The Bridge That Brings Us Closer

This is a bridge of friendship and it is not a real bridge over water or over cliffs. It is a virtual bridge. Just as links and crossings have been built between different blockchains, I want to show that there are these invisible bridges in Hive too, between different communities. What we've all noticed, I think, is that our blogs are not so specialized that they strictly fit only one community's requirements, they could be published in multiple communities without fail. That's why I think we can nominate multiple communities when we publish. Of course, technically we can only publish in one community, but we can also use tags from other communities when posting. I don't mean cross-posting, I don't find it a popular and beneficial method.

This may or may not be to the liking of the moderators in the main community. I have observed both situations. This can be seen, from comments and upvotes.

This bridge I am thinking of may just be an acceptance, even a tacit one!

In this context, I want today to continue a walk, closer to #WednesdayWalk, from @tattoodjay's community, into @dswigle's community, #MarketFriday. Because I know there is mutual admiration between the owners of these communities, I'm sure I won't upset any of them!

In Wednesday's post, where I shared a small part of a great walk I took in the gardens of the Castle of Queen Mary of Romania, located in Balchik, Bulgaria - Some Small Parts of a Long Walk, I stopped with the story at a garden plateau where there are several villas, converted into places of hospitality, small hotels, and beautifully landscaped gardens.

Plus a splendid place to watch the sea from high above!

This photo can also be called a bridge. Because it also appeared in the post mentioned above and links these two posts.

Perhaps the lady in the picture, coincidentally my wife, wonders, romantically, what it would be like to be queen, this wonderful complex of gardens and villas belonging to her and existing only because it was her will. Just from her love of beauty and her power to make that love real.

Returning to that pleasant walk, this is the part of the visit that I will show you now.

I arrived at the second villa turned hotel. When I say hotel I feel I'm doing something wrong because it doesn't look like a hotel. It looks more like a bigger house made for friends, for friends' meetings. The villa has eight rooms.

Now that I'm looking at the photos of this villa again, I realize it's bigger than it appears in my head. It may be a home for friends but not everyone could build and own something like this.

This plaque on a wall of the house may indicate that this was once, but after this place no longer belonged to the Queen, a sort of headquarters of an institution, of culture perhaps.

I don't know who this gentleman in the bas-relief was because I don't know Bulgarian... maybe a Bulgarian friend could tell me. What is certain is that this gentleman was born in the same year that the construction of the Castle started!
This plaque seems to be very well done.

I love the architecture of this villa, a mix of classics with both Mediterranean and Bulgarian, and even Romanian influences!

I love the inner courtyard, a meeting place for all those hosted here.

A place that particularly suits young people. Every time I passed by this place I saw many young people in this courtyard and I think they were young artists, writers, or painters.
One element that is seen everywhere in this garden are the channels through which water flows. Only in the inner courtyard of this house, these channels are without water, there are placed colored stones.

At the time when the Queen lived in the Castle, this villa, called Villa "The Suite" was inhabited by the Queen's attendant and part of the suite.

Something even more beautiful than this building is the garden nearby. The many small gardens that together form the great Queen Mary Garden are different from each other. This one here has water and conifers as its main element.

Many canals, smaller or larger and small ponds, very small ponds, where the water gives a sense of tranquility, complemented by the shade of various species of conifers.

The water lilies and turtles complete the picture. The slowness in the movement of the turtles and the way they sit to receive the warmth of the sun seems to invite imitation and relaxation.

The Queen chose to buy the hills on which she built her summer residence because there were many springs there. These springs are the source of the water that flows through all the canals in the gardens. Fresh water is an important element in these gardens bordered by the salty waters of the Black Sea. Their permanent flow reminds us all of the flow of our time, of life that has only one direction...

On one side, an exit to another garden. Here we stop, leaving this walk for another time.

Although this post seems more like a travel post, or a walk, it still has the commercial aspect that allows it to be integrated into the #marketfriday category. Not because today is Friday, it's not enough.

The fact that I paid to visit this complex which is the main attraction of this small town in Bulgaria gives me permission to write about this community as well.

Over the years I have visited this complex dozens of times. The place consists of two parts: Queen Mary's Castle and its gardens plus the Botanical Garden. In past years I could choose what I wanted to visit and buy a ticket just for that one site. In recent years it has not been possible in this way. It is compulsory to buy a ticket for both places, even if you only want to visit one of them. This is because there is no separation between them and it is more difficult to keep efficient surveillance to keep out those who have not bought a ticket. Moreover, there is another reason. The two places belong to different entities: the castle belongs to the city of Balchik and the botanical garden belongs to the University, I don't know which university, in Varna or Sofia.

The ticket for the Botanical Garden costs 15 leva and the visit to the castle costs 7 leva. In total 22 leva. As 1 leva = 0.50 euro, the cost (roughly the same in Euro and USD) is 11! For a full-day visit.

I think I can now say that I have pretty much told you all about a small part of this wonderful place, the Castle of Queen Mary of Romania, located in Balchik, Bulgaria.

For an ending as we are used to on #marketfriday, all we need is one more flower, #alwaysaflower, also following the example given by @dswigle. A flower from the rose garden, another beauty created by the Queen.

For #MarketFriday by @dswigle!