Bitola

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My guesthouse owner gave me a small breakfast before leaving. I had coffee and polenta with cheese. After eating quite a lot of polenta in Romania and finding it pretty bland, I wasn't expecting it to be amazing. However, my hostess has found a way to make it more appetising, by adding cheese. It tasted so much better. After breakfast, I made my way to Ohrid bus station and bought a ticket for the 10 o'clock bus to Bitola. I was quite surprised at how busy the bus was. I had expected it to be quieter. The journey to Bitola only took about an hour and a bit. Bitola bus station is a little out of town and it took me about twenty minutes to walk to my accommodation. I got there before check in, but my room was ready. The guesthouse was beautiful, it is an old building that has been lovingly restored. Since it was quite cold outside and the heating was cranked in my room, I relaxed there for a bit before heading out.

One of the main sights in Bitola is Heraklea Linkestis, which is the remains of the ancient city. It is not centrally situated and is down past the bus station. My walk there took me through the City Park. There were quite a few people walking through the park, mainly old people and older kids that had finished school. There were quite a few fast food restaurants lining the first park of the park. As I exited the park, the area became a lot more industrial and I followed the smaller road past the supermarket and the zoo. I also passed a cemetery that looked really interesting. I thought about going in for a wander, but decided not to. After about five minutes I came to Heraklea Linkestis. There was no entrance fee, so I just wandered in. I was surprised to see a school group of what looked like foreign middle/high school students doing a tour around the site. If it wasn't for them, I would have been the only person there. Since that group were in the lower part of the ancient city, I set off to the higher part first. The site isn't too big and I presume that there is a lot more that hasn't been uncovered. I had a look around the amphitheatre, which was pretty big. I would love to see it full of people and to have experienced the atmosphere during that. I walked around the bottom of the amphitheatre first, before taking some of the back stairs to the top. The views over the site and the surrounding area were great, it's just a shame that it was quite cloudy as I would have loved to have seen the whole unobstructed view. There was a museum next to the theatre, but it looked closed, so I didn't bother to try the door. I wandered around what looked like small stalls. I really liked that there were parts of statues scattered around. I made my way to the back of the complex. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be here as it wasn't really roped off, but it wasn't exactly easily accessible either. I made my way forward and walked through the remains of the two basilicas and residences. It was quite hard to imagine what these would have been like as there are only a few ruins left. I wished that there was more information on display detailing what it had looked like and how life had been back then. The sewage system was interesting to look at as was the former courtroom. I quite enjoyed my look around Heraklea Linkestis, I just wish there was more information.

I headed back to the centre of Bitola. I had passed the end of the main pedestrian street earlier, so went for a walk along that. The street was longer than I expected it to be. There were quite a few restaurants and cafes along it. I saw a bakery that looked really nice and managed to exercise self control by only ordering one of their delicious looking pastries for lunch. I had a spinach and cheese stuffed pastry, which was good, I only wished it had been heated up. I continued my walk to the end of Shirok Sokak Street. I really liked the buildings on the street. The architecture was quite different to that I'd seen in Skopje and Ohrid. At the end of the street, there was Magnolia Square, just past that on one side was Yeni Mosque. On the other side was the Clock Tower, I went over for a closer look at that. The Clock Tower has been around since the 17th century, but has undergone a few transformations over the years. It was quite pretty, but not amazing. I took to wandering some of the backstreets near Magnolia Square and came across the Church of St. Dimitrija. The church was rather beautiful and I enjoyed a walk around its grounds. It was a very peaceful place. On the walk back to my guesthouse, I came across a few examples of street art. I had already seen some pieces on my walk from the bus station. It was really nice to see, I love the vibrancy that the colour adds to a city.

I needed something for dinner, I wasn't in the mood to go to a restaurant, so I just headed to the supermarket for some supplies. I was happy that my guesthouse room had a fridge as it meant I could by meat and cheese to make sandwiches for dinner, breakfast and the bus journey for the next day. Since I had really enjoyed the Macedonian wine I'd had the other day, I was on the lookout for more in the supermarket. I couldn't find the one I'd had, but got some rose to try. It was nice, but not as nice as the Stobi Winery one I'd had in Ohrid. I had a lovely relaxing evening with my book and wine.

The next morning when I headed to the bus station to take the bus I wanted to Skopje, I found out that it didn't run. It may be better to book the ticket the day in advance to check the schedule is correct. This meant that I had an hour and a half to kill and Bitola bus station is pretty ghetto, so I ended up going for a walk along the main street again. The street itself was pretty quiet, but quite a few of the cafes were busy. Cafe culture is a huge part of life here, but it left me wondering, do these people work or are they actually working in the cafes and not just chatting with their pals like I think they are. The journey to Skopje didn't take as long as I thought it would and I had to laugh at the no guns sign on the bus. I enjoyed the drive through the countryside and the smaller towns we passed through. I had worried that I wouldn't make the 3 or 3:30 pm (I can't remember what time it left) bus to Sofia, but the timing was perfect and I didn't have to spend too long in the very depressing Skopje bus terminal. Another bonus was that he bus to Sofia was pretty empty, there were only about 10-12 people on it, perfect.

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