Sun

There’s a sweet noise on the small crowded streets surrounded by flats in all colors of the rainbow and there’s a smell of pizza and oven baked goods coming from all around and all you can hear is Italian words and the face of Gianni, that Italian elderly owner of a traditional pizzeria makes you feel strangely at home. We celebrated the coming of 2017 in Naples, Capri and Procida and as we look forward with curiosity and anxiousness to the year to come we look back with wonder and we are grateful for an incredible 2016

with leprechauns, Irish pubs and songs, Guinness beer and trips to the Titanic in Dublin and Belfast

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Scandinavian snow, perfect muffins, athletic people going out to ski by metro in Oslo

traditions, family time, colorful clothes, days of joy and celebrations at our best friend’s wedding in Jaipur, meeting up with old friends for precious stolen moments of happiness

Milan Duomo, pizza and pasta with a heavenly taste, espresso, chilling in parks, polenta, discovery of the Navigli area

wandering the shores of Como Lake and enjoying breathtaking views of Brunate in Como img_20160521_095903 unexpected trips to Sighisoara and Brasov

beer gardens, charming coffee shops, Berlin wall, relaxing parks, strolls amongst restaurants and pubs of all nationalities just to charm any food lover in Berlin

beach days and live music at the Black Sea

day trip to Negotin, Serbia just to have one Serbian beer

pagodas, Shan food, night markets and organized street quarters in Yangon

boat trips, traditional rowing fishermen, floating markets and lifetime friends in Inle Lake

sunset, sunrise, pagodas, temples and history in Bagan

gold leafs, temples, the best Shan food, monks, longest wooden bridge in Mandalay

the Grand Palace, new friends, live music, sweet memories, Same Same t-shirts and the best foot massage in Bangkok

days of shared thoughts, incredible views, swims, beach strolls, Rum Cola in the charming solitary Duli Beach resort in Philippines, El Nido

days of chilling and relaxing in Jaipur and Delhi making plans for future adventures

Royal Palaces, Christmas trees, pierogi, beetroot soup, large café latte, Christmas markets in Warsaw

Christmas market madness in Bucharest with the view of the Parliament House, hot spiced wine and the best atmosphere to wish for

Christmas parties with memories of childhood and priceless friends

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family and friends time colored in green, flowery, sunny, snowy surroundings to adapt to the seasons but at all times packed with an overload of joy and happiness to last for a lifetime

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Past year has thought us that we are never alone as we carry with us all the family and friends, present or past, imprinted on our skin and it takes nothing more than closing our eyes for one second to feel them all around us. We’ve lost good friends and gained new friends and family just to remind us one more time of how precious every day we receive is and that it’s up to us to not let it waste and fully live every single second of it. We hope in a happy and peaceful 2017, a year of expressing less and feeling more, of being true to ourselves and the others, of taking leaps of faith without a net, of putting dreams into reality today rather than tomorrow, of carefully using the chance given at each and every new day, of still wondering at everything around, new or old, beautiful or less beautiful, of searching for more balance in life, of still believing.

Well travelers this post it’s not about a typical holiday, it’s not about planes, boats, trains, routes or museums. This is a post about an extended weekend chilling at the Romanian Black Sea in Costinesti.

If you are looking to spend some fun days swimming, sun tanning, playing beach games and partying all night long and if you are the type of traveler that likes better comfortable shoes and not so sophisticated clothes while on holiday as opposed to high heels and fancy dresses than Costinesti is the place to be.

The beach positively surprised us; clean, perfect sand, lifeguards at every corner, enough space to sun tan, play football, volleyball and other beach games, with radio platforms bringing together bars for drinks, live DJ and live music, foam parties and beach competition.

For those of you looking for adrenaline there are plenty of water sports and also some “steady ground” activities like testing the flying fox or jumping with ropes or no ropes.

The food is for all tastes and pockets. You can test the food at the corner of the street like small fried fish (“hamsii”), the traditional Turkish food, pizza, shaorma, Mexicanos (or for those of you that have visited Spain – churros), ice cream, etc. or you can try the self service restaurants with very tasty traditional Romanian food or even high class restaurants serving traditional and international Romanian food. Our personal favorite are the self service restaurant called “Closca cu Puii de aur” – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Autoservirea-Closca-cu-puii-de-aur/295697233900818?fref=ts and Maxx – an open air club just besides the Obelisc perfect for coffee and cocktail just about at any hour of the day.

If you are looking for parties Costinesti has a lot to offer from foam parties, thematic parties, to concerts all night long the clubs at the seaside are trying as much as possible to make the tourists happy and keep them entrained. Our favorite is Mega Discoteca Tineretului, an open space club with great music, concerts every night and the best dancers we’ve seen by now – https://www.facebook.com/discotecatineretului?fref=ts

Photo credits – Radio ZU

If you are the type in search for more calm activities you can choose evening entertainment shows or open air cinema or you can even consider spending the time watching the sea at night and the candles inside air balloons lighted up and sent up in the air.

In terms of accommodation you can choose staying with one of the locals; it’s cheap, close to the beach and has all you need in terms of services and who knows maybe you even end up making some new friends.

All in all we loved the experience; Costinesti is truly the pace to chill and relax in a crowd, how we like to say it.