European Adventure

April 2017 - February 2018

A 318-day adventure by Angharad Read more

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- Apr 14, 2017
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 20 m
- Greece Central Macedonia Thessaloniki Ágios Pávlos 40.625781, 22.95514640°37’33” N 22°57’19” E
Day 11
Train to Thessaloniki
April 14, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We woke up at 9 because we thought we had to check out by 10.
The bread was awful once again. I've mention it everyday because it honestly is so bad. I said hi/bye to the dog. He doesn't really like me but I've decided that's cause he only understands Greek words. Yep.
Irene came in to the kitchen and helped us figure out where we needed to get the train from later today. She tried turning off her mums god awful Greek church music. The kind of music/sounds that make you think of monks worshipping. Ooahhhhhooo In very deep voices.
The mum walked back in and turned it straight back on -.- it hasn't been turned off the whole 4 days. I believe in God and yet even I feel quite uncomfortable about how religious this house is. Paintings and statues everywhere.
Have I mentioned they don't have a tv? Just a bunch of old lady furniture. I kept thinking of Joeys quote off friends "you don't have a tv?? but what does all your furniture point at??" Hahah
We figured out we needed to get to Larissa station which was an easy enough task. We chatted for a bit and talked about the different countries she had been too and her studies to become a doctor. She was horrified to learn about the bugs in Australia.
Because they didn't have any more guests scheduled for the day we were allowed to stay as long as we wanted so we didn't have to carry our luggage everywhere with us.
We spent the time listening to music, transferring photos from my phone to laptop, replying to messages, contacting our Bulgaria Workaway and booking a hostel in Macedonia for 4 nights.
Time to go - eh our backpacks are heavy but manageable. Will finds it harder than I do which is weird cause our bags are only 1kg different in weight. We got to the station and had to buy a ticket, the man was a complete and total wanker. The ticket was 1.40€.
I gave him 50€ he said it was too much money and tried to give me 30cents as change.........
I was like UHM NO. Will then realized what was happening and said he had 5€ I could use instead.
So I gave the man the 5€ expecting to get the 50€ back.
Haha nope.
I had to have a yelling match where he kept doing aggressive Greek hand gestures which were clear as day telling me to " fuck off stupid woman" he asked "what do you want" where we both had to tell him 10 times WE WANT THE 50.
Total toss pot.
He angrily threw it back.
For the 5€ we paid we got 30 cents change.
Absolute horrid human.
And theft.
We found the right side of the station and caught 2 trains to Larissa.
Our train is at 4 so it was a 2 hour wait.
When the train came we took a real gamble. We had no idea if it was the right train - only Greek came over the loudspeaker and there were no signs. We found our seats and sat. I am so nosey. There was a ka-fuffle up front and I sooooo wish I could speak Greek. There was yelling and crying and phone calls! It got even more exciting when the ticket check guy came. More yelling.
We think they over booked the train. One man had the same seat number as Will another man kicked a lady out of her seat then she kicked someone else out of there's. We had no clue what was going on but we're relieved when the ticket man had no problem with our tickets.

