My Trip to the Seaside

Yesterday at precisely 5:05 am I got back in my beloved hometown of Baia Mare, having returned from the seaside. I was dead tired and really starved, so yesterday I mostly spent eating and sleeping. Of course, I could not help myself from going out for a beer with my friends during the evening. Just had to tell ‘em about my adventures. It had been one of the greatest weeks I’ve ever lived.

Per total my journey covered 3 major locations: Costinesti, Vama Veche and Constanta (where I lingered for just one day).

Costinesti is a seaside resort, commonly known to be an attraction for the youth. It has three major night attractions: the Ring Disco, the Tineretului Disco and the White Horse Rock ‘n Roll café – which is the only place I bother spending my nights in Costinesti, since the other two places are filled with people I do not want to socialize with. Ever.

However, the White Horse itself struck me as a little bit dull. The play list is the same it was last year. I swear that they ought to change that DJ, for it is quite annoying to listen to exactly the same songs every night. Also there are some concerts once in a while in White Horse. Unless they’re unplugged the concerts are ok. The only dull ones are the folk concerts – those are pretty damn dull – you just sit down, sip on a beer and listen to the music.

Still, on regular nights, there are a few good songs one can actually dance, head bang and jump around on. Also White Horse swarms with nice people worth socializing with (of course there are exceptions).

Constanta is the second largest city in Romania, an attraction for tourists and sailors (since it is also Romania’s main seaside port). Also right next to it there’s the resort of Mamaia, a place where all the rich of the country spend their holidays, a town which the bohemian writer of this entry disdains thoroughly. It’s not even that fancy, just expensive.

Personal advice – don’t visit the Pizza Hut in Constanta. The menu is almost indecipherable, and you’ll spend ages trying to figure out why the bill is so high. Mainly you have to remember every ingredient you asked for and if you felt its taste in the pizza, if you want to make sure they did not overcharge you (thing which is rather common on the Romanian seaside).

Still, the Mamaia part of the beach is excellent; I’ve got to admit, much better than the Costinesti beach or the Vama Veche one. It’s the only beach on the Romanian seaside that is actually clean and constantly taken care of.

Vama Veche is considered to be a sanctuary for rockers in Romania. I was somewhat tempted to visit it later, during the Stufstock festival, but I was thoroughly advised not to. People say it’s overcrowded and filled with pickpockets during that time. So that’s why I chose to go there half a month before the Stufstock fest, and I tell you – it was great, heavenly almost. Really, life can’t get more bohemian than Vama Veche, and no clubs I’ve ever seen before beats dancing on the beach in front of the Expirat club, while the orange moon rays reflect upon the surface of the calm sea. I needed to constantly pinch myself just to remember I was not dreaming.

Most of the people were fairly ok, with certain (few) exceptions of course. Still, I since I was with a large group of friends, I did not have any conflicts with the rather menacing looking people.

I thoroughly recommend Vama Veche to all the young people who don’t really like a fancy and expensive life. For those who aren’t keen to feel constantly the beat of electro and rock music they can always choose 2 Mai, a rather peaceful and hippie style resort, at some five minutes of driving from Vama Veche.

Of course, I did not bother sleeping at hotels or hostels. They’re just a bit too expensive, and my budget for the trip was fairly low. So I convinced a very good friend of mine to borrow me his tent. The camping in Costinesti cost me some 2.50 Euro per night and the one in Vama Veche some 2 Euro. Both camping sites were fairly ok, though I rather the one in Vama Veche, for it was filled with People from my hometown, and I rejoiced hearing the beloved accents of the Maramures dialect, for after three days of camping amongst Southerners, I was starting to sound like one (well, almost :P). Anyway, in both camping people were fairly hospitable, and I had no trouble whatsoever leaving things unguarded there, knowing that there is no one to steal anything (especially in the Vama Veche camping).

What else remains to be said? I could go on and on about the fun I had this last week. Now I’m in a really good mood, though my trip was quite tiresome. Often I was hungry, often the heat in my tent made it insufferable and there was not a single night during which I slept more than five hours. I’m making up for it right now, by sleeping and eating continuously.