Every couple of hours my boiler makes a sound like a stadium full of people cheering.
I was all set to repair my Fairphone 1 (First Edition) in September when I can get a replacement motherboard and battery, but I just resuscitated it to check some things and it turns out latest Signal update is not compatible with Android 4.2.2 any more :( I miss having duel SIM and a back that opens, but is it worth fixing it if I can't use Signal? The Fairphone 3 is so big and I don't think I really want one, yet at least. Grumble. I know Signal is notoriously bad at being available on open OSs, anyone know any that will support it that will work on the FP1..?
Two days in Belgrade on the way back to Skopje from Split. Wandering, recovering. Belgrade welcomed me with familiar gloominess, and I walked along a deserted beach at Ada Ciganlija. The next day was sunny, so I went to the fort. Food at Zuwar, Seventh Heaven (maybe the best ice cream I've ever had? Pistachio), the new Vegessence, and finally great seitan cevapi at Mayka!
Amy added 48 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-balkans/
Took a bus from Skopje to Ohrid, about 3.5 hours and 500mkd (~€8). Ohrid is a charming touristy town in the south of Macedonia, sitting on the shore of Lake Ohrid. Walked around the lake for seven hours, stopping to swim many times because the sun was hot and the water was cool. The shores are mostly rocky, but there are some sandy beaches. Hiking has the advantage over taking the bus that you can stop at all kinds of little coves and inlets in between the towns and villages, with no other people around. The beaches in the towns were packed. Some hiking was wading when there wasn't really a trail, and sometimes the road had to be followed. En route was the Bay of Bones, an archaelogical site from an 3000 year old settlement of people who lived on struts over the lake. Ended in Trpejca, a small fishing village consisting largely of guesthouses, and spent the night there.
Amy added 103 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Swam in Trpejca, in a deserted spot a little way around from where everyone else was. Then followed the shore as far as possible, but eventually had to rejoin the road, all the way to Sveti Naum. At Sv. Naum is a monastery set in charming well-kept grounds with peacocks. There's a hotel there too, which doesn't look as fancy IRL as it does on booking.com. There is a big stretch of beach, full of people, and lines of souvenir shops. A couple of restaurants, including one out on the water called Ostrovo. From here you can hop in a boat for 200mkd (if you can find other people, or 600 if there's one or two of you - I invited myself into a group of loud but friendly Croatians). The boat does a 30 minute tour of the Sveti Naum springs. The water is so clear that even at 3.5m down you can see the springs bubbling up from the sandy bottom, fed from Lake Prespa on the other side of the mountains. There's also a trail around the area of the springs, with several small churches along the way. The 17:30 ferry back to Ohrid was late, arriving at 1800, otherwise I would have missed it. They sell return tickets from Ohrid, so not having one I had to wait until everyone else had boarded to see if there was space ("no we're full... oh okay it's fine on you get"). I still had to pay the return ticket fare, which was 600mkd (~€10).<?p> The trip is about 2 hours, and the sun was starting to set behind the mountains, reflecting a bright orange off the opposite side of the lake shore. I had wanted to take the opportunity to go to Bitola, only 1.5h from Ohrid, but I was feeling a bit exhausted and almost certain I'd missed the last bus. Ready to go "home" to Skopje, I unfortunately didn't get chance to see any more of Ohrid either - there's an old town, fort, and all kinds of cool things I'll have to go back for. Instead, bolted to the bus station just in time to make the last 20:30 bus back to Skopje.
Amy added 78 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Arrived to Plovdiv (Bulgaria) a day late because I missed the last connection in Sofia. Glad to get here though. It's chaotic like Sofia, but smaller and more navigable. The city center is pedestrianised, and packed full of super nice cafes, fountains, and shops full of anything you need. The Kapana district is covered in street art. The old town's windy cobbled streets are lined with incredible architecture. Everywhere, like in Greek cities, chunks of the ground are open to display layers of ancient ruins (mostly Roman here I think). There's also a beautiful river with little islands and marshy greenery. I climbed my first hill of Plovdiv, Nebet Hill, which the old town is nestled against. It is home to unkempt Roman ruins, and views across the city.