THERE WAS A CAT BEHIND US :D he meowed the whole way hahahah he didn't like being in a box. I don't think he was allowed because when the ticket guy came they covered him with jackets and bags and told him to shush hahahahaha he got through! It was so nerve racking seeing if he would stay quite or not - he did! Woohoo! Yay kitty!
The scenery was nice. I'm disappointed I had a sleep and apparently missed going through the mountains.
I went to the loo and when you press flush it opens up onto the track. I'm disappointed I didn't have a poo hahahah.
Really gross though.
The country is much nicer than the city. The olive trees stand out in the fields.
I have a headache now :( we should arrive soon - it's been 4.5 hours.
I had a boogie to some music on my iPod and I think I embarrassed Will :) hehe.
Arrived at Thessaloniki 20 mins later than scheduled - only 5 people left on our carriage now. We made it out to the street and not a single taxi was around. It was so dark and abandoned. Will was more stressed than I was.
We decided to go for a walk towards some bells that where ringing because that probably meant people. It was the end of a church service and thankfully a random taxi drove by that we flagged down. Our Bnb was only 5 mins away in the heart of the city. Our host is like a Buddha. So cute and randomly has blue eyes.
He showed us around then him and his son left. We have the whole apartment to ourselves wooo!
Will was starving so we got food nearby. We couldn't open the door when we got back. We have struggled with every door so far -.-
5 minutes later we got in. Now BED TIME, YAY!Read more
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- Apr 15, 2017
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 30 m
- Greece Central Macedonia Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Ferry Port 40.630329, 22.9456740°37’49” N 22°56’44” E
Day 12
Thessaloniki
April 15, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We had a mini sleep in today. Our bed was awful. It's a $3 sponge mattress. We headed to Aristotelous Square. I like Thessaloniki more than Athens already. It has grass. The square was great, so spacious! People were doing yoga and playing with their dogs. It was a combo of park and walkways, It had a statue of Aristotle too.
No one has their dog on a lead but we saw our first couple of stray dogs without collars. They are so clever, they lined up with everyone to cross the road and waited until the green man hahah. They seem so well fed. Everyone treats them with well and no one yells at them. They are just a part of society lol.
We walked down to the water, we found a TGI Friday's so we had some brunch. I LOVE BUFFALO WINGS. There was a cat in the resturant and a man got out some ham from his bag and fed it <3 <3
Not sure if it's there policy to refill drinks or they just gave us a free round but we got soft drink for free :)
We went for a walk down the port. Lots of people trying to sell crap. More Africans saying they were having another concert tonight..
We visited the White Tower. 4€ entry with a free audio guide. It basically showed the journey of Thessaloniki and how it came to be how it is today. At one point it was used as a jail and place people were executed but they didn't have any info on that. More info of the city itself.
The view from the top was lovely. The water was a nice change from Athens. The water did have brown lines in it. Will is convinced its human poo. I'm undecided however it sure did look like it -.-
We had drinks at the cafe next door. We walked by a tour bus company which we are thinking of doing tomorrow.
It took us 10 minutes to open the front door. It's going in my review. Shocking.
I had a nap when we got home and Will went to the gym, or at least that was his plan - he returned soon after very disappointed because it was closed for Easter holidays.
I had to open the door for him... GAH!
I had an hour snooze, needed it!
We went looking for dinner but EVERYWHERE was closed, or only sold drinks. Lots of dogs in the park - there were groups of the that made me happy cause they had a friend but a few random individuals that I wanted to hug.
We walked a few km a found a lovely resturant.
Greek food.
We had an awkward moment when paying where they misheard Will so they brought the wrong change back so we had to ask for money.
The walk back was quick and now we are home and probably going to watch a movie.Read more
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- Apr 16, 2017
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Greece Central Macedonia Thessaloniki Toumba 40.6248, 22.95529140°37’29” N 22°57’19” E
Day 13
Thessaloniki
April 16, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We both had a TERRIBLE night sleep. Mosquitos kept biting us and we think fireworks might not be illegal here because every bloke and his dog was setting them off all through the night. -.-
We had a small sleep in then spoke to Bill/Helen, Jess/Jaxon & Mum/Dad on Skype. We didn't really have much to say because everyone is pretty up to date because of my journal :) we were happy to hear about their trip to the Easter show though and to see Pippin inside <3 Boots doesn't like it and keeps staring at him hahaha.
I said hi to Gerty, Aggie and Thad too :D
After we said bye we had a lot of organizing to do. Turns out the bus does not run to Macedonia tomorrow (Monday) so we have booked a bus for Wednesday morning, contacted the hostel in Macedonia to let them know we need to change/cancel our reservation which they said was fine and won't charge us - woo! Then we checked to see if the place we are currently in was available for another 2 nights... IT WAS! So much less stress!
So after we got everything sorted it was about 1:30pm and we were starving!
But as it was Easter Sunday everything was closed wahhhh.
It was an abandoned city. We found one place and sat down but turns out the kitchen was closed so after Will had a coffee we moved on. We eventually found a little cafe that didn't have great variety but at this point we didn't care. The smoothie I had was fab! It was pineapple, pomegranate and banana. We then walked over to where the tour bus company was to see if they were running and our luck continued - they were. We had a 30 min wait before our tour started. It was 10€ each, lasted 70 mins, and had audio guides in 8 different languages. Will thought it was good but I thought it was pretty crap to be honest. The audio didn't always match up with the drivers location..
I much prefer actual person guides.
There was this stupid elevator music that played in between sites too that got annoying.
It took us to 8 sites - white tower, archaeological museum ( where Alexander the Greats fathers tomb is), church of Agustin Sofia, church of Agios Dimitries, Kastra, Galerius Arch, Aristotleous square and the port.
Tour was rubbish but has helped us decide what we are going to do tomorrow - see a monastery and the castle we saw along the way.
Afterwards we went for a long walk along the pier and came across and Alexander the Great statue. the city of Thessaloniki is named after his step sister.
I went to use a public toilet and OH MY GOD IT WAS NOT OK.
Piss was EVERYWHERE, as in it's been raining for 10 days straight sized PUDDLES.
I was like ok, I'll try the disabled toilet maybe people use that less.
I nearly died.
There was poo on the wall, floor and seat.
There was a cleaning ladies bucket in there too. I think it's possible that she saw the situation and quit her job on the spot without returning the bucket.

