Constanţa

I almost took a mountain bike this morning. The only consolation that I am repeating again and again is that maybe instead of falling and fracturing my ankle I would have gotten hit by a car or something. And then I would be dead or in the hospital instead of writing this blog. But then again, my ankle wouldn’t be aching inside of this cast either. It’s a toss-up, really. But then of course, the whole trip started on a bit of an odd trajectory. I should have guessed.

The city of Constanţa is really a lovely place. It’s a pretty big city (the third largest in Romania) and offers a very different landscape and culture than anywhere else I have traveled. It is located on the coast of the Black Sea, and is THE summer vacation destination for a lot of sea-going Romanians. The beaches are incredibly beautiful and the old part of the city is charming. The harbor is peaceful and there are a million little places around the city to visit. I love traveling to places that I can get to know in just a few hours.

I didn’t sleep at all on Friday night because my train was scheduled to leave quite early and I didn’t want to sleep for a few hours and then be totally exhausted. My logic is a mess, I know- but it works for me. I got to the station on Saturday morning and got on the rather modern (by Romanian standards) train, looking forward to going to sleep and waking up in Constanta. This plan went swimmingly until about 30 minutes into the journey, when we stopped. Now, I’ve sat in a train before and I wasn’t really too concerned… until about 30 minutes later. And then 45 minutes, and then 60 minutes… we just kept sitting. A little bit odd, but at least I am comfortable and cool, right? Nope. This is the part of the story where they turn the air conditioning off and we all suffocate. Slight exaggeration… instead of suffocating people just started taking their clothing off.

I'm too drugged (legit medicine from a doctor...) to continue this for now. More to come...