Old World traditions — fasting, feasting, incense, and song — make Bulgaria's Christmas season special, and tour guide Stefan Bozadzhiev invites us to imagine it with him. Then an Istanbul guide updates us on the latest big news in Turkey's cultural capital, and a culinary historian inspires us to peruse our spice racks as she discusses the often surprising origins of the eight flavors that unite America's diverse cuisines.

• Stefan Bozadzhiev, tour guide based in Sofia, Bulgaria
• Lale Sürmen Aran, tour guide based in Istanbul, Turkey
• Culinary historian Sarah Lohman, author of "Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine" (Simon & Schuster)

• Stefan Bozadzhiev blogs about Bulgaria travel on Facebook, and offers tours of Bulgaria and neighboring countries through Lyuba Tours, based in Sofia.
• The late founder of Lyuba Tours, Lyuba Boyanin, shared her own look at Bulgarian Christmastime traditions with Rick in the middle of Travel with Rick Steves program #228c in 2014.
• Lale Sürmen Aran operates SRM Travel, which specializes in tours of Turkey and the Middle East region.
• Lale and her husband Tankut are co-authors of the Rick Steves Istanbul guidebook. They also operate a boutique hotel in Mustafapasa, called Cappadocia Estates.
• The Rick Steves online guide to Istanbul.
• Culinary historian Sarah Lohman is the author of "Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine." Sarah's newest book is "Endangered Eating: America's Vanishing Foods." Her archived gastronomy food blog is at FourPoundsFlour.com.