VARNA Varna is situated at the coast in the eastern part of Bulgaria. This is a city full of character and history. Varna combines the commercial activities of an industrial port and a number of maritime enterprises and institutions with the leisure activities associated to its well-preserved sand beaches.

CONFERENCE VENUE The conference will be held in hotels Imperial and Riviera Beach in the "Riviera Club / " area near Varna, which provides first class venues for bringing together scientists, engineers and decision makers from around the world to share and discuss related research, design, construction, and maintenance issues. “Golden Sands" is considered as one of the most luxury seaside resorts at the Black Sea coast. The air temperature at the end of September ranges within 20°-25° C.

FLIGHTS TO VARNA You can find daily direct regular flights to Varna from: Budapest (MALEV, www.malev.com) Vienna (Austrian Airlines, www.aua.com) (,(www.hemusair.bgk) There are also a number of charter flights to Varna and Bourgas from many European cities, operated by: Condor (www.condor.de) LTU (www.ltu.de) Air Via (www.air-via.com) Transavia www.transavia.com/en As wel as by other budget-airlines companies.

You can download all flights arriving Varna 22-24 September and departing from Varna 28 – 30 September from www.bsca.bg/pdce2007 ARRIVAL You will be arriving at , some 6 km outside the city. In general, there will be arrangements that the participants of the conference shall be met when emerging from customs at the airport and will be transferred by a car to the Riviera Club (Conference venue).

There is a public transport from the airport to Golden Sands (bus No. 409) that takes about 40 min and costs about 1 Euro. The official tariff of the taxis is about 0.30 - 0.40 Euro/km. A transfer from the airport to the city costs about 5 Euro and takes about 10-15 min. A transfer to the Riviera Club (Conference venue) costs about 10- 12 Euro and takes about 25-30 min. However, the tariff offered by some taxis at the airport may differ essentially from the official one – be careful and always ask in advance. HOTELS & BOOKING OF ACCOMMODATION Please note that Varna may be very crowded in September, therefore book the hotel in due time. Accommodation is not included in the Registration fee. If you wish, the organizers will arrange the accommodation booking for you. Please download, fill-in and send Registration and Accommodation Booking Form (including variety of options for accommodation in 3, 4 and 5 star hotels at the conference location, or in the city of Varna). Payment will be required upon arrival. Your accommodation should be reserved at the same time as payment of registration fee is received. We strongly recommend booking at special discount in Riviera Club Hotels where the conference will take place. CURRENCY Official currency in Bulgaria is Bulgarian Lev (Bgn). Payment is only possible in Bgn. Most (but not all) of the hotels and restaurants in Varna take credit cards. The Riviera Hotels accept credit cards. There are also cash machines at many places that accept most popular credit cards. The current rates of exchange are approximately 1 Euro = 1.95 Bgn, and US 1$ = 1.44 Bgn. If you arrive daytime you may ask your guide from the organizers to accompany you to the nearest bank / Bureau de Change. You will be able to exchange money also in the neighborhood of the Riviera, but the exchange rate may be lower.