Jones’s Maiden Voyage

[Raul]

You both eating like the peasants in the old days, tochitura was the way we preserved meet into the summer high protein hard work, the cheese in the hot mamaliga ( polenta) was to melt the chesse. Polenta was to fill you up. And sarmale was done at special occasions and mostly with what you had. Rice with meat out of fasting seasons, and during fasting was rice with mushrooms, or veg. Goes well with naturally set sour cream.
You make me hungry.

 

[nicholsong]

Rog

That menu could be in rural Poland. You certainly seem to be finding a lot of rural places and lifestyle.

I am intrigued by the place mats having English titles to the articles. I could not read the newspaper title, because of the Gothic script - what was it please?

You mention Reformist churches being plain, so a little story. My then girlfriend, who was RC, and I were visiting a small 13th Century chapel near Bath, which was austere. I commented that it was very plain for an Catholic church. She retorted - but its CofE. My response - not when it was built.

 

[Jane NotRog]

Map.

 

[Rog NotJane]

You both eating like the peasants in the old days

Eating like a peasant in the old days is often a good way to get the best food - assuming you get the version of peasants that aren’t starving on cabbage soup every day.

I am intrigued by the place mats having English titles to the articles. I could not read the newspaper title, because of the Gothic script - what was it please?

They’re odd. The title is The Old Newspaper and all the headlines are descriptions of headlines I guess it’s a meta newspaper. The copy is all Lorem Ipsum.

We suspect the paper is a sample print of the fake newspaper you get in take aways these days - although this seems aimed at the US. Anyway, I did (of course) take a photo incase you need something to read before supper tonight.

Actually, looking at the bottom left panel, maybe they’re for weddings. Searching on Google tells me “Wedding newspapers” are something the modern bride needs to add fun and history to her wedding extravaganza..

 

[Jane NotRog]

Dinner was amazingly good value last night btw - £21 for two courses and a beer and two large glasses of wine. Recommend this place!

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[Jane NotRog]

It was a peaceful night at Camping Muddy Volcanoes apart from the volcanoes that were erupting inside Jones as Rog set off on a major snoring session. Earplugs were deployed and I finally got to sleep.

As we’d decided to stay put, we had a lazy start to the day, which became even lazier when I remembered that we’d forgotten to order lunch bread from the restaurant last night. However, Jones’s freezer contained two yummy Macknade muffins, and we’d be carrying Waitrose bacon all across Europe, so we had a British brunch instead. Well, apart from the Romanian field mushroom I foraged not 10m from Jones. We are all about local food (apart from bacon and muffins). Delicious said muffins were too, despite having to be with tomato ketchup when everyone knows it should be brown sauce with bacon.

Then, off to see the muddy volcanoes. The smaller site, Pâclele Mici, is just a 20 minute hill climb from the campsite, so we started there.

Theoretically dogs were banned, which would have spoilt our day, but luckily Romanian lack of respect for the rules and respect for lei won the day, and we were allowed in as long as Doggins was on the lead. As he’d already disgraced himself in a muddy puddle incident, we were happy not to let him anywhere near any muddy volcanoes.

(Although he was very bemused by the gurgling and had to be held back from full immersion…)

The landscape of Pâclele Mici is beautifully bizarre. It’s almost lunar, with mineral deposits staining the ground in colours of white and brown. The whole thing is punctuated with miniature volcanoes, each capped with a tiny puddle of a lake, bubbling and gurgling away like Rog after too many beans.

The gases (mainly methane, with up to 15% nitrogen) emerge from 3000 metres below the surface, pushing up salty water and mud as they rise. The mud dries off at the surface, creating a relatively solid conical structure resembling a real volcano. The muddy water expelled from the little volcanoes is cold, coming as it does from so deep down. The landscape around the volcanoes is bleak, almost totally lacking in vegetation. This is because the soil is very salty, an environmental condition in which few plants can survive.

These muddy volcanoes are a rare phenomenon in Europe - you can see them in Italy but apart from that you pretty much have to travel to a war zone (Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan).

After a quick stop back at camp to wash Flynn off and refill our water supplies, we hiked the 45 minutes to the larger volcano area, Pâclele Mari. There was a cross-country trail to this, which would have been much more enjoyable, but someone had slung an electric fence and a danger dangerous dog loose sign. Probably not true, and almost certainly illegal, but we decided not to take any chances.

Actually, Pâclele Mari wasn’t really worth the hot hike in the sun. It had just a few mud volcanoes, with their main reason to visit being that they were bigger.

This one was cute though.



Back at home base, the restaurant was offering glasses of sea buckthorn juice. (Sea buckthorn no doubt survives here as it likes the salty soil - there’s a whole load of it behind Camber Sands near Rye for example.)

It was totally delicious, although to be fair, we were very thirsty.

We had a lazy afternoon with a game of Small World before dinner. Not my favourite, maybe because I never win.

Dinner was lamb chops (we found some, Raul!) with cous cous topped with a veggie stew of red onion, red pepper, tomatoes, chilli, garlic and harissa.

It was getting a bit chilly so I checked the weather in Hamstreet. This always happens to us. Travel 2,500 km and it’s warmer in Kent! But not as much fun

I’ve come to realise that I prefer exploring natural wonders. Each one is different, unlike each church! Any more recommendations for here in Romania, or on the way home?

 

[Wanders from Glos]

The muddy volcanoes look fascinating.

 

[DBK]

Very interesting, we went to see some on Sicily once but it was closed - two children had died when they fell through the crust. Probably best to get Flynn to walk ahead if visit any more.

 

[Jane NotRog]

Very interesting, we went to see some on Sicily once but it was closed - two children had died when they fell through the crust. Probably best to get Flynn to walk ahead if visit any more.

Or behind! There didn’t seem to be any concerns about falling through - I must admit I assumed the ground was solid except near the volcano itself. Hmm - perhaps not?!

 

[daveclare]

Keep it up guys. Great dialogue and story. We were going to say that "if you ever needed a sitter for Flynn......" until the mud thing. Perhaps we should cross Wire Haired Pointers off our list.... er no!

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[Jane NotRog]

Keep it up guys. Great dialogue and story. We were going to say that "if you ever needed a sitter for Flynn......" until the mud thing. Perhaps we should cross Wire Haired Pointers off our list.... er no!

Thank you! Luckily, he also likes clean rivers and isn’t too averse to a shower. However, he did manage to upend the barbeque tonight when the camp dog got a little too close. I forgot to blog that bit.

Anyway, let us know if you change your mind…

 

[Jane NotRog]

Oh, and I also forgot that we were very low on water when we arrived at this site, and filled up with water. Only to find that today’s tea was ever so slightly salty. I think we need to find a new source and dump this tank.

 

[nicholsong]

Thank you! Luckily, he also likes clean rivers and isn’t too averse to a shower. However, he did manage to upend the barbeque tonight when the camp dog got a little too close. I forgot to blog that bit.

Anyway, let us know if you change your mind…

I hope that Flynn did not set himself on fire, and that you had not started cooking the food.

 

[daveclare]

I think our problem is, we like every large dog. We stopped next to a rescue Italian Spinoni for the last four days. Clare is officially a big dog stalker

 

[Jane NotRog]

I hope that Flynn did not set himself on fire, and that you had not started cooking the food.

We had, but the chops were rescued and most germs killed off by further cooking. See my Covid thread for theories about my immune system. Flynn survived with no more injuries than a sever ticking off.

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[Jane NotRog]

I think our problem is, we like every large dog. We stopped next to a rescue Italian Spinoni for the last four days. Clare is officially a big dog stalker

We nearly bought a spinone puppy a year or two before Flynn. They are the cutest pups ever. GWPs are a bit livelier I think.

 

[Peavy]

Flynn doesn't seem to care but I'm worried about your toilet cassette layout.

 

[Jane NotRog]

Overlapping with Northern Ireland?

 

[Peavy]

Overlapping with Northern Ireland?

Overlapping with NI in an antinatural position?

 

[Rog NotJane]

Saturday was to be a short drive and then an afternoon lazing around. Apple confidently predicted 3:30h to Murighiol where we are stopping to see the Danube estuary. We made an earlyish start and expected to be landed by lunch.

Garmin immediately put its finger on the scales, engaged adventure routing and secretly added an hour to the trip. By the time we’d realised we were too far in so continued on the “scenic” route. Little did we know that Garmin was also being optimistic. Very optimistic., We arrived at Camping Delta at about 4pm. This part of Romania doesn’t see much tourists. It also seems that the locals don’t bother to eat out. We passed about three restaurants on the whole trip. The two best placed of them either didn’t exist or looked haunted so we nearly missed lunch. Luckily a top quality kebab came to the rescue - we’re fairly close to Greece after all.

The white stuff is statins.​

All of the campsites in Murighiol are someone’s garden. They’re all priced the same and well reviewed. We picked based on the host offering a tour of the delta on his boat. The host seemed a little grumpy that we arrived at all. He “hadn’t been expecting us” and hence “hadn’t mowed the grass”. He proceeded to mow the huge lawn with the smallest mower he could find, banning me from filling water or plugging in in the meantime.

The gardening finally done, we booked the boat trip for 6.30am the next morning and set a 5:30 alarm. As we packed up, two Germans arrived and asked to join our trip before retiring to their roof tent. 6:20 rolled around and we were greeted by a friendlier version fo the host. Still a little sharp though. We all bundled into his Skoda - Flynn got shotgun sitting on top of me - and we drove round to the marina.

We were underway at dawn in time to see the sunrise over a bend in the St George branch of the Danube delta. There are three main branches. The northernmost; Killiski forms the border with Ukraine. Our St George branch is the southern and the middle Sulina branch is the smallest but has been deepened and straightened to act as the main shipping channel. We were on the water for about three hours. We sailed to the northern edge of Lake Isaac. The main goal of the trip was sighting the Dalmatian pelican - the second largest flying bird. It is also runner up in the largest bill competition at 45cm, slightly shorter than its Australian cousin.

We did see a couple of Dalmatian pelicans and hundreds of pink-backed pelicans along with dwarf and full sized cormorants, several kingfishers and some unusually brave egrets (again both sizes) and herons. Oh and a trio of red footed falcons. Ovid, the campsite owner cum boat driver cum safari guide had an amazing eye for spotting birds and a deft hand on the tiller for reversing to see them.

The hi-light of the trip (sorry, Dalmatian pelican) was seeing a pair of white tailed eagles catch a fish and then be chased off their kill by a golden coyote. Sadly this was too far in the distance to photograph but we did have Jane’s magic Swarovski binoculars. So we saw it and you can’t. You’ll have to trust me.

We were back at Jones by half nine and spent the rest of the day on maintenance, refilling our cash reserves and trying to give Flynn a swim. Sadly the lake near Delta camping was full of algae - we didn’t know if it was blue green or actually just green green but we didn’t risk it.

We met the campsite owner after our walk to pay and get a recommendation for dinner. He put us of our first (obvious) choice and sent us to the Pensione Bianca (actually yellow) down the road. It was definitely end of season in PB. The three staff had piled chairs on tables and were about to shut up shop when we arrived. Gladly they didn’t. Instead they served us pike roe emulsion then grilled sturgeon (J) and cat fish (R). I’m forever in search of super oily cat fish that you sometimes get round here. The catfish was good but Jane’s sturgeon won, like the Dalmatian pelican, the catfish took second place.

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[Jane NotRog]

Just going to add my favourite photo of the day.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Saturday was to be a short drive and then an afternoon lazing around. Apple confidently predicted 3:30h to Murighiol where we are stopping to see the Danube estuary. We made an earlyish start and expected to be landed by lunch.

Garmin immediately put its finger on the scales, engaged adventure routing and secretly added an hour to the trip. By the time we’d realised we were too far in so continued on the “scenic” route. Little did we know that Garmin was also being optimistic. Very optimistic., We arrived at Camping Delta at about 4pm. This part of Romania doesn’t see much tourists. It also seems that the locals don’t bother to eat out. We passed about three restaurants on the whole trip. The two best placed of them either didn’t exist or looked haunted so we nearly missed lunch. Luckily a top quality kebab came to the rescue - we’re fairly close to Greece after all.

View attachment 1121609

The white stuff is statins.​

All of the campsites in Murighiol are someone’s garden. They’re all priced the same and well reviewed. We picked based on the host offering a tour of the delta on his boat. The host seemed a little grumpy that we arrived at all. He “hadn’t been expecting us” and hence “hadn’t mowed the grass”. He proceeded to mow the huge lawn with the smallest mower he could find, banning me from filling water or plugging in in the meantime.

