The Devil’s Bridge over the Arda river is one of the most picturesque bridges in Bulgaria (spelled Дяволски мост or Dyavolski most in Bulgarian). It is located in a scenic valley near the villages of Dyadovtsi and Latinka in Southern Bulgaria, a must for your Rhodope Mountains route.

The bridge is 420 meters high locked in a gorge surrounded by steep mountains. It is 56 meters long, 3.5 meters wide and it consists of 3 beautiful arcs.

The bridge was built in the beginning of the 16th century when such huge dimensions were not a common sight. It still strikes visitors as an impressive Medieval structure.

The Devil’s Bridge | by Klearchos Kapoutsis

Back then, Bulgaria was still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. However, Selim I, the sultan at that time, wanted to connect the southern Bulgarian lands with the Aegean Sea. This was a strategic move owing to the land’s abundance of natural resources. The sultan wanted to boost the empire’s production and trading market.

Why Devil’s bridge

The legend behind the name tells the story of a Bulgarian girl who was running away from the Ottoman governors. When she crossed over the bridge, the persecutors thought they saw the Devil in the water underneath and they did not dare to go on. The girl was set free.

There’s picnic area nearby, so you can relax and admire the view.

The Devil’s Bridge | by Klearchos Kapoutsis

How to get to the Devil’s Bridge

There’s no public transportation so you’ll have to rent a car. There’s a road all the way to the bridge. The Devil’s Bridge is some 300 km from Sofia but save at least 5 hours for driving as a big part of the route is mountainous.

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1. Africa is the only continent situated in all the four hemispheres – the western, the eastern, the northern and the southern.

2. Lesotho, The Vatican and San Marino are the only three countries in the world that are surrounded entirely by only one country. Lesotho borders South Africa, The Vatican and San Marino border Italy.

3. The Greek national anthem consists of 158 verses. It is not known if there is a Greek who can sing them all by heart.

4. There is not a single river in Saudi Arabia.

5. The shortest place name in the world is Å. Villages with this name can be found both in Norway and Sweden. In the Scandinavian languages “Å” means “River”.

6. The smallest country area is that of the Vatican (2 square miles/5 square kilometers), while the largest city area is that of Hulunbuir in China (101,912 square miles/263,953 square kilometers)

7. New York drifts away from London 1 inch/2,5 cm every year.

8. Dust from Africa can reach as far as Florida.

9. The Himalayas are getting higher 0,6 inch/1,5 cm every year.

10. There is a heart-shaped coral reef in Australia.

11. Cuba is the only Caribbean country that has a railway.

12. The biggest pyramid in the world is not in Egypt but in… Mexico. It is called Cholula and is currently covered in grass.

13. All the gondolas in Venice must be black unless they are the property of a high-ranked official.

14. The name of Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata or canada, meaning village or settlement.

15. The Transsiberian Railway in Russia crosses 3901 bridges along its way.

16. The Philippines Archipelago consists of 7107 islands.

17. Around 90% of the world population lives in the northern hemisphere.

18. Until 2002 there was an agreement between Monaco and France that if the principality doesn’t have a male heir, Monaco would lose its independence.

19. It’s forbidden for airplanes to fly over the Taj Mahal.

20. Mexico City sinks 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) a year because it was built over a lake. The city has sunk around 32 feet/10 m in the last 60 years.

21. The first city to reach 1 million inhabitants was Rome in 133 BC. London reached the line in 1810, New York – in 1875. Nowadays more than 300 cities in the world have more than a million inhabitants.

22. Amman – the capital of Jordan, used to be called Philadelphia.

23. If a man gives a woman a compliment in Togo, he should marry her.

24. Until almost the end of the 80’s there was not a single phone in Bhutan.

25. On the 18th of February 1979 it was snowing in the Sahara.

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1. While you are telling us stories about your last trip to Provence, we are already making plans how to go there.

2. While you boast your new smartphone, we automatically turn its price into plane tickets, paragliding or summer festival ticket.

3. We love to eat our pizza in Italy. Not because we are haughty. Because the pizza in Italy goes with stories from the cook, the sound of conversations in Italian from the near tables and a view to the rolling hills of Tuscany. Same with gazpacho in Spain. And pljeskavica in Serbia.

4. We want to tell you about every single step of our last trip, about every new friend, smell and sound, but we are afraid that you might get bored.

5. We love it when you ask us for advice – where to go this weekend? What is the best place to visit in Barcelona? How exactly do I get to Versailles?

6. Sometimes we feel a little guilty that we travel without our friends. But we cannot wait for you forever to have enough money or free time.

7. We spend more time than you can imagine choosing a present for you from the trip.

8. Sometimes we wear the same pair of socks for more than one day.

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The team of Dr Peter Dodds from the University of Vermont decided to reveal which are the most positive languages in the world, using scientific methods. The study found out that Spanish can be labeled as the happiest language. But let’s see…

…How the study works

The researchers built a database of billions of words, using online resources such as Google Books, Twitter, subtitles on films and TV shows, song lyrics and the New York Times and the Daily Mail reports.

The languages taking part in the study were Spanish, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Indonesian, Korean, Russian and German. The database was used to comply a list of 10,000 most common words in each language. Afterwards each word was marked as “positive” or “negative” based on its meaning. For example, “death” or “kill” are labeled as negative, while “happiness” or “smile” – as positive.

So far so good. But let’s see…

…What the study revealed

The researchers found that each of the ten languagees studied was inherently positive, and more words fell on the bright side of the centre than on the dark one.

‘The words of natural human language possess a universal positivity bias, the estimated emotional content of words is consistent between languages under translation, and this positivity bias is strongly independent of frequency of word use,” the study says.

Here are:

Top 10 happiest languages

1. Spanish

2. Portuguese

3. English

4. Indonesian

5. French

6. German

7. Arabic

8. Russian

9. Korean

10. Chinese

The researchers found that each of the ten languages studied was inherently positive, and more words fell on the bright side of the center than on the dark one. Thankfully, several of these are some of the easier languages to learn so you can get started right away.

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Dromomania is a medical diagnosis, which is best described as pathological tourism, or a ceaseless desire to travel from one place to another. Sufferers are usually so tightly grasped by these impulses that they simply cannot resist and resign to a life of constant traveling.

Below is a list of symptoms, which you can use to check if you might have Dromomania:

1. Your suitcase is never fully unpacked.

2. You can curse in at least six languages.

3. The only reason you do any job is to make money for your next trip.

4. Flight attendants know your name, even before looking at your ticket.

5. You have more friends abroad than in your own country.

6. You start planning your next trip before even having returned from the current one.

7. When you are abroad, tourists often ask you for directions. And you have an answer right away.

8. When you sit behind your desk, you reach back for your seat belt.

9. You’ve flown for more kilometers than you’ve driven your own car.

10. You own more of those tiny bottles of shampoo and shower gel than you the regular ones.

11. When you wake up at home you feel weird.

12. Sometimes you instinctively try to wrap a regular pillow around your neck, like you would a travel pillow.

13. You room is overflowing with souvenirs.

14. You are now an expert at currency exchange rates and always have a few types of currency on you.

15. The thought of staying home for the weekend is terrifying.

16. It’s hard to fall asleep without the soothing sound of a running engine.

17. You can pack your bags in less than 5 minutes.

18. Your bucket list contains almost only destinations.

19. When you are at home, you place your hands under the faucet and expect water to start running on its own.

20. You are saddened by the fact that the waiter doesn’t understand a word of your much practiced Dutch. Then you remember that you are in Hungary.

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