Specifics of a Bulgarian botanical garden - Imprinted by LightCaptured
Greetings, travelers! (by all kinds of transport, by feet or by heart ;))
Today, let me share with you all some specifics of the botanical garden, owned and ran by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (for simplicity, it's practically a state owned garden).
There are many things about that garden that I like and some that I find quite strange and of course, some that I don't like. I guess all that derives from the specifics of the state of the contemporary Bulgarian society...
So let's have a list of those, just solely for entertainment purposes and of course, let's compare if any of you have observation of a similar facility in your own country :) I am going to sort that list on how strange I find the specific "angle"...
The garden is not open on Sundays. Wait, what? Yeah, that's right. Isn't this is a place where the owner allegedly wants to attract more customers (tickets, etc.)? There is some logic that families would love to take that short nature exploration time off, or just bring their children so they see plants that are not usual for the country. Probably Monday is a better day off? Well, it is not that only. The opening hours are also quite strange, from 10:00 to 15:00 in the cold seasons and 16:00 at the warm parts of the year. Such a waste, right... This place has huge flower gardens under the open sky and would be an awesome place to meet the sunset, on a bench, with friends... Anyway :)
There is no public transport stop in front of it. Because... right... who would need that. The nearest one is "only" 300 meters away and as The Garden is situated at the ring road of the capital, walking there isn't a nice experience, as you could imagine, not at all. Could even be dangerous. There is a small parking lot inside of it, next to the greenhouses that usually accommodates the visitor coming by car. I suppose the lack of a public transport stop just illustrates the lack of communication between the state-owned Garden and the county-owned public transport.
One has to pay to take photos with "professional" equipment. I've been there several times with my cameras and there was no "no photos" sign. I guess it is a "per visitor outlook" rule but don't be surprised if an employee yells at you for taking photos with your "big black professional camera".
There is an English version of their web site at https://garden-bas.org/ but when clicked it leads to an empty page with non-English caption...
Can't buy tickets online or with a card... It is cash-only, baby! The site in general is quite informative, of course, if you read Bulgarian. It even tells there fixed line phone isn't working at the moment so a mobile number must be used. Ah, of course, no mention of the "no-pro-photos" rule :)
Potted plants are available for purchase but the prices are a bit higher than what I would consider normal.
If you ask me, what is the best time to visit the garden... well, any weekday, or, obviously, Saturday, springtime is my favorite time as there is a huge rose garden and you may enjoy to colors and the scents of thousand blooming roses.
If the weather isn't quite fine, get inside the greenhouses (where the tickets apply) and enjoy all sorts of exotic and colorful plants... Now check out my photos from inside the greenhouses.
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Oh, even the inscriptions of the pots are only in Bulgarian! 😂 Well, honestly, I don't know who they expect to visit this place. Maybe no one. Maybe that's the point. One of the numerous manifestations of the inhospitality of the Bulgarians. Or the notorious lack of interest in what is happening, what the state of affairs is, and what needs to be done.
And the most outrageous thing is that this is happening in the capital itself. A foreigner cannot imagine, before coming independently on an excursion to the country, what will happen to him, trying to get to a known prehistoric or medieval monument somewhere in the country.
I realized a long time ago that the state is not interested in the revenue from tourism and site visits. Or maybe the government thinks that only the coast is important, some kind of golden hen that even if they don't take care of it, it will continue to lay eggs. That's why they take ostentatious baths in the waters of the sea in an attempt to convince the population that the water is clean, when it is not. As every year at the beginning of the season, they appear on TV with test results - the pollution does not deviate from the norm. Which means nothing, lol, when the norm is inflated in advance due to the specificity of the place and the neglect of the state...
Foreigners are not welcome, I guess. Moreover, they will want to pay with a card and then we'll have a problem! :D
It is getting better, by each year, right!
Oh yes, for sure. Therefore, more and more people started talking about emigration. Especially after the last election... 😃
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I checked your latest article on that, it is a nice feature, well done!
Винаги е много яко да се чете за София в платформата! Поздрави)))
:)))
может быть руководству как раз не нужны посетители? )) Забота о растениях на первом месте.
Can't tell for sure. The employees don't seem very polite, that's every time I go, I suppose they have their monthly salaries and that's all.
(I worked for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for two years, I was poor like a church mouse, as we have a saying. Of course, a different institute)
They love to sell tickets, though, adult ones are EUR 2.5 per person ;)
Может быть их специально не мотивируют. Туризм и посетители - это хорошо для бизнеса, но если ты занят чем-то серьёзным, это может мешать и вредить.
А может быть это обычная лень и "пофигизм" (думаю, ты знаешь значение этого слова:)
State employees, so typical for them :)
I didn't know "пофигизм", now I do, it's a nice, useful one :)
Пофигизм ... есть и ещё одно уточнение - "здоровый пофигизм" :D
Это когда твой пофигизм не мешает тебе и другим ))))
Hahaha.
Is Vodka the first cousin of Пофигизм? :D
о, это сложный вопрос :D
Also, a philosophical question, I guess :D
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