Amy added 61 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Climbed hill #2, Danov Hill, which has a clock tower on top. Good views across the city to Liberators and Youth Hills (the other big 'uns) and the previously mentioned Nebet Hill by the old town. I also stopped by the Roman theatre, which was closed by then but still plenty visible through the fence.
Amy added 46 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Tried to go to Anglia Cafe, a veggie cafe the other side of town, but it was closed for unspecified reasons. Ate at Raffy instead, which is proclaimed on happycow to have many vegan options, only they've changed the menu since then and I just had springrolls for lunch. Not the worst, but I had been looking forward to pizza. Walked through Tsar Simeon's gardens, which have 'singing fountains' and an enormous pool of water that looks incredibly inviting but is strictly forbidden from swimming in. Got a haircut, and bought two tshirts from two different Humana stores. What I really need are new shoes (mine are disintegrating more by the day) but neither had any. One tshirt was superfluous but has aliens on and rolls up really small. The other filled a vacant slot for a slightly smarter top I can pretend to be a grownup or professional or whatever in. Anyway: hill #3, Liberator Hill. Which has a big statue of a Russian solider on top. And, of course, views of the surrounding hills and city. Also stopped at Green Corner on the way home for a cake and a milkshake; they have some good vegan groceries including Violife!
Amy added 47 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Lunch at Green Lemon, then hill #4 Youth Hill. The tallest, furthest from the city center, and a bit more rugged and less well kept than the others. Still some smaller trails up though, if a bit undergrowthy, as well as the main road. At the top is an empty pool... would be amazing if this worked, but probably not good for the immediate environment. At the bottom is a children's railway which does a little panoramic 25 minute tour around the base for 1lv (~€0.50), which I would have loved to ride on but it's irregular running schedule didn't match up with mine.
Amy added 34 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Last few days in Plovdiv, cafe-working and eating mostly at Veggic.
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
A day and a night in Pristina, which is a 2 hour and ~€5 bus ride from Skopje. There's pro-American sentiment like I've never seen anywhere, and pro-EU sentiment is visible too. Kosovo uses the euro and is populated by 90% Albanian Muslims; Albanian is the most commonly spoken language, but despite the 5% Serb makeup Serbian is technically an official language as well. Pristina is a vibrant city with lots of new buildings and modern amenities, despite the tiny population, tiny budget, and enormous unemployment rate. I wandered up and down the pedestrianised and cafe-lined Mother Teresa Boulevard in the daytime and evening, and always it was buzzing with young people and families. Of course I checked out the various famous statues and monuments: Bill Clinton's statue; the Yugoslav Memorial to Brotherhood and Unity; Skanderberg on a horse in the main square; the New Born installation; the Heroinat monument to the 20,000 women raped during the Kosovo war. And distinctive buildings: the University and City library (a blocky brutalist alien piece of architecture that is supposed to simultaneously invoke Byzantine forms, the domes of Turkish hammams, all draped in a giant fishing net); the Youth Palace sports center; the unfinished Serbian Orthodox church on the university campus; the Mother Teresa Catholic cathedral; the old bazaar clock tower which never works; the Stone Mosque. There are lots of interesting museums in Pristina, most of which are free, but all are closed on Mondays. I spent 2.5 hours on a very informative walking tour. And ate at Dit e Nat vegetarian cafe, Green & Protein health food place, and Babaganoush vegetarian falafel joint. Failed to find baklava, but did get Turkish coffee and some probably-maybe-lost-in-translation vegan treats from a coffeehouse near the Grand Hotel.
Amy added 99 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-pristina/
All roads lead to Sarajevo. This time I cafe worked, saw friends, picked up my new (secondhand) laptop. I ate good thinks like grah, falafel, krompirusa, at Karuzo, and spent a whole day in Zdravo. I was sad to see Dia cafe is closed, but found a Biona vegan food stand at a street food festival! Also got too hot and almost passed out on a tram and some nice passers by called an ambulance for me.
