I made it back from Dobrogea (Black Sea coast) in one piece.  The car only broke once and cost me US$35 to fix, but it set me back by four hours while they dismantled half the engine just to rewire a few bits. I managed to get out of Iasi just hours before yet another massive snow storm shut down all roads for the second time in three days. Despite very warm temps all weekend, we’re still half-buried here.

My trip was made infinitely easier by the good people at Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority and the Information and Ecological Education Centre (www.deltaturism.ro) both in Tulcea, the gateway to the Danube Delta region, and the Info Litoral Tourist Information Centre (www.infolitoral.ro) in Constanta.

I’m gonna be home for about eight days, writing and spending a lot of time dealing with various car issues (it was very apparent on the open road that my brand new, rear brakes are at about 0% effectiveness), before I head down to Bucharest to meet Robert and then onward from there to attack the south, west and northern parts or Romania all in one go.