Shabla, The Hidden Beauty

It was a beautiful summer. Even though the well-known pandemic has changed many plans and struck almost deadly in our ability to travel longer distances, I can't complain. I managed a few trips, in places already known, but I also had pleasant surprises.

The impossibility of making long-distance trips by plane encouraged local tourism. This is what happened in Romania. I can't have a vacation without the sea, I can't imagine a vacation without the sea! Fortunately, the distance of 200 km to the Black Sea in Romania or 350 km to the Black Sea in Bulgaria doesn't mean a special effort. I chose to go to Bulgaria!

Bulgaria has a dream coast! I don't want to look like I'm not a patriot but I want to be objective and say only what I believe and feel. I say without regret that the Bulgarian coast is more beautiful than the Romanian coast, according to my criteria of beauty and my needs. I forgot to say, if somehow it was not understood, that I live in Romania.

Bulgaria has a coastline 370 km long and 130 km of sandy beaches and Romania has a 244 km long coastline and only about 70 km of beaches. Just reading this, I think it is clear that Bulgaria has an advantage. However, the advantages in favor of Bulgaria are much more, Romania having only a few. From my point of view, that is what attracts me the most is the climate that is close to the Mediterranean climate. It is also understandable that this is happening, it is only 100 km between Bulgaria and the Aegean Sea!

My favorite resorts in Bulgaria are Balchik, the closest to Romania, Nessebar and Sozopol, in the south, where the Mediterranean influence is most felt.

This year, in August and September, I wanted to go to Balchik three times, but I only managed twice. The first attempt was a failure, I could not cross the border into Bulgaria because my driver's license had expired and I did not notice this but the border guards noticed. I believe that beautiful and good things are obtained with difficulty and sometimes with sacrifices, this first failed trip paved the way for the next two which were particularly pleasant.

I wrote a few blogs about the holidays in Balchik and I will write more, I leave a break between them because I don't want to bore the readers. Now I want to write about a place I had heard about for many years and now I have visited it, on the recommendation of my children. The place I want to tell you about is called ...

Shabla

Shabla is halfway between the exit point from Romania and Balchik. Thirty kilometers from Vama Veche, a well-known and non-conformist resort, the last Romanian resort before entering Bulgaria and 30 km from Balchik.

Shabla is a small town almost forgotten by the world and where many of the communist insignia, even if communism was removed from Europe thirty years ago, are still visible. The sea and the beach are a few kilometers away ...

I visited the beach in Shabla twice, the first time was at the end of the first vacation in Balchik, on my return to Romania. The kids recommended a small restaurant there that had a good quality fish menu. The second time I went to Shabla for my second vacation in Balchik, on the way to Balchik I made a stopover for a few hours for the beach, swimming in the sea and lunch at the same restaurant.

More information about this restaurant here: Fish Restaurant Lavazza

My children were right. A very good food, especially based on seafood. The best food for fish and seafood is when the fish are very fresh, when they are fished shortly before they are cooked. In such restaurants we find this and true lovers of the sea and the life around them know this.

That was my intention, to eat fish as close to the sea as possible. The result was completely different. I discovered a sea unknown to me. A wonderful Black Sea!

The Black Sea is so called for several more or less real reasons but one that is probably true. For the black color of the water during storms. Because the Black Sea is a sea with a lower salinity than the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea and its waters are less transparent. Besides, its position to the north makes its waters not have the color of the tropical seas, those wonderful colors that we see in many blogs published by our colleagues here. Apart from the dark blue color, I also saw green waters in the Black Sea, even in Romania ... but turquoise, never! I only saw this color on the island of Thassos in Greece.

The restaurant is located on a high cliff. When I approached I saw the sea and its turquoise color. I almost forgot about the food, this beauty hidden from me so far has conquered me instantly.

In summer the seaside is full. This proves that most people love the sea and prefer a vacation at sea. But not everyone expects the same thing from the sea. Some like to go to elegant hotels, others to all-inclusive but most prefer normal resorts with two- to three-star hotels, of course because of the budget. Young people prefer resorts where they have many places of entertainment, day on the beach and night in clubs and discos. There is another category, those who love nature more and want to enjoy the beauty of the sea in peace and as much as possible, ie from sunrise to sunset. They prefer the beaches as little known and less frequented by the large mass of tourists. This is because there are no hotels, accommodation is made in campsites or in the houses of fishermen from villages near the sea. I, in the second part of my life, preferred this kind of sea tourism. Not camping, I liked living in the village by the sea. The last ten years I spent at the Black Sea in Romania were only at Vama Veche.

