Local trips to Bulgaria and Transylvania

Last fall I took a 3 day weekend and drove to Sofia, Bulgaria to visit my friend/colleague who is also a nurse practitioner working in the same job as me. She joined a few months before me and is a PNW'er, so we clicked almost immediately years ago in a class on rural advance medical care. Sofia was similar in many ways to Bucharest, but had its own character. We took a day trip out to the Rila Monastery a beautifully preserved site in the mountains. We also did a walking tour and checked out the newly found Roman ruins that have been discovered buried deep under the city while building their new metro system. Super cool!

A week later I took a trip with the Bucharest Hash group to Transylvania for the annual Halloween Hash. It was a BLAST! I helped set the trail for the main run with CrashTestDummy (or more blandly known as Stuart). We stayed up late that night drinking and dancing then did the hangover hash Sunday morning (which entailed a 15 minute walk in the woods behind the hotel and then circle for some morning beer drinking...luckily I had the excuse of having to drive, so I got water), before driving back to Bucharest. Such a great group of people. It was a beautiful setting with all the leaves changing. I don't have pictures (thank goodness), but I was given my Hash name at this event. So as is tradition, I was doused with beer and flour on a chilly October morning and am now known as Cup N Cough.

Beer Stop!!

This Halloween Hash event has been happening for years with people coming from all over Europe to participate.

Back in Baku

I was recently reminded that I wasn't updating my blog, so I thought it was about time.  I cannot believe it has been 6 months!! My excuse - I have been busy enjoying life. I have traveled to Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Sofia, Lugano, and a bit around Romania (and back to the US in February, but that is so boring :).  See, much too busy to write. Oh yes, and I finished my doctorate at the end of March. So, now I have no excuse. No more homework to keep me from posting my adventures.

Since I am back in Baku (Azerbaijan) I will post my photos from my first trip in September last year. This is a lovely city with a rich history. Have you ever read the classic novel Ali and Nino by Kurban Said (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_and_Nino)? I took the Ali and Nino tour by a local historian and it was so interesting to learn the history of the story and the politics of the time. My first trip here was to cover the medical unit since they had a long gap between permanent providers. I am back currently to mentor the new provider who is a great PA from Oregon. It is so nice to be back.  This is a former Russian territory, so everyone speaks Russian, which feels odd walking around.  It is also a very wealthy country - oil money.

Took a day trip out of the city and we went to the "Mud Volcanos" bubbling mounds of mud

The famous Flame Towers that light up at night. They are quite impressive/beautiful. This is the view outside my hotel window.

The hotel I am at is at the edge of the old town with winding streets, within the intact medieval wall (renovated) and old style architecture with the common window boxes seen above. Really nice for strolling around.

The Azeri people are lovely, gracious and hospitable. The clinic staff too me out to lunch and no matter how I protested they insisted on this amazing meal and paying for all of it. I am thrilled to be able to come back to work with them again.

The view to the Caspian Sea from my hotel room. There is a lovely boardwalk stretching for a couple of miles. This city has so much to offer. They just had the Formula I races here and the street you see was part of the track.

Thanks for your patience. I also need to change the back drop of the blog since I am no longer hitting the books. See you next time!