Ukraine
Torn by the east and the west, divided by the wars, Ukraine sadly remains one of the poorest economies in Europe. The chervonetz, Ukrainian currency, simply isn't convertible, but Ukraine does have more to offer. If you go to the city of Lvov, you had better speak German or Polish - not Russian. They do not really like Russians there due to a couple of painful wars and the Stalinism that starved them to death. To the east you have the enormous mines of Dnepropetrovsk, where a substantial part of the world's coal is produced. The city of Kiev is a realm of its own. Igor "the long-armed" founded the capital a thousand years ago. But yet, for another thousand years, this country was under Bulgarian rule. Artifacts of the proto-Bulgarians have been excavated here. The Bulgarian Diaspora started from what is now Ukraine. more