by Ronnie Robinson The Event Directly aſter leaving Tai Chi Caledonia on Thursday evening I leſt early Friday morning to travel to Ruse, Bulgaria for the 8 th Taijiquan & Qigong Federaon for Europe’s (TCFE) Congress Forum. Hosted by local Master, Maria Nedelcheva I set off with a slight air of cauon as the economic climate (among other factors) meant that the numbers were lower than usual for such an event. The Journey On arriving at Bucharest Airport I was greeted by a local driver who informed me that an Irish woman was coming to meet me but, because of a car acci- dent on the motorway, she would take another 30-40 minutes and did I want to wait. Having no recollecon of any Irish women in my past I was curious as to why she was travelling to meet me. Eventually the riddle was solved when an American woman, living in Romania, enrolled for the conference and was instructed to look for me at the airport to share the long ride to Ruse. Eliot was joined by Connie from Holland who lived locally with her Bulgarian husband, and then we were finally on our merry way. Where to Eat On nearing our desnaon, the TCFE President, Nils Klug, called to invite me to join him with Severino Maistrello an Italian teacher whom I’d met the previ- ous year in Venice. Nils has two current passions, Italian men (he assures me he just likes their company) and good qual- ity food. Now these are not qualies one would normally associate with tall, thin Germany vegetarian men, or maybe my percepons are enrely wrong! Anyway, my immediate priority was to find out where to stay, dump my baggage and eat. 1 st Night in Ruse Once we were dropped in the town centre I met Maria, her students along with Cornelia Gruber (our Treasurer) and her students from Switzerland. Aſter much discussing, to-ing and fro-ing, we eventually ended up at the Happy Bar which served an interesng array of local delicacies at more than affordable prices. Someme later I was escorted to a city centre apartment which I was to share with Marianne Plouvier and Anto- nie Ly from Paris, who I had spend some me with only a few weeks ago when teaching, as their guest, at Paris Qigong 2009. As they were evidently asleep I crept quietly to bed. Sleep however, was somewhat evasive with the twin perils of noisy locals and no air-con. The next Taijiquan & Qigong Federaon for Europe 8 th Congress/Forum Ruse, Bulgaria July 2009
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by Ronnie Robinson
The Event
Directly after leaving Tai Chi Caledonia
on Thursday evening I left early Friday
morning to travel to Ruse, Bulgaria for
the 8th Taijiquan & Qigong Federation for
Europe’s (TCFE) Congress Forum. Hosted
by local Master, Maria Nedelcheva I set
off with a slight air of caution as the
economic climate (among other factors)
meant that the numbers were lower
than usual for such an event.
The Journey
On arriving at Bucharest Airport I was
greeted by a local driver who informed
me that an Irish woman was coming to
meet me but, because of a car acci-
dent on the motorway, she would take
another 30-40 minutes and did I want
to wait. Having no recollection of any
Irish women in my past I was curious as
to why she was travelling to meet me.
Eventually the riddle was solved when
an American woman, living in Romania,
enrolled for the conference and was
instructed to look for me at the airport
to share the long ride to Ruse. Eliot was
joined by Connie from Holland who lived
locally with her Bulgarian husband, and
then we were finally on our merry way.
Where to Eat
On nearing our destination, the TCFE
President, Nils Klug, called to invite me
to join him with Severino Maistrello an
Italian teacher whom I’d met the previ-
ous year in Venice. Nils has two current
passions, Italian men (he assures me he
just likes their company) and good qual-
ity food. Now these are not qualities one
would normally associate with tall, thin
Germany vegetarian men, or maybe my
perceptions are entirely wrong! Anyway,
my immediate priority was to find out
where to stay, dump my baggage and
eat.
1st Night in Ruse
Once we were dropped in the town
centre I met Maria, her students along
with Cornelia Gruber (our Treasurer)
and her students from Switzerland. After
much discussing, to-ing and fro-ing, we
eventually ended up at the Happy Bar
which served an interesting array of
local delicacies at more than affordable
prices. Sometime later I was escorted to
a city centre apartment which I was to
share with Marianne Plouvier and Anto-
nie Ly from Paris, who I had spend some
time with only a few weeks ago when
teaching, as their guest, at Paris Qigong
2009. As they were evidently asleep I
crept quietly to bed. Sleep however, was
somewhat evasive with the twin perils
of noisy locals and no air-con. The next
Taijiquan & Qigong
Federation for Europe
8th Congress/Forum
Ruse, Bulgaria
July 2009
TCFE Congress/Forum Report - Ruse, Bulgaria, 2009 by Ronnie Robinson