini stuffed with a feta-type cheese, spices, and egg). Other typi-
cal items on the menu include kavarma (individual casseroles of meat, at its best melt-
in-the-mouth tender, baked with garlic, onion, peppers, and mushrooms in a
traditional earthenware pot), sarmi (vine leaves stuffed with rice and tender spicy
minced pork and covered in dill-infused strained or thick yogurt) and moussaka (a
Greek dish of minced meat with eggplant). Bulgarian breakfast is comprised of ban-
itsa —a flaky pastry stuffed with salty white cheese—and espresso or boza, made from
fermented millet; the latter is an acquired taste.
TIPS ON SHOPPING
Bulgarians are gifted artisans; low prices only add to the temptation, so make sure you
arrive with plenty of space in your suitcase. Crafts worth looking out for include the
uniquely painted earthenware table- and cookware; wooden carvings; spices (chubritsa
in particular); rakia (the grape- or plum-based brandy, enjoyed as an aperitif with
salad); red wine (even when it's dirt-cheap it's good, but if you're after something spe-
cial look out for anything produced by Damianitza, particularly Red Ark and No
Man's Land), carpets, and embroidered clothing and tablecloths (the traditional red
tablecloths you find in almost every restaurant are as cheerful as gingham). Icons are
sold on every street corner and in churches, but most are prints pasted on to timber
blocks; for a beautifully painted icon you're best off purchasing direct from a master,
like the two working out of Etara (see under “Veliko Tarnovo,” later in this chapter).
Clothing produced locally is very cheap but looks it; better bargains are imported
from Turkey. Shops tend to close on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays. Most
important (again!), bear in mind that outside of Sofia, shops usually don't accept
credit cards. Of those that do, MasterCard and Visa are more widely accepted. A use-
ful website if you're looking for something specific is www.need.bg/en, a comprehen-
sive Bulgarian business catalog.
FAST FACTS: Bulgaria
Addresses Note that streets in Bulgaria are called “ulitsa”; squares are “plosh-
tad”; “bulevard” is of course a boulevard. “Sveta,” usually prefacing a church,
means Saint.
Area Code The area code is +359.
Banks You'll find banks and ATMs almost everywhere in the city centers and on
the main roads running through most towns. As cash is still the most widely
used form of payment, make sure you've withdrawn from these before visiting
small villages in the mountains.
Business Hours Shops usually open weekdays 9 or 10am to 7pm, and Saturday
9am to 1pm. On Sundays, most shops close. Banks, shops, and sites in rural
towns often take a midday break between 12:30 or 1pm and 2pm, and close at
5pm. Most museums close on Mondays.
Car Rentals All major international car hire agencies are represented See “Get-
ting Around: By Car,” p. 64.