We spent a week at the end of July, beginning of August switching scenery from The Danube Delta to the seashore at the Black Sea and ending with friends’ birthday celebrations in the mountains.

Next stop – Constanta, Romania

Constanta is the biggest city by the sea in Romania and it is also the closest to a busy sea resort, called Mamaia. We spent a few days in between our hotel in Constanta and the resort with close friends and their cute kids. The highlight was definitely being with them. While driving from the Delta we met this group of lovely girls. I have an affinity for goats because I grew up having one. I remember trying to connect with her on a deeper level, where I tell her what to do and she listens. It worked superbly well when she was tied up with no options where to go and horribly bad when she was free to munch at anything in her way. My dad knows this soft spot I have for them and every time he sees a herd on the side of the road he stops and allows me to take photos. Here is the result:

Next stop – Costinesti, Romania

We also visited another beach resort Costinesti. The water was beautiful, warm and with great waves but again the highlight was a visit to a horse farm in a close-by resort. I have never ridden a horse so I wasn’t in a hurry to hop on. My riding experience stopped at the part where I was supposed to hit him with my foot to get it going. So I ended up being walked around by a patient man while I was busy patting the horse. I am no vegetarian so I can’t claim I am the perfect animal rights devotee but I did grow up with respect for animals. On a farm we didn’t hurt them, we respected them as part of the cycle of life, with a daily routine where my grandmother woke up at 5 something to let the chickens out of their coop but there was also a chicken soup being made once in a while. I was never in the vicinity of horses as much as we were here and we found a beautiful horse that we patted for a good ten minutes. Although we were advised to not get too close as he may bite, he was so happy that he was closing his eyes while we spoiled him a little. Beautiful animals.

Next stop – Azuga, Romania

And to end the week we hoped on the train and went from Constanta to Bucharest to then end up in Azuga. Azuga is a mountain resort where I have been lucky to spend a lot of time. While in high-school we kept going at a friend’s vacation home there. Many many nights were spent playing cards and games and laughing. I have not made it back there since I moved from Bucharest in 2001. Now that we spent a longer time in Romania I mentioned I want to go back. So for a weekend we were lucky to celebrate two birthdays, walk around a bit, eat excellent bbq, laugh, sing, enjoy cocktails and play the entertaining board game Ticket to Ride.