Our Varna host, a great touring motorcycle enthusiast.

Constanta. Our hotel was a modern Ibis for a change, but in the Old Town. Archeology conveniently displays Greek language stele, or life stories written to memorialise the dead to the "Passerby", calling "Salutations".
My favourite was an agoranomus, the market manager, I think, who at 50 left this thought in his life story.
"I considered friendship for all as a title of glory."


Quite a contrast from opinions given to us. Bulgarian thinking Greeks were out to do you, Romanian waitresses asking why on earth we came to Romania, but agreeing it was heaps better than Bulgaria. Yet we are constntly indebted to the kindness of strangers.

Huge Roman pavement from there centre of business. Like Philippi, ruined by earthquake in the 6th C.

Sofia's synagogue is alive and well, Constanta's Jewish history is different, with the ruined synagogue occupied by gypsy squatters.

The local brew, pronounced "chook".








A day in the country in  Renault Dacia Logan.

How others travel.




The shepherd.
From the train we saw 2 successive shepherds on mobile phones. Go figure.......


BIRD OF THE DAY
Stone curlew, a weird chook.
Lots of cuckoos.

Left to right: cuckoo (first good picture), jackdaw and 2 bee-eaters.

Ciprian (Chiprian), whose father captained the big tourist cruiser till he retired. Ready for the speed boat trip with lunch at Mile 23. The people who live there are now encouraged by a pension to maintain their culture and serve lunch to tourists, majoring on fish soup. See next episode.