Cult-related: Touring Bulgaria's National Museum

Sick of packing. Almost more than I'm sick of the navel-gazing, live-it-twice of writing about me packing.

Amazingly, still not sick of Bulgaria. Blog-readers who feel the same: another little something from my notes.

Introduing Bulgaria's National History Museum, which I did not photograph (too monolythic, and dark) so photo here is of the better, and brighter, Archeological Museum.

National History Museum
Strangely monalythic structure with dense crystal chandeliers and flanks of marbles. Purpose-built? Not clear. A central staircase up into the second level – as if the Kennedy Center had taken on our nation's treasure's to display. Weighty and earth-bound, more bunker than museum.

Foreigners pay 5x what Bulgarians pay and, in return, are given about 1/3 of the information: small, perfunctory signs while the chatty explanations wholly in Cyrillic.

Lighting spotty, some pieces in full shadow.

A tour begins at stone age and whisks up to the very beautiful gold findings of the Thracian era. Lovely glassware – goblets in green/gray with simple evocation of grapes in dots, a pitcher. Ends miscellaneously with theatrical costumes.

Kitschy stand-alone gift store on ground floor seem renegade, not obviously museum-sanctioned. Coat check doubles as a display case for the knitted and woven wares – mostly blankets and ponchos.

Inventory: 3 gold wreaths, copies of icons, crosses and books from Rila, slightly disturbing mosaic floors of young boys, larges-scale photos of intact burial sites – a skeleton crouched in full gold-dress of head-piece, bangles, rings, sceptor and golden penis cup.

Explanation pictures of the burial place's site show obvious lumps on a pancake flat landscape. Makes it seem slightly easy – finding gold in Bulgaria possibly a matter of identifying mounds?

Overheard. English-speaking guide to her English-speaking charge, passing display case #x of gold relics.
Guide (in answer to an identification question): "Cult-related."
Charge looks at her, sceptical. She pretends not to notice. Brusquely identifies the next display as "cult-related" too. Guidee appears resigned.

C, feeling cult-ish, possibly cult-related.