As the Maltese visit Bulgaria : the Article written by Ms Lara

The Comenius Trip to Bulgaria – 19^th September to 24^th September 2013

Building Bridges, a most suitable name for a project that has successfully built bridges with various countries in Europe from the north, south, east and west through the various meetings in the respective countries, Challans - France , Pisa - Italy, Nikopol – Bulgaria.

Malta, Poland, Italy and France were hosted by Bulgaria in Nikopol, a small, picturesque  town enriched with history situated right on the Danube where four countries meet and exchange cultures, language, teaching practices, new friends and long lasting memories.

Ms.Marie Louise, Ms. Claire, Ms Joanne and myself were warmly welcomed by the Bulgarian teachers Maya, Valeria, Marin, the school principal and their colleagues, who ensured that our stay in Nikopol would be a positive experience. Our hosts realised that we needed a good rest after a long journey, they let us have a good rest, so as to be prepared and fresh for the upcoming, packed programme of cultural and historical visits.

Nikopol or interestingly written in the Bulgarian alphabet known as Cyrillic –Никопол, is a town in northern Bulgaria, on the right bank of the Danube river.  It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley. After the decline of the Roman Empire, the town was located at the northern border of the Byzantine Empire. In 1059, it was named Nicopolis, Greek for "City of Victory" hence well-known sports brand name Nike. During most of the Middle Ages, it was part of the Bulgarian Empire. After the fall of Tarnovo in 1393, the town was conquered by the Ottomans in 1395. During these two years, Nikopol is therefore, sometimes, considered the capital of Bulgaria. It was the site of the Battle of Nicopolis, the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages, in 1396. 

We managed to find just enough time to take a stroll around this town and visit  Nikopol’s main cultural and historical sites, such as, the medieval fortress, the richly-decorated 13th or 14th-century Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the rock-hewn Church of Saint Stephen, the Bulgarian National Revival Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God from 1840, the Elia water fountain with an immured Ancient Roman gravestone featuring an epitaph, and the Vasil Levski museum house. We also witnessed the beautiful sunset over the Danube River with the opposite river bank of Romania as background.

The following day was a packed one. First, we visited the architectural ethnographic complex, Etar. This is an open air museum featuring a typical Medieval Bulgarian Town, studded with artisan shops each producing and selling the typical products of the region varying from the delicacies of Bulgarian cuisine to woodcarving, pottery, coppersmith crafts, cutlery making, furriery and  needlework,  not to mention the hot bread which reminded us of the Maltese mouth-watering “ftira”.  This was a hands on experience of presence vision, scent, taste and communication at its best. It was truly a knowledge enriching achievement. It felt like going back in time.

On the same day, we visited the quiet Sokolsky Bulgarian Orthodox Monastery, which is five minutes away from Etar. This monastery is situated in the heart of the Bulgarian countryside on the slopes of the Balkan Mountains, engulfed in a sea of all shades of green, with scattered patches of the beautiful colours of the Bulgarian Rose, the country’s national flower.

Tarnovo was our next stop. The city was vibrant with all sorts of festive paraphernalia.  Bulgaria was celebrating Independence Day, come to think of it, similarly, in Malta we were also celebrating Independence Day. It was befitting to celebrate this important date in the Bulgarian history in this town. Tarnovo is the old Bulgarian capital city. It features a medieval town and is often referred to as the "City of the Tsars".The old part of the city is situated on the three hills: Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, and Sveta Gora rising amidst the meanders of the Yantra River. Its architecture and the medieval town make this town a unique cultural heritage. Bulgaria’s history is an old, rich and complex one, made simpler and comprehensible to us with a visit to the Wax Figures Museum in this town.  The highlight of the day, after a good meal and some folklore street dancing, was the beautiful light and sound show at night.  Watching this show was like being thrown into a magical world of light and sound akin to fairytales.  

After the interesting weekend, now more knowledgeable about Bulgarian history, tradition and culture, a visit to the school “Hristo Botev” in Nikopol was a must. We were welcomed by students in the Bulgarian traditional costume.  Each of us was given a bunch of roses whilst we watched the folklore dancing prepared by the students. The school is big, colourful and cheerful. Here, all five countries discussed the progress of the project and its future plans. In addition, we also had the honour to meet Nikopol’s mayor. The mayor stressed on the importance of investing in education. He added that educating the young is also building and improving the future of Bulgaria.

Nikopol belongs to the Provence of Pleven, a modern, busy town. Here we visited the Pleven Panorama, a tower, featuring a 3D painting depicting the battle against the Turks known as the Siege of Pleven which took place in 1877 on the hills surrounding Pleven. This panoramic circular 3D painting is a masterpiece, to say the least. The detail is amazingly accurate. We ended the day with a visit to the Regional Historical Museum.

Our trip to Bulgaria ended with a dinner, purposely organised for us in a traditional Bulgarian restaurant. We tasted the typical Bulgarian cuisine and home-made dessert and we danced to the traditional Bulgarian music. In just four days, we saw Bulgaria’s landscape and vast countryside, we lived its history through its architecture, museums visits and historical sites, we savoured its mild climate, and its food, we smelt its roses and we touched the Bulgarian’s warm welcome in Nikopol. We were united through dance and music. It was an experience where all five countries built a bridge using the five senses.

Comenius projects such as Building Bridges through the Five Senses succeed in providing opportunities for lifelong learning.

Lara Muscat

Teacher of English