A Bulgarian Village Like No Other

After a two-month hiatus from publishing on Medium, it’s good to be back with a monthly challenge contribution I’m so excited about, I may — for the first time — submit more than one piece on the topic.

I’m pretty sure I’ve said it elsewhere, but streets are open-door museums and galleries that give us a glimpse into and a sense of a place.

If you want to know a place, if you want to know what matters to its inhabitants, walk its streets.

Walking and slow travel, for me, go hand in hand, mostly because both allow me to experience a place in a more meaningful and engaging way. Whether that place is a new or a familiar one.

Case in point: as I’ve been spending a lot more time in my native Bulgaria the past 3+ years, I’m surprised to discover unique locations I’d have never known existed if only visiting my family for 2–3 weeks a year (as I used to do for about two decades).

In the context of street art, Staro Zhelezare is one such location.

Street art — graffiti or otherwise — represents an important character aspect of many Bulgarian towns and cities, but it’s not something you expect to see in any of the small villages dotting the country.

Click Here