Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Melnik Canyons, Bulgaria
Monday, July 10, 2017
The Danube Delta
One corner in Romania that we have not seen is the Danube Delta. The Danube is the longest river in the EU and flows through 10 countries before draining into the Black Sea, Germany, Austria, Slovania, Hungrary, Croatia,Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldovia, and the Ukraine. Located approximately 300 km north east of Bucharest the Danube Delta is an easy days ride on the bike.
Getting to the delta involved first getting out of Bucharest, which can be be a feat in itself. Along the way we had to cross two arms of the Danube by ferry and at last found ourselves on a small dirt road that took us into Partizani, our final destination and the spot where we would take our tour of the delta (a very small part of the delta). We spent 3 days at Eurocamping a nice place to base ourselves as we waited to take our tour, a pool, table tennis, and a fantastic vantage point of the river, always busy with ships and life as the locals know it on the water...what more could you ask for. Breakfast was included in our room and we had fresh fish for dinner early night, catfish...and I can tell you the locals are very proud of their catfish, and small portions we got were tasty.
Life on the river in Partizani is like the life that time forgot. Fishermen are on the water everyday in their small rowboats and the fields behind the town are harvested by hand or with a horse and wagon. The odd little store or bar can be found only by looking hard along the road as many are located through a side door of a house.
The tour we took into the delta was on a pontoon boat with 7 other Romanian tourists. We spent four hours travelling down river to Maliuc, up into one of the small channels to a lake/marsh where many birds where nesting and then continued on up another channel that came out very near our room. The unique biosphere in the delta supports over 300 species of birds and 45 types of fish.
I would say our trip to the Danube Delta was a success and very informative.
The first of 2 ferries we took on our way to the Danube Delta, first ones on!
The second ferry was actually a barge which was guided across the channel by a old boat, (looked like something left behind from WW2).
Our cute little cabin at Eurocamping.
A typical house front in Partizani.
Fields out back the one street of Partizani that runs along side the river.
Lots of stocks had nests on the power lines in town. At times you would hear them squawking or clacking their beaks.
Like I said, I love the small houses, even if some are starting to get run down. In places mud and straw lay in piles where there was once a house years ago.
This old was put it rest a while ago. What make it was, we have no idea.
There were few cars parked out front of the homes, instead we saw boats, old and new.
The main dock in town, the place where people who lived across the river on farms and other small villages left their cars and paddled across.
The sunset over the Danube as a freighter makes its way upriver to be filled.
The Danube from its beginnings in Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest, Germany to Sulina, Romania.
The small roads joining villages are much easier traveled by bike than car. We took a short ride one afternoon but there are not many roads along the river.
White Pelicans and comerants in Lucin Furtuna.
The White Pelicans here are a little different than the ones we see in BC.
There were a lot of them.
White swans, gulls, and...
Egrets amongst the lily pads.
This little bird was not too happy to have us near her nest.
And millions of bright green frogs of all sizes.
An odd house made from an old container of some sort.
Now that is a load!
A fisherman sorts through his catch, dividing the different type of fish into crates.
Many of the fishing boats look the same, dark brown/black, wide with a tall bow.
The water in the bay was a little murky, but a lot of silt comes down the Danube and is deposited here.
At sunset, everything looks a little different, calmer and a little more picturesque.
Pelicans in the Danube Delta
Click the link to see more of our tour in the Danube Delta and the white Pelicans.
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Monday, July 3, 2017
Bucharest
They say the best way to visit a place is to see it through the eyes of a local. A school friend of mine, Sharon Bey (now Beacom) and husband Mark, has been living in Bucharest for approximately the last 7 years. They live in sector one, a lovely part of the city, to the north and directly across the street from the Herastrau Park. This location is convenient because most everything is within walking distance or at least a short taxi ride. We had secure underground parking for the Suzuki and a extremely comfortable bed on which to lay our head. During our week stay in Bucharest we visited many of the local eating and drinking establishments, took walks in the park, visited the old city and took the 'Hop on Hop off' bus which took us to places like the Romanian Arc de Triumph, the People's Palace and several museums. We happened to take this tour on the hottest day of our stay, with temperatures into the 40's we fried like eggs sitting up on top of the open air bus.
What a great stay in Bucharest, Sharon and Mark were such gracious hosts, we had to tare ourselves away. It was great to reconnect with old friends, let's not wait so long next time!
Caru'cu Bere restaurant in old town Bucharest. We were served a great pork knuckle with all the fixings while Romanian folk dancers kicked up their heals. In all its grandeur, the hall was once a boarding house serving drinks and food and as far as we're concerned, still doing a great job of it today.
I joined Sharon for a Pilates class. After not being too active lately I was a little sore the next day to say the least.
Heading To Eastern Europe
After the amazing scenery and riding conditions of the Alps it was a different ballgame heading east, not bad just different. The horizon flattened out and as we left the mountains behind we ventured into rolling hills with vineyards and lowlands of fields growing pumpkins, sunflowers and corn. As we reached Slovenia the villages became not as modern in appearance and the look of the houses changed as outside walls became covered with tile and ornate wood work. Yards turned more to gardens with potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and corn. By the time we finished riding through Hungary and into Romania little benches lined the roadway with older people sitting, visiting and watching the cars go by. Many of the younger generation have left the countryside, going to the city and other countries in the EU where work is more plentiful. A growing amount of store fronts are closed up or are for sale as declining numbers in the villages demand less retail.
The weather deserves mentioning here as temperature climb into the high 30's. We are sweating it out in our riding gear, every vent is open in jackets, pants and helmets. The problem with the extreme warm comes extreme thunder storms which aren't that much fun on a motorbike either (really! I had to find something to complain about).
We are loving the countryside but our big destination in Romania is Bucharest. Last time we visited Romania we skirted the city on purpose but this time we have big plans of visiting friends and we are really excited about that.
Lake Balaton in Hungary, a must see according to the Hungarians but we were not quite as impressed as some. Although it is approximately the same size as the Okanagan Lake it is only 11 meters deep in the deepest spot and averages only 3 meters, thousands of people were at the lake for the weekend enjoying the 26 degree water temperature. We realized how lucky we really are living on the Okanagan Lake.
Ken buys some wild mushrooms from a gypsy along the roadside. Not a great buy as they were a little to wormy for us, but we did manage to trade them for 2 yellow peppers at a stand a ways down the road.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)