Issue 159-160

Trump commended his ally, Bulgaria, for spending as much as 3 percent of its GDP on defence (Germany should take an example of that, according to Trump) and for having recently concluded a deal to buy some US F-35 fighter jets (Bulgaria is actually about to buy F-16s). Speaking at the National Democratic Institute in DC Borisov told the Americans to "go on quarrelling at home," but assured Bulgaria would welcome both Republicans and Democrats.

Such examples are the fortification structures excavated at a salt-producing town near Provadiya and a fortified settlement now in Ticha Dam, near Shumen, both belonging to the 5th millennium BC. Archaeologists interpret these two sites as early evidence for a stratified society whose wealth and resources attracted incursions and invasions.

Discovering new fortifications sounds great, but most of the fortresses in the Bulgarian lands are in a condition that can excite only an archaeologist. Few have survived in a state fit for Instagrammable photos.

T-Rexes and diplodocs, pterodactyls and megalodons. These are the first things we usually think of when contemplating the distant past of our Earth, of the times when strange creatures roamed continents and oceans that are now only a distant geological memory. Fascinated by these giants of the past, we often miss the larger picture. These animals did not live in a vacuum. They inhabited an environment dominated by plants that they used for food and shelter.

I used to live on the last floor, but now I reside on the landing between the last and the next-to-last floor. I don't remember how long it's been. It must be a while, though, since people seem really used to me by now and pretend I don't even exist. For my part, I just sit here, look out the window, and keep mum.

They say you cannot buy happiness with money. It is true, in principle... until the moment when we see the shining eyes of our beloved one when they open the carefully packaged gift for a birthday, holiday or St Valentine. And in this case, the happiness is double, for the person who receives and to the one who makes the gift.

Exotic experiences are a good thing, but for people of today, local tourism is one of the most rewarding forms of travelling. There is no need to fly and waste our energy and the precious time of our vacation at airports, waiting for connecting flights. Instead, only a couple of hours by car among picturesque landscapes bring us to places with specific charm and atmosphere, history and tastes. This gives us more time for the so-called slow travel that focuses on the quality of the experience, not on overloading the senses with new things until becoming inured.