After the final lesson was completed, we drove to Giurgiu. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse. The Giurgiu-Ruse Friendship Bridge crosses the river in the outskirts of the city, but its reconstruction is underway, so we had to stay inside Romania. There is a church meetinghouse in Ruse that would have been fun to visit.
This statue is so Ceausescu. At first you might think, "How delightful. A mother and her child." And then you remember what happened. So many children were sent to orphanages because they couldn't afford to keep them.
We didn't see any big riverboats, but there were plenty of smaller fishing vessels and a barge pulling something. There's Paul getting a good view.
His perspective shows how wide and calm the water is here. Giurgiu was first mentioned in 1395, during the reign of Mircea the Elder, and was conquered by the Ottomans in 1420 as a way to control the Danube traffic.
Oltenița was next on our travels in the south. The hospital there is small, but the maternity ward has recently been updated to include some great equipment. About 350 babies are born here each year.
This little girl was born a few days ago and is doing great. Most babies stay for 3 days in Romania, but usually away from their mothers, who are down the hall.
After checking on the equipment we donated, we met with the hospital administration and the mayor, who happened to be onsite. It was a good opportunity to hear about their challenges and discuss solutions. We continued east on our way to Constanta.
For two hours it was mostly fields of sunflowers and wheat. We even traveled through a town called Nana. It was hot and I had brought my swimsuit.
We walked on the promenade to see the Casino. This is newly renovated after years of disuse, robbery, etc. Originally a wooden structure used for the theater, it was torn down in 1900 to make way for a new building. After the foundations were finished the City Hall entrusted their modification to the architect Daniel Renard, who renounced the Romanian style in favor of something which was at its peak at the time: Art Nouveau.
It was windy and a bit rainy on the coast, but we still enjoyed our walk after travelling so much in the car.
Excursion boats along the waterfront make heavy use of Jack Sparrow.
There is our hotel, the Continental Forum. We just heard some extremely heavy storms are hitting our apartment in Bucharest right now.
But we are enjoying the Black Sea (along with many tourists).
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