At one point, Vama Veche turned into a place for young non-conformists, too non-conformists ... a mixture of hippies and young people with a lot of money. A lot of hotels and bars were built, there were parties and a lot of noise every night and so tourists like me were practically driven from there. For the next ten years I went only to Bulgaria and although every time I passed Shabla, I did not know what treasure it was hiding...

Kilometers of sand beaches almost deserted!

Yes, beaches with fine sand, as you can see with your eyes, both left and right. Turquoise water! A paradise for those who prefer simple life on the beach.

Thirty years ago and thirty kilometers further north!

Memories of my youth.

I told earlier that my favorite beach in Romania was at Vama Veche, a small fishing village located only two kilometers from the border with Bulgaria. It was a favorite place by artists, painters, musicians, architects ..., preferred by those who did not like the crowds and hotels like crowded blocks of flats. Preferred by those who loved the sun, sand and water. I didn't go there alone, always with a group of friends. My boy grew up there on that beach. No wonder he is still looking for this almost lost paradise.

Old photos, old memories. Forgive the poor image quality! The memories are much more beautiful. After Vama Veche was no longer attractive to us, we moved our holidays to Bulgaria, on the shores of the same sea. I heard that immediately after the border there are some resorts, some former campsites and communist camps for young people in a place called Cosmos. That these places are reminiscent of the Vama Veche (Old Customs) of the past. I heard but I didn't check. Now, thanks to my son's recommendation, I have come to see the miracle. I have even seen the traces of past camps, they have been abandoned and degraded.

The old buildings have deteriorated, the buildings have collapsed but the beauty of the sea and the landscape have remained, fortunately. Fortunately, there are few who come to these beaches, I think no one is interested only in water, sand and sun. Most of them got used to the facilities of modern living. I admit that I couldn't stay in these places for many days either, but I am very happy that they still exist and that from now on, every year I will make short trips here. Because I remember a lot about my youth and the way I lived the sea, with freedom.

In the summer of this year I went to Balchik twice. Each time I stopped at Shabla. The first time I went home and then I stayed very little, just to eat. The second time was when I was going to Balchik and then I stayed longer. I started with the beach and tried a bath. Unfortunately, just for me, the sea was rough and quite big waves stopped me from taking a longer swim.

An unfortunate accident that led to a fracture of the spine prevents me from staying too long in turbulent water. Waves that are too strong can be dangerous for my rather fragile back. It remains for me to enjoy the beautiful view of the waves breaking and melting towards the beach.

Being in transit, I had to shorten the bathroom, the beach and have lunch. Not having much imagination, I ate fish again, soup and fried. That's what I'll eat whenever I get there. Tasty and not expensive. A meal for two cost 15 euros!

So the last visit to Shabla ended with a meal, I hope that the next one, next summer, will start with an equally tasty meal. Because next year I intend to invite some of the friends (who are left) with whom I spent my summers at Vama-Veche, in my youth. Although everything is superior to the beach in Romania, there is a common thing. Not only the Black Sea but also a casemate. Because these constructions left after the Second World War are still on the beaches in Romania and Bulgaria. For the joy of young people who love graffiti.

There are common things but a very important one is different between the Black Sea in Romania and the Black Sea in Bulgaria. Sea water! In Romania it is a bit clean, with many algae and only 30 km away, in Bulgaria, the water is much cleaner and this is shown by its turquoise color. I looked for explanations, I found more and the most plausible is this. In Romania it is the place where the Danube river flows into the sea. It brings hundreds of tons of shore and alluvium that pollute the water. Beyond Vama-Veche there are probably some currents that prevent water mixed with alluvium from passing on and even the relief of the coast probably contributes to this phenomenon.

I am sorry for Romania that this is happening but I am glad that with the fall of communism in the two countries and with the current membership of the European Union, we can travel freely between the two countries.

The holiday is over, the summer is over, I say goodbye to Shabla, I hope only until next year. Until then, one last look at an old fishing boat that can no longer float, at the head of a doll lost by a child and the flight of the seagull. Images taken at random.

Separation from the sea is difficult, we would like to stay, but the road to our house is long. Goodbye Black Sea with turquoise eyes! I have to look at you closely again (said my wife).

This is a place more accessible to Bulgarians and Romanians, of course, especially in these pandemic times when air transport is almost non-existent. This is a place to come by car or caravan. However, if someone wants to get to these places, the true nature lovers, they have to get to Varna, where there is an airport and a train station. Varna are about 70 km to Shabla.