After our bath in the sulfur springs in Romania, the weather got quite a bit worse, it kept drizzling and we had to start heating again. Plus Leo has a lot of work now, so we decided to move on, leave the Romanian mountains for next time and go through the coastal part of Bulgaria to the south and from there to Greece. We chose the easternmost border crossing, right by the sea. We read good reviews about it and plus you don't have to pay for crossing the Danube like on almost all the others.
This time we didn't prepare much, we spent the night near Constanta by the sea and set out for the border sometime in the afternoon. We arrived already in the dark. We shut off the engine and handed our documents to the guy in the window. Leo showed them the cargo again when asked. Until then the atmosphere was a bit tense, but as soon as they looked inside, they started laughing again, nodded appreciatively, and one of them looked in really curiously. Leo asked if he wanted to look in the front too. And he said he'd love to, that it wouldn't be as an inspection, but that he was just thinking about building something like that himself. So he praised it and we could go on.
That day we also ran out of gas, so the very first stop a few kilometers past the border led to a gas station where they supposedly refilled gas into cylinders. In our country it's forbidden, but there we then encountered many more similar places. It's also possible to exchange the gas cylinder, but we're carrying one really nice and clean one, so we don't want to exchange it somewhere for some old and rusty one. The guy happily filled it to the recommended amount and it was about half the price of that exchange. And we have gas again for a month!
We arrived at Bolata Beach, where we wanted to stay one night and look around a bit. This beach is hidden in a sort of smaller bay and nearby is Kalikra fortress. We liked it there so much that we spent a second night too, even though police came to check on us in the evening. We had a weekend ahead of us with lots of plans. Just the weather was nothing special. When it wasn't raining, at least a strong cold wind was blowing from the sea. We drove back a bit to the easternmost tip of Bulgaria to look at the Shabla lighthouse and then spent the rest of the morning walking through the Yalata archaeological area, where there are lots of caves and a fortress from Byzantine times.
The next stop was the city of Varna. There we had picked out another thermal bath on the seashore. It was in much better condition than the Romanian one and it was free! We warmed up nicely there after a whole day blown by the wind and we even dared to jump in the sea for a moment to cool off... we swam in the Black Seaaaa! :D ...and then of course right back into the warmth of the spring. (I wanted to take a photo for you because it's a really nice place, but I didn't want to be the weirdo taking photos of pensioners in a pool...)
That day we wanted to spend the night near Cape Emine. We almost got stuck there while looking for a suitable place to sleep. In the morning we walked all the way to the cape. It's a lost piece of the world, reached only by a narrow road that's more broken than asphalt, and there stands a small village called Emone. They barely even have a signal there. You just go there to literally get lost.
The next destination was the town of Nessebar and its old town on the island next to it. Now in the off-season, all the parking lots are free and the town looks almost like a ghost town. You'll meet a few people here even now, but I can imagine that in summer it's packed with stalls and tourists. Now there are mostly just locals repairing what they can after the season. In the evening we went out to eat here. Fish are typical here mainly, so we tasted salmon and shark. And also local red wine from Pomorie. It wasn't bad. :D
The next few days we spent traveling to the border, but mainly working online. It was constantly raining outside, so we didn't even mind. In Bulgaria you also pay for almost all roads. We bought a vignette for a week, so it was just right for getting along the coast to the south to Greece! Our main destination of the trip so far, although a plan is starting to form in our heads about where to go next. ;)
