BBOer pwqn (Connie Marfell) makes it to the BBO newsfeed again, as she grabs the big prize in the WBF Women’s Festival once more!

She first arranged to play with her friend Tasha5, from Greece, but unexpected personal problems made Tasha cancel at the last moment, leaving Connie stranded. She managed to hook up with Coquille (Constance, from US) and off they went to Turkey, looking forward to what will become another adventure filled trip for Connie.

If you think Connie booked a flight straight to Istanbul, you don’t know her at all. She composed an entire treasure hunt itinerary, going to Greece to meet Tasha for a few days, then to Romania, to spend a week with Aurora, then to Turkey for the European Championships, and then again a detour through Greece before finally returning home.

We’ll let Connie herself tell you how that went:

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After flying 5 ½ hours from Portland to New York I arrived there at 5:15 am my body aching from the plane ride.  I first went in search of a decent breakfast.  (Ha Ha  airport food???)  Next…   trying to figure out how to kill the rest of a 12 hour layover.  Of course playing bridge on my phone was part of the time…. and then I actually sat and read an entire suspense novel.  Next, I sat and talked with a young rap evangelist from Brazil about people being possessed by devils…. (That must be me on the airplane).  NOW WHAT???  I found a quiet corner and curled up for an hour nap… more bridge on my phone… now time to board for the 10 hour trip to Athens.

On the trip to Athens, I was so tired that I actually slept much of the trip…   Arrived Athens 10AM.  I took a taxi to where my friend Tasha (Tasha5 on BBO) awaited. Tasha was supposed to be my partner in Istanbul but she was not able to make the trip.  We spent the day together getting to know each other better.  After another 12 hour layover Tasha took me to airport where I caught a flight to Munich.

I was scheduled to fly to Sibiu, Romania but due to the storms all across Europe I missed my connection  At 2:00 am the airline put me up in a hotel where I could finally take a long awaited shower.  I was able to sleep for a few hours and then went to airport to catch the flight to Sibiu.  Boy is Romania ever beautiful from the air.

At the Sibiu airport I was so excited to be greeted by my dear friend Aurora and her husband Adi (Stoicaadi on BBO).  We spent time hanging out at their condo and had the pleasure of introducing Aurora to the American TV show  BULL   We spent hours laying on the couch watching Bull while we both enjoyed just being together again  and also  taking naps LOL.

One day Adi drove us to Ocna Sibiului where we tested the healing salt, water lakes and of course the black mud.   They say it is supposed to remove toxins from the body.  A wonderful place to spend the day.  Before going back, Adi treated me to a Hungarian treat called Kürtőskalács. Fun to try new things!

Another day we drove 2 ½ hours north to Salina Turda … a giant salt cave where the Romanians have built an amusement park 500 feet below the surface. We were met there by the lovely Mari and Narcis (Mari11k and Narcis11k on BBO).  They had driven 2 ½ hours south to meet us there.  It was Narcis’s birthday so we had to celebrate.  We went into the cavern where deep inside was a ferries wheel, a pool table, ping pong tables,  and even a lake with paddle boats.

We rode to the lovely city of Oradea Romania where Narcis and Mari live.  Mari cooked a delicious Romanian meal and also had a cake for Narcis’s birthday (ask Narcis about his new mouse). We played a few quick rubbers of bridge (Mari and I won YEAH).  Then into the city where they had a huge plaza with a spectacular light show.  Does Oradea always do this to celebrate Narcis’s birthday? 

The next day we spent at a swim spa in Felix, near Oradea.

Later that day we drove back to Sibiu. I wont tell the entire story of getting lost,  almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere, encountering the worst hail storm I have ever seen, Adi being stubborn and not pulling off the road to let the storm pass, going to a monastery in the pouring rain, and of course coming back to the middle of Transylvania to a full moon.  (Where was Dracula?)

I decided to cook dinner one night.  Aurora insisted she did not like any apples baked… So of course dessert was apple cobbler.  I had my husband send me recipes for his award winning apple cobbler, broccoli salad, and stuffed mushrooms.  At the store we could not find many of the ingredients so we had to improvise.  I made my own version of Italian sausage for the mushrooms (not so good).  After visits to 3 stores we gave up on finding broccoli and made the salad from frozen cauliflower (I was never known for my cooking skills). Aurora, Adi and son Adrian were all great sports and pretended to like all three.

Finally it was time to leave my dear friends and I flew Sibiu to Vienna (Of course the storms cause me to miss my connection to Athens but another flight was in ONLY 5 hours… My I hate airports).

I arrived in Athens early the next morning and took a cab to Tasha’s condo arriving about 3:30am.  We stayed up till 6 am talking   The next two days I spent the days at Tasha’s… sleeping, doing laundry, sun tanning on her deck and walking her charming neighborhood. 

One night Tasha set me up a bridge game with Stavros.  He was totally delightful and a pleasure to have as a partner (by the way we won first place).  The bridge club was great… outdoors in a park at night with lights hanging from the trees.  I had the pleasure of meeting many very kind and friendly bridge players.  Demitrius (sjimaras on BBO) and I had played against each other on BBO. Elizabeth (El Rei on BBO) took me under her wing and sat with me to be sociable before the game.

I then flew to Istanbul a few days before the event was to begin.  After a few hectic experiences, my partner, Constance (Coquille on BBO), arrived.  We spent a day at the pool relaxing and another day at the Grand Bazaar buying so many things that we each bought another suitcase so we could take our treasures home.  Istanbul is a fantastic city with wonderful people everywhere. 

The first day of the tournament was exciting…. Especially the first hand… I had only played three time with Constance so of course the most dreaded bid for a new partnership came out of  the first hand.  She opened 2c  I bid 2d  she bid 2s  I bid 3H  she bid 6H. I had an ace so I bid 7H. Not a great auction at all but we got lucky and it rolled.  The rest of the first day  not so lucky but we qualified for day 2. The second day we were terrible and missed qualifying by about 2%.  Close but not there.

We were lucky to spend time with other friends from Romania: Adriana (Aditan), Romana (Romana123), Liviu (Bobob15) and Adrian (Adys). We shopped and went out to dinner.  The final day, Romana took us on an unbelievable adventure on a ferry ride to spend the day on a private island.  We actually got stranded there for 7 hours and were swamped by a huge wave that Romana said was caused by a submarine.  Luckily, we were able to save our purses, wallets, clothes, and shoes. 

After a remarkable time in Istanbul I returned to Greece to spend more time with Tasha.  We were able to find a great beach near Athens where we enjoyed two days of glorious water, wonderful sunshine, great company, fantastic Greek food, and of course mango mojitos.  We both cried as I headed to the airport.

Of course there was another wrinkle.  I thought my plane left at 4:00pm, but it really left at noon so when I arrived at the airport at 2:00 the plane was gone.  Luckily, the 2:30 plane had been delayed until 7:15 and I was able to book on that flight.  After another 5 hours in the airport, I boarded for the 10 hour flight back to New York. I arrived late but my room was waiting for me. After a great night sleep I boarded the flight back home.  Now for another terrible booking, a flight to Memphis, transferring to San Jose California, and then on to Portland.  My,  I now hate airplanes and airports.

For the rest of the year I plan on playing in Eugene and then Seaside. Luckily, these are both within driving distance from Portland. But then, I will fly to Puerto Vallarta for my absolutely favorite tournament in early November, followed of course by the Fall Women’s festival on BBO.