25 Headwind - Danube baths - Church tour

Wednesday, 29th August 2018

Route: Danube Cycle Path 5 (Seimenii Mici - Harsova)

Kilometers covered: 50

Highlight of the day: the Danube beach, the Orthodox church, meeting other German cyclists

We woke up at 7 in the morning and had breakfast, consisting of sausage, cheese, bread, scrambled eggs, and coffee. Afterwards, Julius had to use the toilet, where he took a while, leaving me lonely and alone. The woman from the kitchen approached me and we had a conversation in English. She asked us to advertise her hotel because business was slow and they didn't have much money for advertising. She also told me about her daughter in Germany, who is a dentist in Regensburg and wants to open her own practice. Apparently, she would say that the food in Germany is not good, to which I had to strongly disagree. Anyway, we chatted until Julius came back from the toilet.

We left shortly after 9. It was not only steep and hilly, but also windy! It was so windy that we couldn't go faster than 10 km/h even on flat terrain, no matter how much power we put into it. It was depressing. We barely felt the inclines because we couldn't go faster on the flat sections. We even had to pedal downhill! Anyway, we rode through hilly landscapes, occasionally catching a glimpse of the Danube on the left. At the beginning, we climbed a relatively steep hill where sheep were grazing in the valley on the right, surrounded by vast meadows and forests that were closer to the Danube. Finally, we rode through a town where the remains of an old fortress were still standing, but it had been rebuilt.

Thanks to the wind, it was incredibly exhausting. And because our planned route was only about 40km long, we didn't want to take a lunch break. We couldn't have continued riding anyway due to the lack of overnight accommodation options. So, around 1 or quarter past 1, we arrived in Harsova, our destination. We were pretty tired. We checked into our pension, which I had booked over the phone the night before: it was a container with rooms inside, and there wasn't even a shower. There was a showerhead in the toilet room, but it was attached to the wall above the toilet with no space to shower or stand. So, we skipped showering and just chilled for a while. Then we went to the Danube beach, although we ended up there by chance. First, we bought ourselves ice cream and drinks and simply walked towards the Danube through the town, where there was a really nice beach. It reminded me a bit of Corsica and was quite clean. There were a few people there, children, adults, and two cyclists. Some wooden rowing boats were lying on the shore, and others were seen crossing the Danube. There were also freighters on the Danube.

I stripped down to my underwear and went into the water a bit, but I didn't want to get wet, so I couldn't swim. We enjoyed the beach for a while. At one point, an old man came up to us and gave us an apple. Later, the other two cyclists passed us. They were probably retirees, at least the man, but they didn't look as old as the elderly couple from Baden-Württemberg. The man was an artist; we didn't know if or what she did for work. Either way, they were Germans who were cycling the Danube Cycle Path, and they jokingly remarked on the fact that we had taken a shortcut by train. However, we also joked about the fact that they had been on the road since the end of May. The man, in particular, was not exactly fast. It took him over half an hour to change clothes after swimming and then at least the same amount of time to take the perfect picture, but unfortunately, his wife accidentally ruined the photo. He wanted to create a photo book called "Impressions of a Danube bike trip." We continued to chill until we were completely covered in sand because of the wind.

Afterwards, we climbed the rocks next to the beach and then headed back into the town. It's fascinating: at our pension on the outskirts of town, there were some high-rise buildings designed to accommodate as many people as possible in a small space. They were quite run-down but still fully inhabited. In between, there were small playgrounds where many children were playing. In the other part of town, closer to the beach, there were lots of small houses, mostly very old with gardens, flowers, and vegetables. There were also many people on the streets, much more than where we live, especially children. This part felt very rural. Additionally, there is a church with golden roofs that can be seen from afar. We went inside, where someone immediately approached us. Julius thinks it was the sexton, I think it was the priest. Either way, he explained the church and the Orthodox tradition to us in English. We talked for a long time, almost half an hour!

There were no chairs in the church because people were supposed to pray inside, not "watch a show," so they should actively participate. The altar is only used once a year. There are only traditional differences in the various Orthodox churches, no doctrinal differences. It was very interesting. When the carpet arrived - the church is currently being renovated - we said goodbye and went back to our accommodation. There, we freshened up by shaking the sand out of our clothes. In the restaurant that was part of the accommodation, we ate and drank something before going to bed early in the uncomfortable bed, but better than nothing.