Warm memories
Friday 22nd May
Babadag – Enisala – Babadag – Jurilovca – Portitia
I took slow and short breaths of the air in the room. Sleeping bag felt wet and slimy. Ida and Anne got ready quickly but I had to rearrange my stuff for some moments. It was sunny and warm outside, a nice contrast to the room!
Back down we visited a cultural museum and a mosque. I bought an ice-cream just before going into the mosque so I had to eat it fast. It's not allowed to eat in there. (I would visit mosques maybe more often if there was food...) I found surprising in the mosque that the place for women was upstairs and not downstairs. Of course the upper floor was open space, like a balcony. Reason for that didn't make me happy: downstairs the men are closer to the imam and they have place for praying. Women have to stand upstairs. What's the point of religion if a) you aren't allowed to pray which is though important b) but you have to watch other people doing it c) the gender determines what you must and must not do?
Our next destination was Enisala and ruins of a fortress. The driver of the bus was friendly and dropped us out very close to the hill. The ruins stood on the top. Again we climbed in the extreme hotness (I ask you to remember that over +25 is too much for me). It wasn't so bad after all, the climbing. Up there I lost my smile in front of a poor, little donkey. It was there outside, alone, its fur was in a bad condition and trying to find grass in the middle of the rocks. How had it gotten in there? Who owned it? Why was it in there? Why?
There were two men who organize ”treasure hunting” for some groups. Luckily we told about our plan to hitch-hike to Portitia. The men knew that there would be nobody driving along the road we had chosen. They drove us back to Babadag even though they weren't going there. We could take a bus or hitch-hike. The donkey was in my mind.
The port from which the boats go to Portitia is in Jurilovca. First we travelled by bus till the crossroad to Jurilovca. We didn't have to use our thumbs more than a minute and we got a ride. In the port we had to wait some time for the boat but that was also a good thing 'cause we had chance to find out how we would get to Mahmudia on Sunday. There we would take the train to Bucharest. The schedules of the boat and bus fitted perfectly and everyone was happy.
The toilet and especially the hand washing point made you wet with water but that was funny.
Before the boat left we helped loading the boat with bottles of water. There weren't too many passangers, and the boat wasn't big.
If I understood correctly, that part of Black Sea has decreased or something like that.
We sat on the bench and the wind threw water on us and it was even cold in there.
I closed the door of our flat behind me, went down the stairs, walked on the street. I smelled the bad scent from the drain, saw the dogs and continued to the tram station. With the tram 12 I first passed the old Jewish part of Arad, then we came to Piata Romana where a mass of people got in. Bulevardul Revolutiei felt as long as eternity, it was tight in the vagon and doors didn't work properly. Children running on the streets, too many of them having the street as their homes. I fell asleep but woke up before Vladimirescu. The endless fields were still there. Angry dogs barked hungrily behind the gates.
The wind and sun of Eastern Romania brought me back to the very moment in the boat.
Portitia is some sort of an island where many small casute, a restaurant and some other beach buildings locate. We rented a two-person casuta for two nights and the price wasn't high. By combining the beds we would have a big bed for three, as we had done at least in Babadag.
The casuta was cute! Not much room for big party but we would spend these two days outside. The beach was shelly and walking bare foot kept you awake for sure, like walking on needles.
There was only the one restaurant and a bar, so not much trouble to decide where we should eat.
Not much trouble in anything, it was time to have some good time again at Black Sea!
Tiia
