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It's amazing how many special places and things I could find in a small town in Bulgaria. A city on the shores of the Black Sea. Balchik.

Two consecutive trips in the summer of this year made me revisit most of the important places that make this city very well known, at least in Bulgaria and Romania.

This small town on the Black Sea coast has a common history, both Bulgarian and Romanian. At least in the last century. Between 1913 and 1940 the region of South Dobrogea, where the city of Balchik is, belonged to the Romanian Kingdom. The fact that Queen Maria of Romania chose to build a small castle and a large garden here brought fame to the city. Today these objectives are the great attractions of the city.

![IMG_20200819_095159.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/VxXFgCq9-IMG_20200819_095159.jpg)

I have more than two thousand photos from this week spent in Balchik. They all tell the same story, the story of a short vacation. A story broken into several pieces. The first are here:

[Why I'm sorry I'll die in the next ten years ... Anytime!](https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@bluemoon/why-i-m-sorry-i-ll-die-in-the-next-ten-years-anytime)

[Balchik Castle - The Lonely Nest](https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@bluemoon/balchik-castle-the-lonely-nest)

[A Three-Day Vacation](https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@bluemoon/a-three-day-vacation)

[The Gardens That Dominate The Sea](https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@bluemoon/the-gardens-that-dominate-the-sea)

Although it is a pleasant place to spend a vacation, even more so, it is also a cheap place to spend a vacation, I think few potential readers will be able to get (or want to get) to these lands. This thought pushes me to try to show different parts of this beautiful city.

**How to get to Balchik.**

*First of all you have to get to Bulgaria.*

*From Romania there are two main alternatives, by car and by bus. This is because Romania has a very long common border with Bulgaria, with distances between 40 km to 700 km, from my home are about 300 km. For those who come from more distant countries, the main way is by plane. The nearest airport is Varna Airport, 40 km from Balchik.*

I'm now trying to continue the walk through the garden of the castle in Balchik. I am now interested in the possibilities of shopping, souvenirs, both for myself and to give gifts to relatives and friends. In different places in the garden I found small art galleries and small handmade objects, but from here I was left with only the image of freedom offered by the proximity of the sea, expressed by the beautiful saleswoman without inhibitions.

![IMG_20200819_095327.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/5HzT2w7Y-IMG_20200819_095327.jpg)

After going through the first temptation, obviously the second must follow. Wine shops. These are the most known and visited in the castle garden.

![1.1 2.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/Tir0HbXF-1.1202.jpg)

![IMG_20200819_095735.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/6D5E7t0Z-IMG_20200819_095735.jpg)


Little marketing. It is not enough to have a beautiful presentation. To attract visitors to the store, free tastings are offered. The wines are weird, fig wine and raspberry snow wine.

![IMG_20200819_095820.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/wlk85e4m-IMG_20200819_095820.jpg)

Following the route to the second store that I knew was in a special villa. Prince Nicolae's villa. The novelty of the place is that I met a waterfall, a waterfall near the sea. These gardens are arranged on the slope of a hill, a hill full of springs. In ancient times Balchik was called Krunoi, which in Greek means springs. These springs feed a beautiful waterfall and set in motion the mill I mentioned before.

![IMG_20200819_095913.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/TLT8RNeX-IMG_20200819_095913.jpg)

Immediately after the waterfall must be the villa but before we reach it we must remember we are at sea, even if now the background is the sea is more important, is the main reason for this trip. The sea that can be seen from the height of these gardens.

![IMG_20200819_100653.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/RRShkosu-IMG_20200819_100653.jpg)

![IMG_20200819_101354.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/EsRcCRGr-IMG_20200819_101354.jpg)

In addition to the castle, six more villas are built in the park. One villa for each child of Queen Maria. Prince Nicolae's villa is built in one of the highest places in the garden. These stairs lead us there ...

![IMG_20200819_101159.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/TzNEs5Yq-IMG_20200819_101159.jpg)

![IMG_20200819_101309.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/YkxgKueU-IMG_20200819_101309.jpg)

![IMG_20200819_101655.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/G8JXakB3-IMG_20200819_101655.jpg)


In this villa, on the ground floor, there is "Queen's Winery House". This is the place we are looking for. The visit begins, as in any place like this, with a tasting.

![IMG_20200819_101701.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/hRfJahXn-IMG_20200819_101701.jpg)

Now let me say something about wine, if I still tasted it. It is not such a good wine that it is worth the money. It costs around 25 euros a bottle. It is a heavy wine, with fruit taste and quite sweet. It costs more because of the place and the story.

The little winery is now opening in front of us. Lots of bottles built next to the walls. We move carefully through the small rooms so as not to tear down the pile of bottles that seem to be in an unstable balance.


![IMG_20200819_101740.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/eERJDVOo-IMG_20200819_101740.jpg)

Old wines, fifty to seventy years old, kept in the cellars of the castle. Hundreds of euros cost a bottle.

![1.4.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/GZZZs4uF-1.4.jpg)

I didn't buy. Not so much because it was too expensive but especially because I don't understand the passion for such wines. Especially since you have to buy without knowing what wine is like. It cannot be tasted, given the high price.

![1.3.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/x1HNvgf3-1.3.jpg)

Beyond all these considerations there is one more, namely, I do not think that these wines come from the queen's wineries. There can't be so many bottles. In all these years since the castle became a museum, I think thousands of bottles have been sold and so, if it was a collection from the 30s and 40s, it should definitely have run out. 

That's what I think, but I'm not sure that's the case, but I think that a good marketing would have considered such a presentation. People, tourists are delighted to be able to buy old objects, which look old and have a noble origin.

I left the bottles on the shelves and the money in my pockets and left the place happy as I resisted the temptations to buy.

![IMG_20200819_101856.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/ANT5K3sO-IMG_20200819_101856.jpg)

I like to see the sea among the branches of the trees, near the villa of Prince Nicolae. Prince Nicolae was a good man and could have been the king of Romania ... but, in fact, he could not, being the second born of Queen Maria's boys. Carol II, the older brother, became king. He was a controversial king and described as a bad and vicious man. I like to see the sea among the branches of the trees, from the height of Prince Nicolae's villa.

![IMG_20200819_101648.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/pOekyj3f-IMG_20200819_101648.jpg)

A little waterfall near the villa. An image from below to the villa and an image from the height of the waterfall to the small beach at the base of the hill.

![1.5.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/hNWfz8vW-1.5.jpg)

Stories, walks, photos and travels. Our struggle, of the people, from here to there, multitude of needs and desires. Most dissatisfied. This is our short life.

Beyond, the sea is very close. Millions of years there. Insensitive to all our agitation. Very beautiful!

![IMG_20200911_082947.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/VqRapkPO-IMG_20200911_082947.jpg)

A blue flower for us. A blue flower near the Black Sea that is also blue.

![IMG_20200911_082541.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemoon/eqCgVXJL-IMG_20200911_082541.jpg)

For #MarketFriday and #alwaysaflower proposed by @dswigle!

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[//]:# (!pinmapple 43.407079 lat 28.139859 long Balchik Gardens d3scr)

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