View attachment 1121610

The gardening finally done, we booked the boat trip for 6.30am the next morning and set a 5:30 alarm. As we packed up, two Germans arrived and asked to join our trip before retiring to their roof tent. 6:20 rolled around and we were greeted by a friendlier version fo the host. Still a little sharp though. We all bundled into his Skoda - Flynn got shotgun sitting on top of me - and we drove round to the marina.

View attachment 1121611

We were underway at dawn in time to see the sunrise over a bend in the St George branch of the Danube delta. There are three main branches. The northernmost; Killiski forms the border with Ukraine. Our St George branch is the southern and the middle Sulina branch is the smallest but has been deepened and straightened to act as the main shipping channel. We were on the water for about three hours. We sailed to the northern edge of Lake Isaac. The main goal of the trip was sighting the Dalmatian pelican - the second largest flying bird. It is also runner up in the largest bill competition at 45cm, slightly shorter than its Australian cousin.

View attachment 1121612

View attachment 1121613
We did see a couple of Dalmatian pelicans and hundreds of pink-backed pelicans along with dwarf and full sized cormorants, several kingfishers and some unusually brave egrets (again both sizes) and herons. Oh and a trio of red footed falcons. Ovid, the campsite owner cum boat driver cum safari guide had an amazing eye for spotting birds and a deft hand on the tiller for reversing to see them.

View attachment 1121617
View attachment 1121615

View attachment 1121614

The hi-light of the trip (sorry, Dalmatian pelican) was seeing a pair of white tailed eagles catch a fish and then be chased off their kill by a golden coyote. Sadly this was too far in the distance to photograph but we did have Jane’s magic Swarovski binoculars. So we saw it and you can’t. You’ll have to trust me.

We were back at Jones by half nine and spent the rest of the day on maintenance, refilling our cash reserves and trying to give Flynn a swim. Sadly the lake near Delta camping was full of algae - we didn’t know if it was blue green or actually just green green but we didn’t risk it.

View attachment 1121618

We met the campsite owner after our walk to pay and get a recommendation for dinner. He put us of our first (obvious) choice and sent us to the Pensione Bianca (actually yellow) down the road. It was definitely end of season in PB. The three staff had piled chairs on tables and were about to shut up shop when we arrived. Gladly they didn’t. Instead they served us pike roe emulsion then grilled sturgeon (J) and cat fish (R). I’m forever in search of super oily cat fish that you sometimes get round here. The catfish was good but Jane’s sturgeon won, like the Dalmatian pelican, the catfish took second place.

View attachment 1121619

Fabulous birding photos, sounds a great trip.

 

[Rog NotJane]

Fabulous birding photos, sounds a great trip.

Thanks. The close ups are Jane NotRog using a Sony 200-300 zoom.

 

[Jays2]

We had planned on going to Tulcea ( I had poi on a route)
We traveled the Transfagarasan pass and carried onto Budapest.
Then we hit the coast at Constanta which was very nice especially the Art deco Casino which has been refurbished.
Nice cliff top off road route from Eforie south to costinesti, with loads of place to sleep route, very quite Saturday night.
As we want to be out of the Schengen zone we are following the coast and are in Bulgaria.
Should be in Turkey Tuesday hopefully.
Broken ship at costinesti

 

[Jane NotRog]

The map from the last two days. We are close to Ukraine again - Romania has separate borders with it.

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[Rog NotJane]

As we want to be out of the Schengen zone we are following the coast and are in Bulgaria.

Lack of a physical V5 means we’re sticking in Schengen :-(

We are thinking of nipping into Bulgaria though.

 

[Lenny HB]

The boat trip and the birds looks fabulous.

 

[Kevin_T]

As total newbies to Motorhome ownership I love your blogs, however there is a key question which as far as I can see hasn't been answered yet...

Did you actually buy any chairs at the NEC?

 

[guy b]

Lack of a physical V5 means we’re sticking in Schengen :-(

We are thinking of nipping into Bulgaria though.

I’d just keep thinking about it

 

[Jane NotRog]

As total newbies to Motorhome ownership I love your blogs, however there is a key question which as far as I can see hasn't been answered yet...

Did you actually buy any chairs at the NEC?

No! And welcome to motorhoming!

You’ll be relieved to note that after putting a deposit on Jones we decided our current Dukdalf chairs & table didn’t cut the 4x4 mustard, so we ordered a set of rufty tufty ARB ones.

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