14 October. 

That's the end of my stay here, in 6h I take a train to Chisinau.
I didn't post anything this week. I didn't travel recently. A series of parties, concerts and my fever were not thought-provoking (nor photo-provoking) enough to share it.

Now it's time to pack and make my way back home.

The SeenFromBucharest project is over. It was a small experiment for me if I'm able to be systematic enough to post something interesting everyday. Well, it occurred that not :) 

But soon I will go back to the topic of Romania & etc.  later, in another place

Thanks to everyone who entered this blog and spent a second watching my photos.

Bye!

Summer's almost gone... (part III)

 The speedboat back to Tulcea was really crowded - but where did all the people come frome?!

 

Port in Tulcea

The harbour was full of such pearls :)

Generally that was the end of the trip. Now I only had to go back to Bucharest. I decided to go via Galati, a big industrial city located by Danube. There were 2 reasons: first, to go along Macin Mountains, second, to cross Danube in a ferry.

 

Parcul Naţional Munţii Măcinului

I had a calm and very picturesque ride to Galati. Finally the terrain was no as flat as before.

Kilometers of blocks. Not very encouraging to pay a visit

The passage was nothing special, but it recalled me the times when 15 years ago I was going with my parents for holidays in Kaszuby region - we were crossing Wisla the same way

Galati is an important port too

It was 3 October and a lot of students were heading for Bucharest. One of them picked me up and took me straight to the campus, as he is studying there too. So finally I came to Bucharest around 3.00 pm, much earlier than I planned.

That was my last hitchhike trip during this stay. Now I'm waiting for a dessert - 3 days in Chisinau.  The train ticket is already bought, a stay at Couchsurfer's place is already planned and a flight Chisinau - Riga - Warsaw already booked. I hope that the holidays will end up with a good party there :)

Summer's almost gone... (part II)

It wasn't as cold as I expected. So a quick coffee and let's get down to waving. But with no success. That's the coast. In the middle of my road to Tulcea was Babadag.

 I think that every Polish guy has to spend a while in this place :) even though it is clear that there is nothing interesting there. Just one mosque in the centre, the oldest one in Dobrogea region, but it was closed when I arrived. Maybe beacuse all the people were shopping in the market. Vegetables, animals, grill smoke and manele music everywhere. Typical Sunday in a Romanian village.

Baby w Babadag

And then another hour of waving... That was a bad day. But finally, another ride in a Dacia straight to Tulcea

In Tulcea I went directly to the port to find a ferry so I didn't see much there and i have no photos.

I found a speed boat, which in less than 1,5h took me to Sulina, the biggest village in the area of Danube delta.

On the boat I only could stare through the window and still had to watch out for water splashes.

Made in USSR, 1988

Sulina is a very strange place, a little bit like Romanian Venice. You can get there only by boat. Some old buildings, some blocks of flats, an enchanting cementary (with graves of many sailors, not only Romanians ) and a beach. Empty beach. The season is over. In the village lives about 6000 people, and I really, really can't imagine what they are doing when the tourists are gone. There are 4-5 minimarkets, some pubs, but only in one of them there were locals drinking, 1 hairdresser, police station, a post office and even some taxis, as there are 3km to the beach. Enough work for 50 people. And the rest?

Main street...

....and the parallel one

To fully enjoy the Danube delta, you need to ask some fisherman to take you with a boat to some lakes and creeks to see pelicans, nenuphars etc. But to do this  would need another day. But it was too much in this village. Aditionally, it was freezing cold in a tent during the night. At least I had a astonishing view at the stars accompanied with the murmur of the sea (and dogs barking all the night....).

The cementary

I hoped to see the sunrise by the see, but, once again, I missed it.... I had to pack my backpack at 5.45 am to catch the ferry back to Tulcea at 7.00 am... and it was too early, I was packing it in darkness...

To be continued....

Summer's almost gone... (part I)

Just not to think too much about all the obligations that are waiting for me in Poland, I set out for my last weekend trip during my stay here. This time direction south. No plans and no expectations as well. I only wanted to get to Tulcea and catch some boat going along Danube to the Black See.

Starting from A2 direction Constanca. A few minutes were enough (although a few minutes before I had lost my straw hat in metro. Bad omen...) to get a ride till Constanta. So it determined my day - it was impossible to get to Tulcea before 13.30 when the only ferry to Sulina, the village by the Black Sea, sets off. I was not in a hurry at all. On the way to Constanca I had a quick glance (through the window only...) at vineyards in Murfatlar and at the nuclear power plant in Cerbavoda. And we crossed the Danube where suddenly the whole landscape changed its colour into yellow and became more 'mediterranean'.

Calm breakfast by the Black Sea, strolling around Constaca a little bit and planning what to do next.Constanca is the biggest Romanian city by the Black Sea, normally crowded with people, I suppose. But not on 1st October:

The season seems to be over.

The most characteristic building in Constanca - Casino. Closed. In 3 years it will turn into a squat

Old town centre - an archeological museum

The whole old part of Constanca looks like this. Truly beautiful, but  repulsive for most of the people. Whole Romania is almost like Italy. Almost.

. 

Old synagogue...

... occupied by Gypsies

1h was enough to see everything. Next place - Histria. The archeological site by the sea, where we can find the remainings of a Greek polis. The whole Black Sea coast is full of such places, but this one is the most famous.

This time i went by bus, as hitchhiking in coastal regions is always very hard - it is hard to find the place where 1 village ends and another one starts.

Endless fields and water. Most of Dobrogea region is like this.

I get off and still have 7 km to walk...... 

7 km in sun.... And finally I arrived 5 min after closing...

But that was not a problem, because the warden was still working, but now on his own :)

If they are really 2000 years old then I admit that it's impressive

And now 7 km back to the road....

 Well, i felt a little bit dissapointed with the site. the outdoor part looked like as if they had collected all the stones from the place and build everything from scratch 20 years ago, just to attract tourist.

So this was my first mistake during the trip - I should have stayed in Murfatlar for some wine tasting instead of coming here.

the  indispensable HDBT
(Heavy Duty Blue Tent)

Before the sunset I got to the main road to Tulcea, so at least I was sure that the next day I wouldn't miss the ferry.

No more art nouveau nor modernism...

Some views from the streets. Contemporary Bucharest.

In the city centre....

The National Stadium

I was not allowed to come closer...

How the old and new blend....

Near my office

:)