Towards the Black Sea
Varna - Obzor
6 July 2019
From Varna I drive on a big bridge with 4 lanes, not very cool for bicycles.
Then highway. There’s another cyclist on the highway! A guy I had passed on the famous bridge and then passed me again a little further on. I catch up with him again, he’s recognizable: he’s all in yellow helmet, jersey and shorts and flip flops!
This highway is apparently not closed to bicycles, but I try to get out as soon as I see a parallel path without a fence or ditch to cross. The flip-flop cyclist wishes (…)
Balchik - Varna
5 July 2019
After a short one-day stopover in Balchik I continue my stroll along the Bulgarian coast.Today a small stopover to Varna.
I’ve never seen anything like this before: a cable car to the beach! Not many people at this time yet but a woman and her children pass by.
I thought I would stop on the road but not too much in the mood: that great hotels along the beaches, souvenir shops lined up and overflowing with objects, loud disco music everywhere... So I arrive early at the hotel.
I eat (…)
Shabla - Balchik
3 July 2019
A little worried at the start of Shabla because my route makes me go through a dirt road.... But otherwise anyway the alternative would be too long. So I’m trying. At the beginning the route doesn’t quite correspond to the path... but it gathers a little further on.
My hosts at Krushenove had advised me to visit Kaliakra and I must admit that this course is not bad. As usual there is no toll for me by bike and I am even allowed to go almost to the bar with my bike, while everyone walks (…)
Vama Veche - Shabla, Bulgaria
2 July 2019
I’m going back to Bulgaria again. Vama Veche is only two kilometres from the border. At the checkpoint the queue gets longer, people get out of the car and try to understand.
I go up the line and pass. The Romanian police officer takes my Identity Card, scans it and passes it to her Bulgarian colleague who scans it, then starts to enter things on her keyboard, comes back on the card, reenters it... and after the last entry he takes a second look at his screen and returns it to me... It’s (…)
Mamaia - Vama Veche, Camping Again
1 July 2019
Departure from Mamaia, a very touristic site, apparently renowned for its white sand for another beach, of a slightly different style Vama Veche. Tired last night when I did today’s itinerary I didn’t pay attention to the passage in Constanta, I only looked at what was interesting: at least a church and a mosque. Result this morning just arrived in the center I go down towards the port by way of semi-authorized areas.... Not very keen to go back up, too bad, so I do a little industrial (…)
Babadag - Mamaia (Constanta)
30 June 2019
Awakened very early by the daylight. The opportunity to leave early before the heat!
My first pictures in Baia Dobrogea. A church under renovation. And just behind what would look like an old aqueduct.... I don’t know if it has any archaeological or historical value, but it’s pretty pretty.
At the beginning I am on the road to Constanta, very happy to leave it at Mihai Viteazu. It’s less rolling after that.
First injury: a bee that hit me while I was driving stung on my lip. Ow! Ow! I (…)
Back : Tulcea - Babadag
29 June 2019
I leave the Danube to start my return journey.
The Danube but not yet the Delta since I walk along the lakes that are part of it. I try to get closer by driving and I dream of a café by the water... but here no café by the water, it’s not enough for tourists!
In the swampy area I see many pelicans in flight and at last I manage to photograph them!
A short trip with two small slopes takes me to Bababag, a small town chosen because it cut the distance to Constanta. And there is a very (…)
Strolling around the delta
26 June 2019
Three days of wandering in the delta. A superb weather but some projects thwarted by the high water level! There are still the boat trips and the beach 😎
Walks to Letea For two lei I cross the Danube on a boat with my bike. The road is a little bumpy and there is a lot of wind but it’s not very far. The road runs along a canal and at first I see more boats than cars! Passing through the hamlet of Cardon, a mixture of moorland and marshes: birds, cows and horses that I was told were wild. (…)
Sulina, Black Sea!
24 June 2019
One day by boat, and that’s it, I reached the Black Sea!
3786 kilometers, 45 stages and a little more than 1000 published photos:)
This ferry is Sulina’s branch bus: it makes four or five stops in villages and each time quite a few people get on or off as well as equipment.
The trip takes about 4 hours and I was recommended to take a speedboat that makes the trip in 1h30.... Frankly I prefer taking the time, we have time to see the landscapes, to take pictures, to talk with people... (…)
Galati - Tulcea, close to the goal!
23 June 2019
So here I am, close to my goal! It was my last day cycling before taking the ferry and arriving on the Black Sea in Sulina.
This morning I left early and managed to take the 8am ferry. If I hadn’t caught him, it wouldn’t have been a big deal: there are them every half hour. But it’s still half an hour less in the hot weather.
Very pleasant road: not many cars, the landscape is very pretty and a little misty at the beginning. A few slopes a little steep but on the whole it goes well.
As (…)