#mammaia

[zuzzetto]

#lanciandostile #mammaia #colleghi #intantoalezione #bershka #iltop #solonoi (presso Bershka Sassari)

[jemery4-blog]

Black Sea Coast and New Friends

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later the lifestyle I had been living; I caught a cold. My first day on the Black Sea Coast, the place where the whole country goes to relax and party and I am stuck inside the first two nights. When Radu and I arrived to Constanta we went to stay with his grandmother and we got fed some delicious fish ciorba (soup) and headed to the beach for a few hours before the sun went down.

I came back and felt terrible and was completely exhausted, so I went to bed around 10p.m. and slept for 13 hours. I definitely was beginning to feel better and I knew if I fought it hard with airborne and did not go out Thursday that I would be better for the weekend when Bogdan and Andreea came from Brasov to join us at the apartment. Thus, we took one more day with some relaxing on the beach for few hours and I was able to get another good night’s rest. The next day we met Bogdan, Andreea, and their friends Sorin and Andreea (my two favorite Andreea's in the world) at the beach and enjoyed the day there until sunset. I know it sounds like I have a tough life here in Romania, but the fast pace of it all wears down on me, because I am still not used to it after three weeks. That evening Radu took me on a tour of the city of Constanta where he grew up and we got some drinks on the sidewalk café’s on the seaside before heading to meet up with everyone else. So, we headed to the campground where Sorin and Andreea were staying and met their friend Stefan there and had a night of drinking and chatting in the campground until 5a.m.

I did not want to waste the next day sleeping in the apartment so I headed to the beach around 11a.m. with Bogdan and Andreea and rented a lounger with a mattress and pillow so I could catch up on some sleep. Unfortunately for me, this beach was meant for partying rather than sleeping and we were right next to the DJ, who had to play loud enough for the whole beach to hear. It is tough to describe the atmosphere here on the Black Sea Coast, other than it is electric.

It may not be the prettiest beach in the world, but with all the people around, the party atmosphere, the DJs and even the some dancers (for the kids to enjoy of course), which gives it an atmosphere that I have never experienced before.

I must say, I live like a king here with the lounger, the party and the bottle after bottle of wine delivered to us on the beach, and even our own gypsy singer.

It was an absolutely incredible day and I made some fantastic new friends, but of course the day was just beginning because the real party does not start until after midnight. We went to dinner after the beach and then went home to get ready for the night. Of course, I did not take very long to get ready so I took a nap while I waited for the girls.....Radu’s cousin Stefana came out with us that night on Mammaia beach and we found a fun club on the beach that we enjoyed until 4:30a.m.

On Sunday, Bogdan and Andreea headed back to Brasov because unfortunately she had to go back to work. So Radu, Stefana, and I headed to a different beach up the coast called Costinesti. It was a more student-oriented beach, which had all kinds of shops, and food, with a beach packed with people and Cocalari. I was even able to snap a photo of a fat and skinny Cocalar together on the beach. These people truly are a fascinating phenomenon. 

After sunset we headed for a delicious traditional Romanian style dinner and went to a dance club for a little while. It did not matter that it was Sunday night, because there is something going on every night on the Black Sea Coast. One thing that I found interesting was that there is no age limit for the clubs there. Literally I saw 10 year-old kids in the club dancing then a group of middle school aged girls. It was truly a sight that I had never seen before, but it was easy to get used to after a few minutes. Later on in the night we got in the car and I drove everyone to a city called Vama Vechia, near the Bulgarian border. Radu told me stories about this place back during the time of communism, it was a beach with no rules and as he described it like the 60’s and 70’s in the US. It had definitely changed over the years, but still remained a place of freedom where all different types of people from hippies to bikers, even people like us, showed up to party. It was basically an impromptu party on the beach that lasted until sunrise and it was definitely something that I was happy that I got to experience. Since we were staying about 30 minutes away in Costinesti I volunteered to drive so everyone else could drink and have a good time.

Radu kept apologizing to me because he thought I was not having a good time because I literally was the only sober person on the beach, but I thoroughly enjoyed people watching there, because it was such a diverse group of people all together having a good time. We stayed until sunrise and I drove them back to Constensti where we got a couple of hours of sleep before heading back to Constanta to drop off Stefana and pick up Radu’s dad and make the drive back to Brasov. It was a long drive and after Radu was finally awake enough, he took over driving and I slept in the back seat a good portion of the way home. On our way back we stopped to see Peles castle, which was closed, but still offered a good view from the outside.

I crashed early that night and took the next day to update my blog and edit some photos before going to a BBQ at Andreea’s country home with everyone from the Black Sea Coast. I made my bruschetta as an appetizer with the help of my Andreea’s (the best assistant chef’s in the world).

While the girls prepared some amazing salads and a garlic sour cream sauce for the meat and potatoes that the boys were grilling up outside. It was an incredible meal with some really great friends that I am lucky to have met here in Romania and led me to extend my stay here even longer!