Măcin Mountains

     The Macin Mountains are the oldest mountains in Romania (formed 300-400 million years ago) and today we were going to conquer them!  The mountains are made of granite and because of their age, are not very tall, between 7 and 467 meters (23 to 1,530 feet).  Because it is adjacent to the Black Sea, you actually climb from almost sea-level (23 feet).  The younger Carpathian Mountains I climbed back in May took their present shape about 65 million years ago.  Geologists believe, through their research of the area, they would have been initially about 3000 meters high when they started.  We saw from the base, the mountains had been quarried for its granite and learned there have been carvers and stonemasons in this area since the early twentieth century. You can find the biggest community of Italians in Romania, families of stonemasons, in this region.

     The Macin Mountains National Park is easily accessible for a wide range of tourist interests;  hiking, landscapes, flora, and fauna.  The park is home to a large number of creatures: jackal, tortoise, brown bald eagle, lynx, fox, wild cat, marbled polecat, beech marten, wild boar, deer, red deer, saker falcon, Long-legged Buzzard, European ground squirrel, Trans-Danubian sand vipers, and four-lined snake (which is the largest and rarest snake in Romania).  I asked Nicu if they were poisonous and he replied "Probably not."  The one thing I was interested in finding is this area’s celebrity – the Dobrujan spur-thighed tortoise.  Unfortunately, I didn't see any.

     On different levels of the climb to the top (Peak Tutuiatu), there are different types of vegetation.  From where we started was a unique landscape of lowland steppe at the base of mountains, followed by forests with oak, ash, oak fluffy and at the peak, a meadows steppe with an alpine feel.

     I included the Romanian version for those who have been following this blog and decided to learn Romanian on your own because it's awesome!

     I found it amazing they provided a well for hikers, walkers, and voyeurs, at the base of the mountain.  I mean, it's an old-fashion, crank-driven, working well!

     The crew all start together as we begin our ascent of the Macin Mountains.

     The climb wasn't nearly as grueling as the last one in Rimetea - that one almost killed me.  This was a more leisurely climb.  But the clouds started coming in, we saw them approaching from over the waters of the Black Sea.  They were soon upon us.

     The rain got pretty heavy so we took shelter under the trees.  Soon though, the trees failed to provide any cover for us and merely collected the water droplets and dumped them on us in large quantities.  Our biggest concern wasn't so much the rain, but the path we were climbing soon became a raging torrent.  My fear was the lightening.  I don't mind getting wet, though it is pretty uncomfortable, but being wet AND having lightening in the area is a bad combination. We made the decision as adults to head back down the mountain (just 15 minutes shy of the peak) for the safety of the entire group.  If I were alone, I'd go to the top - WE WERE SOOOO CLOSE!!!

     It took much less time to get down the mountain with a few slips and falls but we all made it safely to the bottom.  I couldn't take any pictures as we descended because it was raining so hard.  My camera got wet and decided not to work anymore.  I need to get a water-proof case I see.  But here is the well again - I made a wish, I hope it comes true (I think Romania could use a new King!).

     Everyone was wet (though most people changed into dry clothes) because the rain was so hard.  We decided to stop at a restaurant and get some lunch before we headed back (6 hours) to Deveselu.

     I had a wonderful meal of grilled pork chops and French fries.  As a side-dish, I ordered a cucumber salad.  I was surprised when the dish came out.

     I tasted the "cucumber salad" and it sure tasted like PICKLES!  I asked Nicu and he said they don't have "pickles" in Romania.  I argued, THEY ARE RIGHT HERE! and he insisted this was a cucumber salad and they don't even have a word for pickles in Romanian -well now they do, they are called PICKLES!  Btw:  I ate them all, they were pretty tasty.

     We left the restaurant, fully satisfied from the great food, and headed west.  Shortly after leaving the backroads, enroute to the highway, I started seeing dozens of men on the side of the road waving feverishly at passing cars.  Coming up on them, I saw they were selling freshly caught fish from the Danube and Black Sea.  If I had a place of my own, I'd be tempted.  The fish looked great - I think they were pike because they were silver, long, and slender versus catfish and carp which are fat and brownish green.

     Look, more storks!  Those nests are big enough for me to sit in.  I wonder if you have to be careful of your small children and pets?  I think I could fit in one of those nests!

     This is where the trip reach it's peak of suck topping the drunkenness, rudeness, and rain.  Leaving the highway just past Bucharest we started going through smaller villages on roadways (not highways).  The driver of the lead vehicle though stayed at highway speeds and it didn't take long before BOTH vehicles were stopped by the Romanian Military Police.  We were stopped for doing 103 km/hr in a 50 km/hr road.  I was SOOOOO angry.  I had warned the driver to slow down and in hindsight I could have found my way back to the base somehow but he had the GPS.

     Well, they took our licenses and issued us a warning (which is good because the fine is normally 1,300 lei each).  This would be around $307.25 each.  If we were Romanians, we would be fined, they would destroy our licenses, we would have to go to driving school, take a new test, and get a new license.  THEN you can drive for 15 days after your cited but CANNOT drive for 90 days after that.  So, I don't have a license now, I can drive until the 27th of July but not for 90 days after that, and I have to get a letter from the Notary requesting they return my license.  I was pissed!

     We went back to Alexandria on Wednesday when they told us so we could get our licenses but they didn't have them.  NCIS is working with the prosecutor to get them.  We'll see.  Moral of the story, don't speed in a foreign country.  I never did before and I won't again.

     This trip is in the history books and I'll be recorded in the annuls of Romanian law as a criminal but it was an experience I won't forget.  Let's hope Sighisoara is better in two weeks for the medieval festival.