Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and North Africa. In the Muslim regions where it is present, meze is often served as a part of multi-course meals, while in Greece and the Balkans they function more as snacks while drinking or talking.
Pomace brandy is a liquor distilled from pomace that is left over from winemaking, after the grapes are pressed. It is called marc in both English and French, but "grappa" in Italian. In Spain it is sometimes called marc, but more usually orujo. Alcohol derived from pomace is also used as the traditional base spirit of other liquors, such as some anise-flavored spirits. Unlike wine brandy, most pomace brandies are neither aged nor coloured.
Grappa is an alcoholic beverage, a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume.
Troyan is a town remembering the name of Roman Emperor Trajan, in Lovech Province in central Bulgaria with population of 21,997 inhabitants, as of December 2009. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Troyan Municipality. The town is about 162 kilometres away from the country capital Sofia. The river of Beli Osam passes through the heart of the town.
The 2011 Census indicates that the population of the Trojan was 21.194 inhabitants. The racial distribution of the inhabitants is ethnic Bulgarians (87.29%), with minorities being Roma (1.23%) and Turks (1.03%). The ethnicity for 10,21% of inhabitants is not known.
Donka Mihaylova of Bulgarian Socialist Party has been the town's mayor since 2011.
An eau de vie is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavour is typically very light.
Bulgarian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of Eastern Europe. It shares characteristics with other Balkan cuisines. Bulgarian cooking traditions are diverse because of geographical factors such as climatic conditions suitable for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruit. Aside from the vast variety of local Bulgarian dishes, Bulgarian cuisine shares a number of dishes with Persian, Turkish, and Greek cuisine.
Paragoge, is the addition of a sound to the end of a word. Often caused by nativization, it is a type of epenthesis, most commonly vocalic epenthesis.
The Poti Sea Port is a major seaport and harbor off the eastern Black Sea coast at the mouth of the Rioni River in Poti, Georgia. Its UN/LOCODE is GEPTI and is located at 42°9′18″N 41°39′16″E
Ruqaya Al-Ghasra, is a Bahraini athlete. She was one of the first women to represent Bahrain at the Olympic Games, by taking part in the women's 100 metres sprint at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Bahrain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The country sent a total of 15 competitors to the Games, competing in athletics, swimming and shooting,. This constituted Bahrain's largest Olympic delegation to date. Among the country's representatives is Maryam Yusuf Jamal, reigning world champion in the women's 1,500 metre run. Rakia Al Gassra was the country's flagbearer at the Games' opening ceremony. In athletics, Rashid Ramzi was originally awarded the gold medal in men's 1,500 meters but it was later stripped due to doping violation.
The Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace is a five-star hotel in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It is located in a central area overlooking the old part of the city and run by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. The hotel was built in 1989 and opened in 1991.
Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi is the current Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.
Real Madrid Resort Island was a proposed sports and amusement park planned by Real Madrid on Marjan Island, a 50 hectares artificial island near Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. The project had a projected budget of $US 1 billion. In June 2013, the project was stopped by the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) due to a lack of funding, as the sheikdom was in the process of restructuring its debts.
Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) was constituted by Emiri Decree No. (2)/2005 issued by the late Sheikh [შაქრითა[Saqr Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi]] in view of reinforcing the investment climate of this member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and promoting various economic sectors. Its establishment was linked to a World Bank study and investment promotion event in May 2005 initiated and pursued by the Swiss-Lebanese engineer Khater Massaad who was a long-time adviser to Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, the creator of RAK Ceramics and the longtime CEO of RAKIA.
The Bišnja Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Intercession of the Theotokos and located in the village of Donja Bišnja, 5 kilometres from the town of Derventa, in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was built through financial support from its ktitor, Ratko Đekić from San Diego, California. Its construction began in 2002 on the land that Đekić donated to the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the monastery was consecrated on 18 June 2006. Its first inhabitants were two monks who came from the Ozren Monastery and the Monastery of St. Basil of Ostrog, Bijeljina. The frescoes in the Bišnja Monastery's church were completed in 2011. The monastery owns an orchard of 1800 apple and pear trees, from whose fruits the monks produce rakia.
Torshi are the pickled vegetables of the cuisines of many Balkan and Middle East countries. The word turşu is ultimately derived from Persian tursh, which means 'sour'. In Turkic languages such as Turkish and Azerbaijani it is spelled turşu.
Farhad Azima is a US-Iranian arms dealer. He has flown weapons to the Balkans and navigated Washington's power circles.
