11.06.2016

We went to sleep last night with the window open to keep the room cool and could hear the sound of people in bars nearby cheering at the Romania vs France football match. But at breakfast we learnt they had lost 2:1 to France.

When we went to buy our lunch things, we passed groups of men in the park we had seen playing backgammon, chess and another game we didn’t recognise. It had big tiles a bit like dominoes, but the numbers were different.

There was more agricultural land and fewer villages on this next stage, but a number of these had large houses being built at various stages of construction.

Our e-guide to the Danube cycle route said they were as likely as not being built by Romanian Gypsy families as expressions of their wealth and a base from which they roam…..we certainly heard Balkan style gypsy music being played as we passed one or two!

We have forgotten to mention there are also donkeys pulling carts as well as horses.

On our way we met Josephina, a retired Dutch lady travelling on her solo bicycle along the Danube to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea city….. quite an intrepid person! We later met up again at Zimincea our stop for the night.

At a small village we passed through, after we had bought our lunchtime provisions, we took advantage of the community water supply to wash our fruit and vegetables. With pipes gushing fresh water into a trough it was ideal for our purposes, but there were also locals washing their clothes in communal outdoor clothes washing sinks and one guy was giving his car a wash nearby.

The wheat is ready now in this region and we have seen combine harvesters out in the fields gathering in the grain. Behind the harvesters there are often several storks looking for a meal in the remains of the crop the harvesters leave behind. A bit different to the seagulls we see at home!

As we reached Zimnicea we came across a couple of flocks of geese gathered on marshy meadow land that were obviously reared by local farmers…

As the distance was not so far today, we arrived in Zimnicea mid afternoon, but we could only find 1 place to stay. A hotel that accepts credit card payments; useful,  because we don’t have much Lei left and as this is our last night in Romania so we didn’t want to withdraw more Romanian currency before we enter Bulgaria.

For our evening meal and the second time in Romania, we have had polenta. First time served with a vegetable stew, this time served in three neat scoops with a creamy sauce and some feta like cheese. Very tasty.

Zimincea is the southernmost town in Romania… from here the Danube curves northwards, hence our crossing over to Bulgaria from Giurgiu, the last town in Romania we will pass through.

Nerd’s Corner

Turnu Magurele to Zimnicia: 38 miles.

Total distance travelled so far; 2432 miles.