The Black Sea

As part of our netting trip to Shumen, we had the opportunity to visit the Black Sea. Our destination? The Kaliakra Cape on the northeastern tip of Bulgaria. The site of an ancient fortress, Kaliakra had been defended for centuries, in turn by Tracians, Romans, Byzantines and Bulgarians...

The fortress is on a peninsula that juts 2 km into the sea and has steep limestone cliffs - it's no wonder it was such a successfully guarded spot. I loved these winding stone staircases that descended into the sea.

Kaliakra is also renowned for its rare birds. By birders that is :).

Stefan was kind enough to point out the pied wheatear to us, a humble looking insect-eater that is very rare except for this area.

David and Gwendolyn explored the limestone cliffs.

Birding and fortress exploring complete, it was time for a seaside meal overlooking the water. We were just in time for sunset.

Gwendolyn had a great time hand-feeding Ivo salad. Ivo patiently complied, but I'm not sure the enjoyment was entirely reciprocal.

And then we watched the moon rise over the water - a beautiful first glimpse of the Black Sea coast!