Blog
Offers a commented visual diary of our research field-trips – in a triangle between Vienna (A) Tallinn (EST) and Russe (BG)
Autoput
At least some sections of the highway „Brotherhood and Unity“ follow the same line as the old did. Some of the initial facilities are still in use. … and so are certain practices and habits. And just close by new developments, which try to attract certain customers. ... read more
Hotel Nais
Ahead of our trip different people mentioned this spot being used by turkish truck drivers. Surprisingly now the whole complex is just a ruin and the parking is empty.
Right now the whole complex is for sale!
Motel Nis
Wake up in this do it yourself Motel wedged between the former main road and the railway tracks. „Nebo“, a guy we met at the petrol station and who speaks German fluently, led us there the night before. It turned out that he had some experience with cross-border businesses from the mid 90-ties on – always adapting his practices and operating areas to the demands.... read more
Roundabout
Arriving in Nis we withdraw money from the cash machine at the highly frequented shopping mall next to a new roundabout. We park our van just next to its siblings. read more
Bottleneck
Due to the topography on the way from the border to Nis, the road gets curvy and narrow. As soon as the valley widens a snack stand/ inn pops up. … as well as some ruins of former roadside... read more
External Frontier
Crossing the Serbian border we again leave the EU. We pass a long queue of trucks waiting for the customs. The customs-officers request a road-toll which we should pay cash – either in Euro or in Serbian Dinar. But we just have some Bulgarian Lew. After negotiating with employees of several exchange offices a lady agreed to change the money – we could go... read more
Megastructure
On our trip we were u.a. in search of once important stops along the major traffic-corridors. So we were very much attracted by this roof construction on our way from Sofia to the Serbian border. But it turned out that this was a misinterpretation and the complex was an abandoned military... read more
Ilyantsi Market
… is the largest open-air and partly indoor market in the north-west of Sofia. Serbs told us, that during the period of international embargo against Serbia this market was made especially to serve their needs. The embargo is over since a long time. But the market surprisingly it still exists, it is even upgraded with the Carrefour... read more
Terminal Sofia
Just next to the main station and the smaller terminal is the big central bus station of... read more
Bus Travel
As we noticed already in Vienna many transnational commuters use the extensive bus-network. The rather brand new ‚Container Village‘ in front of the main station hosts travel-agencies and small cafes. The ad of this bus company covers exactly the destinations we passed on our „triangle-trip“ (Vienna – Tallinn – Sofia –... read more
Sofia Main Station
Very representative the combination of the big hall, a monument and the vast underground network of passages and paths. But sadly the spaces are hardly frequented and shops closed down. … and on the platform – encounter with the frigo-containers of an Austria based hauling... read more
Inauguration
By accident we had visited the newly redesigned „Jenzki Pazar“ (the Women’s Market) in Sofia exactly on the day and in that half an hour when the mayor of Sofia proudly presented the innovations to the press! Before the total redesign the project „The Unseen Women’s Market„, initiated by Nikola Venkov, intended to provoke a debate about the value of this type of urban spaces in Bulgaria by focussing on the markets‘ diversity and individual narratives. Next to the redevelopment the stalls from socialist period are still in... read more
SOMAT Base
From the guard at the SOMAT hotel, we got the hint to the SOMAT base in Pazardzhik. Since it was on our route we stopped over. Again a very friendly guard who has been already for SOMAT showed us around, telling us stories from the ‚glory days‘!
read more
Grey Parking
We pull over, as we notice the lettering „Waberers Terminal“. The company Waberers Optimum Solution is the successor of state owned hauling-company Hungarocamion. At our previous stop a truck driver explained Emi the difference between „Grey Parking“ and „White Parking“. The „Grey“ is not guarded and provides a rather informal... read more
Spare Parts Park
The Sunday morning in Dimitrovgrad second hand car market (or better: spare parts market) plus flea market located in the park around the old sports stadium was really impressive – for our Western European romantic gaze. But the market well organized and less informal as supposed. Even the municipality of Dimitrovgrad provides several informations about all the markets on their webpage. ... read more
Dimitrovgrad
In Dimitrovgrad, the main market close to the railway station, which had also been normalized in the meantime, which is a logical development everywhere else as well. Only at the margins it remains a bit more informal… As a reference an article by Velislava Petrova and the transformation of the Market – which she seems to her problematic. „Take the Market Out of Sight“ Along the path from the main market to the car and spare parts market some vendors are selling from the tailgates of their cars or just putting up their goods on the pavement – frequency matters!... read more
Türkiye
Heading for Edirne! But sadly, after paying for the visa 25,-€ per person and after waiting several hours at the turkish checkpoint, we were sent back to Bulgarian territory. The argument was, that our van is licensed as a truck and we would have to queue up behind all the other big trucks! But we made at least some interesting observations.
read more