The Constanța casino

When planning where to finish this tour, Constanța and its casino were the obvious choices. I fell in love with that building ever since I saw it for the first time somewhere on the internet.
In the current form since 1910, it worked as a casino for only 38 years.

It was called Romanian Monte Carlo and it has always been the symbol of the city. It was damaged in every world war and rebuilt afterward.
With the communist regime in power, it ceased to operate like a casino, and since 1948 it served as a house of culture.

Built in Art Noveau style by 32-year old Daniel Renard, it was a sore point for the entire political opposition and conservatives back in the day, who wanted something less extravagant and in popular Neo-Romanian style, which was featured in many of my photos.

And so, after 12 days of cycling (rest days not counted) and after exactly 900 km (560 miles) I reached the promenade in front of the iconic casino in Constanța.
I was so happy with the casino milestone that I didn't even consider staying longer in the city 😁

I spotted a place where I could urban-camp and rushed to the train station to check if I could exchange the train ticket that I had bought in Bucharest for a train leaving tomorrow, for the one leaving tonight. Sure enough, I could. I left the city as fast as I entered it.

The ease with which I called it the end just reaffirmed Emerson's words, that it's not the destination, it's the journey.Read more