Basking in Bansko

 

We decided to have a break from organizing and attending medical appointments and headed north to Bansko, a large ski resort in Bulgaria. Mountains for Z, spa and pools for me. 😊 😊 You could actually see the distant ski infrastructure from our balcony. The highest peak in the Pirin mountain range is 2,914 metres and Bansko itself lies at an elevation of 925 meters above sea level.

Three hours after we arrived, our Greek phone provider sent us storm warnings despite there being a clear, blue sky all around. We went for a wee stroll and suddenly the wind got up, black clouds rolled in and we just made it back to the hotel at a great pace before the really heavy rain started.

The following day the weather was fine – nicely cooler than back home – so we did a bit of exploring. The population of Bansko is under 10,000 normally, but ski high season – December to February – an annual total of more than 360,000. So it was no surprise to see the town centre is packed with of hotels, guest houses, gambling joints, and tourist services: ski equipment rental and purchase, gift shops, restaurants, with new buildings being erected everywhere. This being off-season many of these were closed, though locals were expecting crowds to arrive in August. And we did try some local food.

The International Jazz Festival from July 31^st to August 9^th will ensure many additional visitors.

A daily activity was our visit to the various heated (well-heated, I must say) pools, saunas, jacuzzies- all housed in the most beautifully decorated spa area. With my skin sensitivity to the sun, this was the option for me, rather that the also-heated outside pools.  Anyway, with the changeable weather conditions they weren’t always in use.

 As we headed home after our Bansko break, the winding road followed the route of the River Strymon where activities such as canoeing, rafting and kayaking are organized. We also saw several hikers scaling the slopes leading to the ski runs. Decidedly not for us!

 But we did enjoy our time there, especially our daily swims and the breakfast buffet with its huge array of fruit, vegetables, breads and sweets and, of course, my scrambled eggs, toast and baked beans! :o 

Now it’s back to our daily routine, auld claes and parritch!

The Papageorgiou Hospital and Ancient Egyptian Medicine.

 

 Recently as we clambered up the steps to the state Papageorgiou General Hospital, I was reminded of long-past visits to Dr. Mayer’s surgery in Tarbert – ironically you had to be in reasonable health to negotiate the slope leading to access the required medical assistance!

The hospital is an extensive, modern building, in an area of 150 acres, operating since 1999 and is one of the most technologically advanced medical centres in Northern Greece.

We were directed to the foreboding-sounding Nuclear Medicine Department where Z underwent testing after our medical ‘MOT’ tests indicated some slightly higher-than-normal measures. Our family doc is meticulous and she demanded multiple follow-up tests – just to be on the safe side!

Z found the hospital doctors efficient and polite but thought it must be soul-crushingly tedious for them to repeat the same instructions day in, day out!

I meanwhile explored the large, airy entrance hall which boasted some really interesting murals.

The first one depicted scenes of Egyptian practitioners. We certainly know of their mummification skills from findings excavated from the pyramids but it was really interesting to look at the knowledge and skills of medical practitioners around the Nile area in the times of Ancient Egypt: 3,300 BC- 525 B.C.

They had a surprising knowledge of the anatomy, detailing diseases of the alimentary, respiratory circulatory, muscular and nervous systems, among others.  Surgeons at that time used instruments that can be recognized today as the scalpel, forceps, scissors and splints. They sutured and cauterized wounds, surgically opening septic wounds to drain them.

Herodotus in 450 BC wrote that they had divided the practice among them so there were healers for the eyes, the teeth, what pertains to the belly as well as some of the ‘hidden diseases’. There was a hierarchy within the profession: the ordinary doctor, the overseer of doctors, the chief of doctors, the inspector of doctors. Evidence shows that there were women physicians too. Medical practice was outlined in the Hermetic Book of Thoth, describing strict lines of treatment.  

They used a wide range of plants, animal products and honey for a wide range of treatments. Interestingly there was for them no clear distinction between medicine and magic, considering health and illness being consequent of a person’s relationship with the universe ie people, animals and good or bad spirits. So, the Egyptian pharmacopeia also included magic spells. Much of their knowledge and procedures have been recorded either on hieroglyphic stone or clay carvings and from papyrus scrolls. On these scrolls the language used was mainly Hieratic, which was a handwritten form of hieroglyphs written fluidly, horizontally from right to left.

It was the French scholar, Jean-Francois Champollion who, using the Ancient Greek, Demotic and Egyptian hieroglyph scripts on the Rosetta stone, decoded the hieroglyphs in 1822, thereby giving us access to this vast treasure – insight into the Ancient Egyptian culture and knowledge.