1st august 2007 - sfantu gheorghe

a long day, a little fishing (with no success), wonderful swimming in the sea in surf whipped up by the wind. For me it is the most beautiful place on the black sea so far. The most beautiful of the three mouths of the danube too. Vilkovo is beautiful too and has something dreamier about it, seems more hidden, softer. Sulina is more urban, more easily reachable, has the official river kilometre 0, has a past that one refers to and a future one hopes for. But nowhere else is the point of intersection so clear and so impressive as here in sfantu gheorghe. It is the oldest mouth, with the most meanderings, some of which were cut through with channels in order to make shipping possible. Forbiddingly beautiful nature, attractive unattainability, more boats with local fishermen than with tourists. Finally the river seems male, he pushes unyieldingly into the sea, pushing the surf back many hundreds of metres. The sea lets it happen, the union does not take place in the delta, but rather out in the depths. And there the water begins a new journey, a new circulation. It will rise again, carried by wind and warmth, condense into clouds and fall to the ground once more as rain. That is the place that one dreams of when dreaming about somewhere beautiful.