"Memories zap me, memories bitter me..." Part of a somewhat successful song some time ago. It expresses a truth. Memories of the summer that not long ago left us to do the same thing to me, as do memories of the song.
Sea and summer are my favorites, and now that I'm no longer on either I'm left with the memories that zap me. My last trip this year was to see the sea at Balchik but also to see the Castle of Queen Maria of Romania, who in her lifetime thought Balchik was part of her kingdom. She died two years before it wasn't!
Queen Mary was Romania's and Balchik is Bulgaria's. Fortunately, the European Union membership of these two neighboring countries has brought them closer, closer to a union, or if not, at least to an easier crossing of borders!
Every year I get my share of Balchik, the Black Sea, and the former royal estate that has at its center the Castle of Queen Mary of Romania. The castle, which is actually a small holiday home, is a must-see and is actually seen (visited) by most tourists. I think it is the main tourist attraction of the small town, a resort on the Black Sea, Balchik!
The castle and...
The sea!
The castle and...the sea! Always together and every year visited, I can't help it. If the sea is somewhat free (but it isn't), you have to pay a visit fee for the castle. The fee is paid, I can tell about it in #MarketFriday, 
Go to the market, or anywhere that you pay money for a service. It can be a movie, auction, even a museum. Wherever money is exchanged for a service or product.Take pictures! Be creative!
I keep longing for a post about the castle, either I don't have enough time, or I don't consider myself inspired enough to write something on the scale of this wonderful place. That's why I keep popping up a little part that I try to show. As I do today...
Exhibition in the castle
As I said, I visit this castle every summer. Each time I notice a change from the previous year. This year an exhibition in a part of the castle that was forbidden to visit before caught my attention.
Simply, a new door has been opened!
Crossing the threshold of this door I entered a not-very-large room with stone walls, which led me to think of a storeroom or a wine cellar.
What I thought was a painting exhibition was actually an exhibition of artwork made from wood! I didn't understand much of the poster as it was written in Bulgarian, in the Cyrillic alphabet which I am not familiar with.
I intuited that they were three artists from the same family because the main name seems to be the same. At the same time, I understood that the exhibition was for sale because I also saw a price list of the exhibits.
That said, all that remains is to show you a few exhibits.
You can see the popular influence in these paintings which also have a naive art appearance. I like them, especially the second one, which seems to be done on the back of a wagon. In the first painting, there is definitely a shepherd, a very young shepherd.
Here we even have modern, cubist art. Made of many wooden pieces with geometric figures, like a kind of lego. I hope you notice the frames, which are actually windows, the window frames of a house, probably an old peasant house.
A wooden mask. Such masks are specific to the Balkans, they are also much seen in ancient Romanian culture. Barbarian masks, come from our Thracian ancestors.
Everything made of wood is made by the three artists. There are a few decorative items that I don't know what to put. A kind of sculpture, of which the violin seems to me the most inspired!
Three-dimensional art, right?
And at the end, I was surprised to discover myself among the exhibits. I was moving from one side to the other..., kinetic art is called that! Haha...
The same door from the beginning, only now viewed from the inside out. The outside is, in fact, the inside of the castle that will be shown soon.
Here it ended, not before looking at a flower, because #alwaysaflower. A flower from the Queen's garden!