So, we got up early in the morning to catch the micro-bus to Durankulak, about 4 kilometers from the Romanian-Bulgarian border. I was very careful at the ticket office to shake my head 'yes' rather than nod 'no'. In Bulgaria it is reversed from the way we nod yes and shake our heads no. It often caused some momentary confusion. We lucked out and a guy who owned a restaurant in the town of Vama Veche right over the Romanian border stopped and gave us a lift. He was bringing back Bulgarian beer for his restaurant and told us about the Romanian 'woodstock' that Vama Veche was during the summer season. Basically, a bunch of European hippies come to swim, listen to rock concerts on the beach, and drink...didn't really sound like my scene.
After a short ride to the city of Mangalia and another hour bus ride from Vama Veche, we arrived in Constanta. This Romanian port city was a sister port city to Varna developed by the Ottomans, although its history goes back to Greek and Roman Antiquity. The original Greek trading city was named Tomis, which has the unflattering distinction to have been considered so remote and such a backwater that it was a place of exile for Roman political undesirables. Most famously Ovid, the poet/writer.
Ancient Tomis has left little remains, although the Romanians have gone at lengths to display it for all to see and stress the Roman-ness, thus Romanian-ness, of the city and their rights to it. The Ottoman past still has a few remnants, like this mosque, but most of that period has been covered up, much like in Varna.
Here is the local theater.
Constanta became an extremely important port at the turn of the last century. Originally meant to facilitate the exportation of Romanian grain to a hungry Ottoman Empire, the city was soon the nexus for Romanian 'Black Gold': Oil! A vital rail line connected Prahova oil fields northeast of Bucuresti to Constanta and from there oil could be transported by ship out to the highly industrialized states in Western Europe whose appetite and need for oil was growing by leaps and bounds during the Second Industrial Revolution. Constanta became an extremely prosperous and strategically important port city.
This was the first time I had visited Constanta since my mission, even though this was my 4th visit back to Romania. While we couldn't reach Constanta in time for Church (we had hoped to arrive just as Church ended at one, but for some reason Constanta is the only Branch that starts at 9 rather than 10!) Alin Constantinescu, the young Branch President, and his wife Mariana were still there and invited me over to their place to visit. I had known both very well. They had gotten married, in the Temple in Madrid, and just recently Mariana had given birth to a beautiful daughter, born in the covenant...one of the few Romanian children that I know of with such a blessing. I had to go out kind of far to see them and I found out something very interesting about the small apartment they stayed in.
I had lost touch with the man I baptized in Constanta, my first baptism, named Octavian Bizgan. An large, powerful man, he was one of the most Christ-like people I have ever known who was a true Christian through and through, Alin told me that he was living in London now, the first news I have heard of him in 4 years, but sadly, not active. However, Alin and Mariana, with their newborn child, were living in his apartment while he is gone, rent-free. The Lord works in mysterious ways, while Octavian may be less active and I hope he comes back to activity in the Church, through him the Lord provided for the needs of this young, faithful family: Alin, a return missionary, and Mariana, a spiritual giant, were provided for as only the Lord can provide.
Mariana is a member of the Vitel family, one of the earliest families baptized in Constanta, and one of the largest Romanian families I know (3 boys, 2 girls). Catalin here, her little brother, was a tiny little kid when I served in Constanta, he is twice as tall now and in high school...CRAZY!
I went when Alin, Mariana, and Catalin to the Grandparents Vitel's place outside the city in the countryside a bit. Next to their apartment bloc they had a little bit of land with chickens, a dog, a little shed, and sheep somewhere. Grandpa Vitel comes from northern Moldova and his accent is SO hard for me to understand, even now. It was a lot of fun talking to him and seeing how he tinkers and stays active even after a very long and hard life.
The next day I went to the Veterans' Association and interviewed a sailor, airman, and soldier who all fought during the Second World War, while Mark and Brent did their own thing. During World War II Constanta was a vital target for Soviet, and later, American bombers. From the port fuel and supplies critical to the support of the Axis armies in Southern Russia were transported by Romanian ships up the coast to Odessa, Sevastopol, and further as the Wehrmacht and its allies advanced further into the Soviet Union. Constanta was protected by not just strong ground anti-air defenses, but also the destroyers and frigates of the Royal Romanian Navy sortied out of the harbor during air raids to lend their firepower, making Constanta one of the most dangerous targets for enemy bombers (Soviet bombers in 1941, American in 1943-44). The Soviet Navy also attempted to land troops at Constanta only 4 days after the war began on June 22, 1941 against the Soviet Union, but Romanian coastal and naval guns, along with well laid mine fields, frustrated the Soviet landing force and sank one of the two Russian destroyers, forcing the withdrawal of the other and the transport ships.
Constanta's old historical center isn't has well preserved as that in Varna and is more spread out, but its beaches are much sandier and nicer than those further south.
There are still some very beautiful examples of architecture in Constanta. This is a building done in the Venetian style.
In the main downtown park a few of the less well preserved remains of old Tomis are out on display for all to see. The local museum has a stunning amount of Greek and Roman objects and trade goods. The coastal area here was very much under Hellenic and Roman cultural influence and the kinds of fabulous things left over from daily life, war, and business are just amazing.
We stopped by to pay homage to the place where I was beaten up as a missionary in Constanta. The tram stop in the middle of the road, and the tram line itself, has been torn up and no longer exists, but I had Mark reenact one of the blows.
I always loved this ugly clock. You can see the time/temperature from three directions! I remember passing this all the time: going down to Church, to go contacting the big park, to go to the store, to go to an appointment, and I even bloc-knocked just down the road from there.
I was really happy with my visit to Constanta. I wish I could have found more veterans and been there for Church, but I had a great time and success. However, we needed to be on our way and so we grabbed some transport...not this boat, but it was in front of the train station, and nearby the train station was a bus station where Mark and Brent departed my company for the next few days as I headed straight north to Bacau and Suceava in Moldova (the region in Romania) and they traveled northeast to Chisinau, the capitol of the Republic of Moldova, and then back west into Romania to Iasi.
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