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Article posted: 11/3/2012 6:00 AM

Ancient ruins, fast cars a blur in Bulgaria

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People watch as a woman gets a fish pedicure in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.

Associated Press

Visitors walk near the Victoria Palace hotel, one of several large resorts that line the Black Sea coast, in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.

Associated Press

A woman sells honey at a roadside stand in Bulgaria.

Associated Press

Menus in Plovdiv, Bulgaria have English translations.

Associated Press

Alexander Nevsky Church in Sofia is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.

Associated Press

The ancient Roman theater in Plovdiv is one of many antique sites found in Bulgaria.

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A traditional Bulgarian feast includes shopska salad, lower right, a salad of peppers and a bread with feta cheese called pogatcha.

Associated Press

About this Article

A visit to Bulgaria can alternately feel like taking like a step back in time and witnessing a society that has modernized at warp speed. Mules and Ferraris share the freeways. Near a store selling Prada and Versace clothes, old women peddle handmade crocheted doilies and embroidered tablecloths. Dilapidated Soviet-style apartment buildings teem with people, as does a sparkling new shopping mall.