Columnist Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe writes in her weekly column about life as an expat in Romania. This week she writes about her weekend trip to the Romanian seaside, where she visited Constanta and Mamaia.

There is still a little sun left even if it has gotten colder in Romania, so why not spend some of the last sunny weekends going to the seaside? In one of my recent articles I wrote about my lovely trip to Neptun, a place I can honestly recommend. This weekend I decided to go to Constanta, and I ended up visiting Mamaia too.

If you don’t have a car, there are buses to Constanta that go directly from Bucharest with one stop to stretch the legs and have a little 'pauza' in the 3 hour journey. The buses are modern and have free internet access. The bus station is near Gara de Nord, and the price is only 55 lei.

Constanta

Constanta reminds me of a Denmark because it is so close to the sea, and the possibility of eating out at a restaurant while listening to the sound of the sea can be recommended as a perfect way to re-energize the soul, to relax and let the mind wonder, while enjoying fresh fish for dinner.

In Constanta the weekend can of course be spent doing nothing other than staying the whole day at the beach and then in the evening returning to the hotel, but I would definitely recommend going for a walk in this very interesting town and discovering the sights. The Archaeological and National History Museum is well worth a visit and offers the chance to learn about the long history of the area, as well as seeing a fine collection of antiquities.

To the right of the museum is another must see - a collection of old tombstones. What is interesting is what is written on these tombstones - funerary epigrams from 2-3 century A.D., when Constanta was called Tomis. The epigrams provide accounts of the lives of the people they commemorate and are often a moving blend of humor and pathos.

Next, go down and see the old Casino building near the harbor, it is not open to the public, but it is indeed a very beautiful building and just looking at it conjures images of its past inhabitants. Just on the other side is the Aquarium - see a lot of fish, sharks and turtles without getting wet. There is of course much more to see in Constanta, but these are some of my favorite places.

From Constanta it's easy to take a taxi to Mamaia. I have heard so much about Mamaia, some people love the town, other people find it very snobbish, so I decided to make the trip to make my own impression, the price was negotiated to 100 lei, if that was a good price or not, I can’t say, but it is not possible to make the trip on foot.

Mamaia

Mamaia is compared to Constanta a more what I would call hip place, all in all the town looks more modern and the buildings new and impressive. One café , restaurant or hotel follows the other on the main street, and on the parallel street off the main street, there is a sea view road only open to pedestrians. There's a very cozy little harbor and many restaurants to relax in.

My impression of the town was positive, when it comes to cafes and clubs, all the major clubs in Bucharest have a club in Mamaia, and one of the most visited clubs is Fratelli.

I went there, and found the place looking nice, the interior looked much like Fratelli in Bucharest, but the atmosphere was quite 'special;' half of the people were standing around the bar, and the people who could pay for a bottle had a table, no one was smiling, no one was dancing, everybody was just looking at everybody, to show off their newest outfits or being very busy on their phones, if It had not been for the music from the DJ, which was ok, it would have been very quiet, I imagine, and I did not find it cozy. I found it funny to see this theater play of showing off, but I didn't stay very long. However, now I understand why some people say Mamaia is “fitze” or snobbish.

On the other hand the beaches of Mamaia are really nice, I went to a place on the beach called H2O, where there were huge orange pillows under a sort of Bedouin tent - this was perfect. The only minus was that it was a bit cold, around 24 degrees with quite strong winds, so the sand would fly up from time to time, and with the strength of the wind, actually hurt. But it wasn't so bad, and I could take a swim in the sea to avoid the little sandstorms whenever I wanted.

So enjoy your weekends with a trip to the seaside.

By Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe, columnist

Eleonore is Danish, she holds a BA in Organization and Management and specializes in Corporate Communication & Strategic Development. She is also a Market Economist and a Multimedia Designer. She is currently working in Bucharest as the Executive Director of UAPR the Romanian Advertising Association. As a Danish Viking in Romania, with a great passion for ’covrigi’, she has a burning desire to find out more about Romania especially Bucharest, and enlighten the small differences in the culture between Denmark and Romania.. Her weekly columns will give you insights into an expats life in Bucharest written with humor and a big Danish smile.

(photo by: Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe)