June 20th Ciocarla to Constanta

June 20^th  Stage 60 Ciocarla to Constanta  34 kms

Setting off from the railway crossing at Ciocarla it was difficult to believe that in an hour or so, all being well, of course, I would have completed the entire crossing of Europe from Galway in the west of Ireland on the Atlantic seaboard to Constanta in eastern Romania on the shores of the Black Sea. Nonetheless, I was holding my breath, sometimes literally, as truck after truck thundered past me on the 17 km straight and undulating stretch to the main  road junction after the Danube to Black Sea canal. Still, all went well as I turned on to the four lane highway, leading after 15 kms or so into Constanta, and it wasn’t as difficult as I had feared. Traffic was relatively light and kept its distance. Curiously, even now one or two

people would cheer me on. Only on one section where the road bifurcated to Tulcea and I found myself forced  into the middle of the road did I feel uncomfortable. I paused at the pilots boat, named Constantia, hauled up beside the road to indicate the entrance to the city, for a photo stop, and then it was unexpectedly easy plain sailing the final five kilometers to our hotel on the Boulevarde Decembre 1918, from which Katherine and I walked, with the bicycle, together down to the decrepit, once magnificent but now very sad, Cazino, on the very shore of the Black Sea. Mission well and truly accomplished. It remains to explore what appears to be a fascinating city tomorrow and then to go home.

34 kms 671 kms from Severin. 4736 kms from Galway

June 19th Calarasi ferry to Ciorcarla

June 19th Stage 59  Calarasi ferry to Ciorcarla 103 kms

Only 133 kms to Constanta and the thought was at the back of my mind as we took the ferry across the Danube that perhaps I could do that distance today. However, I knew that the final 30 or so kms would be the most difficult so I wasn’t counting on it.  I was, nonetheless, spurred on. Off the ferry onto a short, narrow stretch of Romanian territory that is sandwiched between the floodplain of the river on my left and a rusty old barbed wire fence separating me from the unprepossessing apartment blocks in Bulgarian Silistra on my right.  But I was soon out into the countryside proper along a road which was really quite hilly and very beautiful. I took advantage of the extensive views from the top of each rise to take my last look at the Danube which, after the Dervent monastery, would curve away in a northerly direction not to be seen again unless one went to the delta which, in our case, was becoming less likely. I felt a little sad though to be leaving it after so many

thousands (literally) of kilometers but the riding was uplifting with a welcome variety of open plain, thick woodland, dusty villages and enormous vineyards. I joined a young couple both of whom, although still only in their mid twenties would very soon become fully fledged judges but I think they were a little embarrassed

that I was riding much faster than they were and conversation was difficult, in any case, on the hills.  The curious renovated (reconstituted?)  Tropaeum Traiani monument at Adamclisi delayed us for a while but the

curator there was not quite so effusive as Mr Sapca had been at Sucidava and we were left to simply gaze in amazement at the huge tower which is clearly being turned into a major national Romanian site – not that there was anyone but ourselves on this beautiful, hot, summer’s afternoon. I was still going very strongly after 100 kms but by the old railway crossing at Ciorcarla and after a couple of near misses with fast moving trucks we stopped for the night, excited by only a the few kilometers left tomorrow to reach the finishing post.

103 kms  637 kms from Severin; 4702 from Galway

June 18th Ulmeni to Danube ferry after Calarasi

June 18th  Stage 58  Ulmeni  to Danube ferry after Calarasi  69kms

I am hoping that by conserving some energy with another short stage today I will have the strength tomorrow to do all, or most of the remaining 132 kilometres to the finishing post in Constantja. As we had stayed the night at the ferry crossing, having not got as far as I had hoped yesterday, and needed therefore to get back to Ulmeni, I rode, what would normally have been the final 15 kilometres of the day around Calarasi, first thing in the morning whilst I was fresh. This section, I have to say, is dispiriting. The road, dead straight for a number of kilometers, runs alongside an ugly waterway with the gaunt silhouette of Calarasi, its iron towers and its gantries, stark against the skyline. The ubiquitous fishermen and even the shepherds and goatherds did little to mitigate what was essentially for me a very bleak urban landscape.  And then there was a short section of  the main road to Bucharest busy with heavy lorries.  Better to ride this part in the morning, than in the afternoon when I might be tired and more prone to carelessness..

At Ulmeni we took a coffee in the shade outside the magazin mixt, the owner bringing out a couple of stools from his living room for us. I think I could have sat there all day but there was work to be done if this were to be the penultimate (or virtually penultimate) stage of the entire long journey. The day was more or less uneventful. I rode slowly trying to take in as much as possible. I was particularly impressed by the gardens, all of which are cultivated with vegetable plots, and/or orchards, sometimes with vines. Householders take over the space between their front fence and the tarmac to grow potatoes and other vegetables. Flowers abound. Many of the mostly small houses are lovely, neatly cared for. Today appeared to be fence painting day, whole families getting in on the act. Despite the heat which continues unabated I felt fresh at the end of the day when we enjoyed ourselves watching life on the wide river, in particular a huge barge, perhaps the biggest we have seen, literally inching its way upstream against the current, with the grey tower blocks of Silistra, which is both Bulgarian and Romanian, on the far bank of the river, acting as the background.

69kms 534 kms from Tismana, 4599 from Galway.   

June 17th Guirgui to Ulmeni

June 17th Stage 55 Guirgui to Ulmeni  79 kms

Another difficult day in the heat, especially as today I felt very tired indeed. The first 9 or so kms up the E85 towards Bucharest were not as bad as I had feared they would be and there was even a cycle lane of sorts to distance me from the traffic. Then just before Plopsoru I turned off onto the quiet side roads for some delightful cycling across mildly undulating countryside and through small vineyards and villages which certainly appeared to be more prosperous than the ones we had grown used to. We were, after all only 60 kms or so south of Bucharest.  Prundu was especially attractive with roses in full bloom flanking every street and young saplings which in a few years time will provide all the shade that anyone would need.  We took a welcome coffee sitting outside a small shop, greeting the children on their way home from school, watching the world go by, not unlike most other people in these villages to be honest, before enjoying one of the few shady sections of the route in a tiny national park some half a dozen kilometers further on. A local man passed on his bike and insisted we accept a couple of peaches each and then took the live snails he had been collecting in the woods and wanted us to take a supply of these too! Incidents like this were happening all the time. We have been delighted so far by the open friendliness of the Romanians. By the time we arrived in Oltenita (73 kms) I was tired and a fascinating but rather unnerving funeral procession that we became caught up in with the body of what must have been a local dignitary judging by the size of the procession in full view in the open coffin did little to improve our spirits and after only another 6 kms we called it a day in the village of  Ulmeni.

79 kms  465kms from Severin 4530kms from Galway