Heading for Hungary

Heading  for Hungary

11 november

I am writing this on my way to Budapest. As you may have notice I haven’t wrote so much the past days. Well I haven’t been traveling around, I have been walking around and I had not the same time to write.

The past days I spent in Skopje, a wonderful city.  A regular city in many ways but on the other hand it wasn’t. It was calm, but alive. People were very friendly and they tried to help when they could. Even thru the most people didn’t speak so much English, if any at all, gestures and trying took me a long way. The food was lovely, mostly because there were a lot of different vegetarian dishes and mostly very cheap to. 

In the bazaar it was crowd, a thin path to walk on between all fruit and vegetable stands. Cheap and fresh fruit in big amounts, I actually never bought something there so I don’t know the taste of them but it was a cozy place to walk in. Outside the narrow streets of the old town was lying, waiting for someone to pass. And people did, all the time. There you found restaurant’s shops but most of all, small cafés. You could buy something to drink or something easy to eat for a small amount of money, and waste a lot of time here.  A walk down from the old town took you to the stone bridge and let you pass over the Vadar River.  It’s a mastodon bridge from the 15^th century that leads you to the main street. Lots of statues, mostly of different war heroes or helgon from Christianity stand beside the roads as you pass by. Moder Theresa are said been bore here and a little church are built to her honor. In the main streets there are still a lot of cafés but the big restaurant and regular shops are more familiar here. If you don’t want to go inside you can buy some roosted hazelnuts on your way instead.

The fortress is worth a visit, as a lot of mosques in the neighborhood. The fortresses are to be found in the west of the old town. Mosques are to be found everywhere. There are also hammams to visit but they are all rebuild to museum.

I could write for hours about this little town, in the size of Uppsala but I prefer to stop here for this time, otherwise I will just be sad. I really liked this town and I now on my way so it feels mostly sad. I can’t remember why on earth I would take that decision, but I had already made it. I look forward to see Budapest again but I can’t get over the feeling of what I leaving. There are so much I want to so the Ohird Lake in the southwest of Macedonia. Just a walk thru a bigger part of Skopje would be great. And another day at the mountains beside the Matka Lake and explore the area and go to the monastery’s there was actually planed but I never got the time, or I never took it. There is no question; I need to get back here again, soon.  

What negative are there to say about Skopje? I don’t know actually. People don’t speak so much English, but they are friendly and the most people try to understand anyway. For a long visit here I would learn some Macedonian, I think that will help a lot. It doesn’t even the taxi drivers try to screw you on your money, I was very surprised about that. Ok, a little of course but they not charging 200 instead if 1,5 Euros. They charge 2,5 Euros instead of 1,5-2 Euros.  Ohh, I have found something! There are a lot of beggars out on the street. A lot of women with their young child at one arm the other one free to take some gifts. It feels terrible because they seems marginalized from the society, like it was the only thing they ever could do. The most people I have speak to say that they all are gypsies  that are begging and that you should stay away from them. I know they mean well when they warn you, but I can’t just look away and think it’s there choice. The warning was mostly about groups of young children that begging for money because and said that they will rob you if you give them anything. Not because the one that gets the money will rob you, but because they all want to have something. I never saw this kids but I heard a lot of warnings about them. I can’t believe I could resist giving them something just because of that, but as I wrote, I never meet them. But the beggars in the street were a common view. I don’t know what the best way is to help them and that’s still bothers me. Maybe it’s not so much I can do as a tourist there just for a few days but... I can’t feed all of them and that’s maybe my problem. The fact that people are poor I think is hard and something we need to solve together, the whole world. But this, I’m not so sure. There are not just poor people, they are a few really poor people in country who aren´t rich but I not poor enough to leave this people to their own destiny.

I look forward to see Budapest and I guess I will post this later tonight.  Some pictures from Skopje will be uploaded too.  But I still just want to go back. And the fact I had Kosovo 2 hours away from me irritate me a lot. Just a bus tour and I would have been there…  And Albania just some more hours away…  and Bosnia… But Kosovo way just 5Euros and 2 hours (maybe 3) away. Well nothing to do about now I think… I don’t miss Sweden at all. If I had the possible to decide I would not go there for a long time. I would like to travel around and see things. Not be in could Sweden. Have I mention the weather here? Around 10-20°C most of the time.

What a surprise, in the middle of nowhere “wireless network found”.  But it´s not so open as it at the first look like so I don´t get out any way.  My battery on my computer is almost empty, my phones battery is ok but long way from full. It’s the bad thing when traveling around in Balkan, to charge something on the train will just be a dream far far away… 

Breakfast at the fortress for this man

A mosque I visited