Amy added 70 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-balkans/
Library and cafe working around Skopje. Discovered that freddo espresso exists here. Found an airconditioned room in the big library near the old bazaar, but it's otherwise weirdly abandoned. Visited the art gallery in the old hammam, which is really cool - great art of all kinds, plus fascinating meta commentary about the nature of art.
Amy added 36 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Hanging out and eating in Skopje. Vegan 365 Kitchen finally opened after their extended summer break and their burgers are amazing. A walk in Gazi Baba forest, in the north east of the city; a calm little oasis surrounded on all sides by busy roads.
Amy added 40 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Last week in Skopje, wrapping up all the eating that needed to be done.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Went to Split, Croatia, to see Dave and Juri. Bankrupted myself by paying for all of their food. Swam in the sea a lot. It was too hot to do much so we sat around in cafes. Did do an accidental 'hike' through Marjan Park.
Amy added 42 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-balkans/
Plovdiv is the City of Seven Hills. There are only six now because one was replaced by a shopping mall. In any case, I'll climb them all this week.
But on the plus side we're close enough to Greece that I can get real freddo espressi and also close enough northern Balkans that lemonade is just squeezed lemons so I'm drinking a lot of those.
So much hype about the new Star Wars on twitter I really thought it had just been released but everyone is going wild over a new trailer?
This summer's trick has been keeping a towel in the freezer to throw over head or shoulders for moments of relief when it is so unfathomably hot and there's no AC to be found. It only lasts a second, but what a second.
Travis just emailing me over and over again that things are broken is really starting to sum up my afternoon.
As my very last week in Skopje commences, I discovered (from the nice people at Vegan 365 Kitchen) that Violife is sold at Ramstore supermarkets in the 3 big malls (Skopje City Mall, Ramstore Mall, and another I forgot). Just in time for it to be too late for me to buy cheese, especially as I picked some up in Croatia last week.
Hiked around Mt Vodno again. Tested out libraries and cafes around Skopje in a desperate attempt to escape the heat. Visited the awesome art gallery in the old hammam. Went to Pristina, Kosovo, for a day and a night.
Came back from a trip to Pristina. All the museums are closed on Mondays, and the buses to Skopje are small, infrequent, and hella busy - buy in advance :s Bussed from Skopje to Sarajevo, via Podgorica. Spent 3 days cafeworking and seeing friends in Sarajevo. Nightbussed from Sarajevo to Split. Spent three days in Split with Dave and Juri, eating, swimming, wandering, getting too much sun.
Fed my brother in Split. Bussed from Split to Belgrade and spent a night and a day there feeling quite crappy. Finally bussed back to Skopje. Actually managed to submit 2 RWOT9 papers on the deadline. Recovered for a day then went on a trip to Lake Ohrid, featuring a seven hour hike around the shore.
Walked from Trpejca to Sveti Naum, had some boat rides, tried makalo (a local Ohrid garlic dip) and the usual Macedonian fare (baked beans, salads upon salads), then back to Skopje. Worked on some small OCDS Cove things, mostly from home. Checked out the vegan cafes which were finally open again after their summer holiday. Finally abandoned my old threadbare grey and black flower-patterned tights which I got from the SHRUB in Edinburgh a million lifetimes ago. They are cosy and warm, which I do not need at the moment, and they do not roll up small. And they're disintegrating. Finished re-binge of seasons 1 to 8 of Red Dwarf. Bussed from Skopje to Sofia, too late to catch a connection to Plovdiv. Spent an awful loud-people-in-the-next-room impaired night there, then caught the earliest available bus to Plovdiv the next day. Settled into Plovdiv; climbed Nebet Hill and wandered around the old town. Finished A Wizard of Earthsea. Watched most of Another Life. Then climbed Danov Hill.