Blogs from Macedonia, Europe - page 6

Ranna hygiena, vyhodenie dalsej suciastky, opat roztrhane smradlave ponozky. Uz sa tesim do ohridu,konecne na nohy nasadim zabky. Uz klasicka zastavka v pekarni na burek, ten pekne zjedeny v parciku a smer bus stanica. V pohode kupeny listok, opat aj tu je poplatok za vystavenie listku, a prechod cez sbs k nastupistu. Tu mensia sou, jedna zahalenkyna dala do busu balicek, sofer cakal baksis ale ten mal zrejme jej manzel co bol v cakarny. Kedze nemal listok na bus sbs ho nechceli pustit k nastupistiam, tak zacala strkanica, dotahovanie, mensie hadky. Na pomoc dosol dalsi sbs-kar. Nakoniec sa ale vsetko vyriesilo, sofer dostal prachy, my v buse neznamy balicek, ktory zrejme zachvilu exploduje, sbs sa upokojili a slo sa dalej. Inac domaci dobre spatne kukali po moslimke. Cesta opat super, najskor po dialnici, majitel hostelu vravel, ... read more

Okolo 5/30 ma budi prvy clovek co opusta izbu, o hodinu dalsi. Veru moc som toho nenaspal. Nasledovala horuca sprcha, bohuhzial moc to tam neako neodtekalo, tak hned spraveny v sprchovom kute mini bazen. Z jedneho spolunoclaznika sa vyklul guide z albanska.O hodinku zacina sprevadzat turistov z holandska Musi to byt faj biznis ked sa sem trepe az z Albanska. Inak toto ubytko je dobre ojebavacske, najskor som si ho rezervoval za cca 10€, potom cena klesla na 8,5€ + free ranajky, samozrejme ,ze som rezervaciu zmenil. Albanec co tu je se mnu na izbe plati 9,5€ Na ranajky nabieham do pekarne, kupujem rozok, bol som v tom,ze bude plneny, no prdlajs. Bus stanica najdena v pohodicke, do odchodu busu este neakych 45.min. Na info centre zistene,ze listok sa kupuje u sofera. Panko mi ale na ... read more

The Kale Fortress had loomed over us, since our arrival in Skopje. A visit to the Fortress was pencilled in for Sunday morning. It opened early – 0700 hours. We had what transpired to be our final breakfast at the hotel and climbed the hill from the Old Town. It was a surprisingly short walk and opened up a whole new world of drinking possibilities from those investigated to date. Who would have thought it? The First Microbrewery in Macedonia perched at the top of the hill. We made a note to return later. We walked across the grass beyond and up the hill to the main entrance. The Fortress is For Visitors proclaimed a very home-made looking sign. It actually said “Open” for Visitors, but that wasn’t immediately obvious. A mysterious large black Mercedes with ... read more

Macedonia is prone to earthquakes. In fact, a mere 2 weeks before our departure for Skopje, a small quake measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale hit the city. The epi-centre was only 2 miles from the city centre. Buildings shook. A bit of debris fell from buildings into the street, but no major injuries were reported. It was a different case in 1963. On 26th July, a large quake of 6.9 on the Richter scale destroyed large areas of the city. The death toll was over a 1000. There were many more injuries and most of the major buildings were left in ruins. The old Railway Station included. It was left in pieces. The clock on the front of the building has stood still ever since at the exact time of the quake - 5.17 am. ... read more

We have parted ways with Intrepid. Our Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia expedition has finished. Officially today on paper, but really yesterday was the last day with a farewell dinner. Me and Bill have made our way through 3 countries and its not even midday – Albania, Slovenia and Germany. Early morning flight from Tirana saw us leaving in the wee hours of the morning, connecting a flight in Ljubljana to Frankfurt. We currently are on the ICE train to Nuremberg. So I need to recap the last country of our intrepid adventure – Macedonia!! We left Pristina early in the morning to catch a ‘rustic’ train over the border to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Apparently the train, which takes longer, is much more scenic and beautiful. Honestly, it was a rust bucket of a thing ... read more