Hotel Kamnik Skopje

... and wedding dress makers replaced the department stores and coffee shops on the other side of the Vardar River. Mosques also began mixing with churches and women with headscarves went about their daily business while men wearing those doilie looking things on their heads tended to their trades. <br><br>My trip is also about to butt up against Ramadan just like last year. If you followed my adventure last time, you remember what a pain Ramadan ...

... the trip so far- certainly my favourite named after a capital city if nothing else. I finished my glass and treated myself to a fine Macedonian meal (McDonalds- but they sold Skopsko too- McNuggets and lager, what a meal!) while pondering the problem of accommodation for that night. The train to Thessaloniki didn't leave until 8am and that of course meant I'd have to spend the night somewhere. Normally when I travel I book all my youth hostels in advance ...

... a boy of that age, he has to get into everything, its a wonder they get anything done around there! He is so cute though and Venera is teaching him some english, so he says hello, hi, bye.. he's sweet! We would say that he flirts with the ladies and that he will be a heartbreaker when he grows up. Venera works in the Spanish Emabassy and Gazmend works in the OSCE. Their names have a interesting translations: Venera means Venus, Gazmend means ...

... station was abandoned, but on principle I refused to pay $2.50 for a tourist map marked "free" from a vendor in the main square. The internet café in the mall had plastic wrap over the keyboards of the computers. I got yelled at for taking photos of murals inside a post office. I guess it is a security issue, like photographing bridges, airports, military bases. I hitchhiked down the hill from a visit to a former monastery at St. Pantelejmon.

... is traveling between some naked girl's legs; I dont really know what that is supposed to mean. Its in a big church art gallery so I know its not sacrilidgeous. Any ideas?), and unicorns, and jesus with swords. Then I got to have real turkish tea after years of drinking it at home. It was stronger than I would haev imagined and wonderful. After turkey town and some other fancy places we went to dinner up on a ...

... in Skopje but we have directions to one, hastily scribbled onto a napkin from someone's guidebook. I'm always reluctant to ask directions though, must be a man thing, and I quickly get us lost trying to walk from the bus station to the hotel. It would be quite a pleasant walk through the streets of Skopje were it not for the heavy packs on our backs. Somehow we make it to the main square where a few hotels begin to ...

... Further along there was a plaque that was designed to inform the visitor about the history of the castle. But it was made of glass and someone had the idea of smashing it. We could only read a bit of the french translation of the history. But from the castle the view was pretty good. Local leaders have brought the 80's idea of the space age down to earth. The post office and the parliament look like they came from outer space. Next ...

... called Radozda on the lake, couple of kilometres from Albanian border. The people there seem to be so REAL. Maybe i should move there and marry some fishing man. Not bad at all. I'm happy i can live with Barbara but now she may actually move away. Yes, these situations change all the time when you are EVS, that's all i can tell now. She is really deep and thoughtful girl, totally lovely. With her and with her boyfriend ...

... Then cross over the stone bridge Kamen Most and then you land in the old city. The influences from occupations back in ancient times is apparent. There's a large Turkish bazaar and you can also see the Turkish bath houses which are now converted into art galleries. I was surprised at the Turkish influence, but then again, this area was under the Ottoman rule a few centuries ago, so, there. It's kinda nice I was able to get the Turkish influence here, because I think I'll skip ...

... to the Mayor's office.We sat at a long table and awaited his arrival.A huge Albanian flag filled the wall at the far end,and aft** a while a numb** of black uniformed KLA stood on the raised platform in front of it and began to use their mobile phones.They w**e making arrangements for the arrival of the aid convoy,the one that I had seen on the road outside Kumanovo 2 days earli**.Today it was expected to be granted p**mission to ent** the rebel t ...