09-Jan-2002 --
Day one, Fetka, Zhorko and I took a long walk along the Black Sea Coast
towards 42°N 28°E. This year has been one of the harshest winters on
record, with snow on the ground, ice on the rocks, many of the migratory
birds avoiding the frozen estuaries along the coastline. We made it to
Silistar beach, about 1'22" north of the confluence, as it was becoming
dark we headed back on foot to Sinemoretz.
On day two, we headed out,
this time by car accompanied by the manager of Villa Philadelphia, Bobby
Tetovski and local historian/naturalist Bai Stefan. We made it to the
border checkpoint, 14" north of the confluence, obtained permission from
the border police to enter the zone. We parked the car about 1500 meters
south of the checkpoint and, with the GPS in hand, began the walk
towards the confluence, after 20 minutes we arrived at 42°N and began to
head east towards 28°E. The snow on the ground was around 20-30cm in
thickness... but we continued until success: 42°N 28°E.
We all felt as
if we were on an expedition to the top of Everest. Bobby walked several
meters north, south east and west making sure that we indeed were at
42°N 28°. The GPS noted that we were being tracked with 7 satellites
and concluded that indeed we had reached the objective. Bai Stefan, as
the area historian was given the honor of marking the confluence with a
small sign. That evening we all returned to Villa Philadelphia, raised
a few drinks at Bobby's Café and declared the expedition a success.
Bobby mentioned that he was planning several GPS tracks to area points
of interest around Sinemoretz for his guests during the summer season.
After a great expedition, two guides from Villa Philadelphia, Fetka and Zhorko, the local Historian, Bai Stefan, the manager of Villa Philadelphia, Bobby Tetovski and myself arrived at 42N and 28E with SUCCESS!
Coordinator's Note: Unfortunately, in the excitement, no pictures were taken of the area without visitors. If anyone feels like going out there and taking more pictures, it would be appreciated.