Being a travel addict and tourism geek made me realize that Bulgaria and Bulgarian Black Sea coast reputation is practically a joke. We’re like the budget version of bigger destinations - foreigners would rather come for the sun, sand, booze and getting rid of their children for a week. So we advertise that. The whole promote-according-the-demand thing made me consider alternatives like showing you exactly the opposite side of Bulgaria. I wouldn’t show you a place where booze is cheap or a sweaty night club where toxic is not only the alcohol.
Being stuck for the season in Sofia – working because rest of the world is travelling, made me put several exhibitions on my calendar. My second job is yelling ‘Hurrah!’ because all of them are an amazing source of inspiration. First one – ‘Black Sea’ Maritime Archaeology Project exhibition. It’s an internationally sponsored expedition where many universities and scientists have tried to get as much information as possible from the sea about the ancient civilizations, strange new bacteria, sailing routes and methods. This is a strange symbiosis. Noticing they had to handle 2,000 meters of water and knowing the Bulgarian bureaucracy is way challenging, I seriously think that, they had just another round of exploration. In order to keep myself amazed and entertained during my visit, I decided to leave the detailed reading for later. All I knew was that there will be pictures and information covering an old National Geographic article. By old, I mean written within the last 2-3 years.
You will be surprised how small this whole thing seem. It covers less than 10 square feet of a floor at a mall in Sofia, Bulgaria. The mall (this is what we call shopping centers in Bulgaria because, we are fabulous) is Park Center. Behind the reduced number of information boards and few presentation boxes, you will find a magnificent project. If you are familiar with the Doctor Who series will know what bigger on the inside means. That’s what this whole project is. Read about it in an old National Geographic Bulgaria edition while ago. I have honestly been thinking that this will be it and it’s more likely to see a few frames featured in a future NG documentary about wild sea fishes rather than a whole movie about the expedition. I guess the research sponsors proved me wrong and I would like to thank them! The exposition contains just a few of the discoveries and in the same time promotes a future movie. Yes, there will be a movie in the cinemas … soon.
You’ll see the tripods and a small information desk on arrival. Don’t expect to be charged. There’s no admission at all. The only thing you should do is being curious. Ask questions and hey, smile when you meet your guide. Yes, the exposition does have one. The person on shift during my visit was an energetic, skinny, bright-eyed young lady. Feel free to share what your host was like, during your visit in case you’ve been there already. She told me that what I am about to see is a few layouts – 3D prints of different ships discovered, scanned and explored during the expedition. One of them is oldest shipwreck discovered in Black Sea and I think she mentioned it’s the oldest discovered in the world too.
All of them remained in a good condition because the Black Sea bottom has extremely low levels of oxygen (that does not include the sea shore, don’t worry). There were other conservation conditions which I won’t share in the name of the ‘no spoilers’ policy. Be sure they are a lot more. Like some strange bacteria … which clearly isn’t lactobacillus bulgaricus.
She also mentioned a VR experience. Something I did not appreciate at first. We were also going to explore the sea bottom structure and watch a trailer.
Just a step or two from the entrance, I saw the 3D prints in boxes. Ships were 3-4. Each in a box and small detailed scale. As a person working with set decorations and design, I really appreciated the attempt to recreate all colors and angles of each ship. It may be over 250-300 at the sea bottom but the four I saw definitely showed the different sailing cultures from black sea. They do look like lego at the sea bottom. It happened to me to get to know each boat and ship structure for most of the cultures but I have never had the opportunity to see them as 3D models. They were always in pictures. Well, my visit was the perfect time to touch them. Trust me, my finger tips were itching.
After seeing the layouts, my host introduced the VR experience. Use the goggles to dive. The expedition divers could not get to the scanned ships, in the deep but they were able to use Surveyor. That’s what the multi-tool facility was called. You will feel like a real life diver for a few seconds before realizing that you’re actually looking through the scanner’s eyes. In order to prevent the scream (that’s what I did at first), I am warning you – prepare for something big and look down. You will see the skeleton of a Greek and Byzantium ships – one for each VR. Each of them if life size and you will be watching them from above. I was shocked because for a split second, I lost the feeling of ground. Wearing the VR, you can walk above the ships, look at them from different angles … and hit some of the expo-tools. Don’t worry, your guide is already used to that. They are also used with the people looking ridiculous walking around and pointing here and there.
After coming back from the sea bottom, I got the opportunity to see probes from the Black Sea bottom. There’s almost everything – except the garbage (which was not presented, since that’s absolutely unnecessary and out of the exposition point), I noticed lava sand, old trees, pottery and many stones with different size and structure. The guide said that it is believed that Noah ark is somewhere in the Black Sea since most of the coast line has changed a lot during the centuries. I am not a religious person. Frankly, in Santa I trust. Also, in science, of course. So, this is a fact, I decided to discard. Ancient shipwrecks are more interesting than a ship where a guy who preserved mosquitoes along with the other creatures on a boat. Rest of the believers reading this article, please feel free to believe, ancient ships were able to hold two hippos, elephants, giraffes, etc altogether.
Dealing with the sand facts, I was invited to check the trailer of the upcoming movie which was actually interesting. More interesting than the typical trailers on Discovery Channel or NG. It was not because this is an expedition about the shores near my country. The main reason was the point of view. Diving in the deep sea waters and looking at the heights. This will be the first time many would realize that your visit by the sea can be a lot more than a sunbath experience. You are swimming in ancient waters where mysterious ships with even more mysterious cargo crossed from place to place.
I didn’t take the picture of the plasma and didn’t really take a video of the trailer because it’s worth seeing it in person. The pre-trailer online is good one as well. If you can’t pop at the expo, feel free to check the project website and see it. Feel free to share your comments right after. It will be interesting to read them. ?
On your way out, feel free to check the picture boards as well. They will hold the underwater feeling for a while and let you imagine what the expedition team felt like.
As some of you know, I like advising how can you get to each presented destination. Most of you are well aware how to use escalators, so once you have arrived at Park Center, just go to Floor 3 and look right – to the right. There are lifts to each floor of the mall and trust me, this is one of the places in Sofia where you can survive even if you need special assistance.
Getting to Park Center:
Nearby Underground – European Union Station. This is just outside the mall.
Bus stops: ‘Hemus Hotel’ for line 94 ; 102
Trolley stops: ‘Hemus Hotel’ for line 7
You can also do the walking from National Palace of Culture which is an interesting place however, I would not suggest that option in a hot summer day.
The MAP Black Sea Exposition is available from 16 July 2019 to 15 September 2019. No working hours were advised however, be sure to visit earlier the day. ?
