Second milestone reached - Black Sea

After the impressions of the magnificent Danube Delta, we continued southwards, keeping the coast of the Delta in sight, and ultimately reached our second major milestone, the Black Sea, after 91 days of continuous travel. The weather delighted us and increased our anticipation as we approached. Upon arrival at Navidari beach, many characteristics of Romania came together, which we had already noticed throughout our entire journey: Romania is a country where the economic ruin of the Warsaw Pact can still be seen in many places, while the desire for Western renewal dominates in many areas. However, this view is complicated by poorly calculated construction projects resulting in hotel ruins, old industrial buildings, and seemingly no environmental awareness - masses of garbage everywhere.

Nevertheless, we were initially overjoyed to have arrived here and enjoyed an extensive seafood menu in the still warm sun and in high spirits.

The promenade section of Navodari presented here is not uncommon on our journey along the Romanian Black Sea coast, from Constanta to Neptun and Mangalia to Bulgaria: extensive construction projects for the newly revived summer beach tourism, which often lags behind its aspirations in implementation. However, for this reason, one should not completely strike the Romanian Black Sea coast off the list of travel destinations. We had the feeling that the unfinished will be completed and polished in the next few years, because the potential is undisputed: beautiful sandy beaches, which are prepared in a Caribbean flair and shine with the latest tourist standards in many sections. In addition, the region has an abundance of Greek, Roman, and Ottoman cultural heritage. Especially Constanta is a very beautiful and noteworthy starting point for this. Here we walked along the promenade from the Casino towards the old town to the mosque, and through Roman ruins to Ovid Square with its archaeological museum, and marveled.

Another special feature for us was that here, in mid/end of September, the season was already over and everything was made winter-proof. Accordingly, the places, streets, and still open establishments were empty, and all campsites were already closed. This allowed us plenty of space on the late summer dark blue beaches for swimming in the still warm water.

Romania does not deserve much of its bad reputation from our point of view and experience! Off to Bulgaria =)

PS: If it was annoying to see dust particles on the photos, it is because my (FloH) camera has dust particles in the lens, which is why there is unfortunately a shadow seahorse in many pictures. I would of course be very pleased to receive constructive feedback.