We kept walking up the pier.
Will was right, it's poo in the water. We saw many very obvious logs today.
More walking more walking..
We had dinner at the first place we found because we didn't want to push our luck and assume other places would be open.
I tried lentil soup cause they didn't have tomato but I hated the texture. Will had a burger.
We saw someone feeding a stray dog. Warms my heart every time.

I plucked one eyebrow this morning and then Will rushed me out the door so I've looked stupid all day. It's really quite obvious and makes my face even more lopsided than usual haha

We decided we would have another movie night and bought some snacks on the way home.
Movie choice: South Paw.
It required to much concentration so I've come to bed before it's finished. Will is still watching.
The sweet chili Doritos were delicious!Read more
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- Apr 17, 2017
- ⛅ 13 °C
- Altitude: 5 m
- Greece Central Macedonia Thessaloniki Toumba 40.623251, 22.95171440°37’24” N 22°57’6” E
Day 14
Thessaloniki
April 17, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Wills alarm went off at 9:45 which was immediately turned off and we slept through until 12:30 when I finally got up and had a long shower. I sit in the shower though because they don't have a wall hook so it's easier and more fun hah :)
I've decided not to take my iron pill today because I had such a good sleep and might not sleep tonight otherwise.
Will can't be bothered to do anything today so a lazy day it is. We are about to watch the spongebob squarepants movie :D :D
We went and got breakfast - we had such good intentions on buying food and storing it in our fridge/pantry at first but everything has been shut since we arrived so it hasn't been possible.
We got a pizza to share for 5€ which was fantastic value because between the 2 of us we didn't even finish it.
When we were eating it the people in the apartment above us were having very loud sex and it was very uncomfortable. We tried coming up with other possible scenarios like comforting a baby on a rocking chair.. but in reality it's the only one that fit. God it was awkward I felt like I was intruding.
We watched 'spongebob' and then 'baked in brooklyn'
We've had left over pizza for dinner and played a few games of Big 2 with our newly bought, erotic Greek art playing cards.

I'm writing this on the loo and have just had a distaste avoided. While doing a number 2 I messaged Will to tell him we were out of toilet paper.
It was ok though because he knew the special location. :D phew!

While Will had a shower I did our first attempt at using the scrubba wash bag. I think I did it right? I had a few hiccups along the way so I watched a YouTube tutorial afterwards and they did it the same way so we will see if they smell once dry lol.

We've watched some more comedy skits on YouTube and now it's time for bed :)Read more
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- Apr 18, 2017
- ☀️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 5 m
- Greece Central Macedonia Thessaloniki Ágios Pávlos 40.626089, 22.9518840°37’34” N 22°57’7” E
Day 15
Thessaloniki
April 18, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We slept in again :)
Our clothes aren't dry so we have left them hanging up. In our next hostel we have an ensuite so we will do the rest when we get there - don't want to carry around wet clothes.
Will wants me to tell everyone he hasn't seen a single Subaru.
Fascinating I know.
We facetimed Jess and then after a lot of pleading from me, we went to TGI Friday's again ! Wool woop.
Delicious.
We then went to the center square and bought bird food for 1 euro each to feed the pigeons. There was this annoying little kid who kept running and scaring the birds - granted I would find it fun if i was 7 too. So I moved away from her and made my own little bird club :) there was a dove pigeon too :)
We caught the taxi up the mountain to Heptapyrgion Castle which unfortunately was closed but we still enjoyed walking around it and sitting on some of the old wall. As we were sitting though Will noticed that there was lots of little red bugs. I've never seen anything like them before, it was flea sized but it's entire body was Fluro red. Once we noticed them we naturally started to feel itchy and moved on.
I find the walls really interesting with all the rocks just mashed together. Collecting and transporting them would have been a bitch.
I desperately needed to wee but there wasn't a toilet in sight so we walked quickly down the hill In The direction of the Vlatadon monastery which hopefully had a toilet - we came across a cafe with an spectacular view of Thessaloniki and toilets so we decided to get a drink here to gain access to the loo. The toilet was ridiculous, if you had longer legs then me then you wouldn't be able to close the door - my knees were touching the door when sitting...
we then popped over to the monastery but it too was closed but we admired the beautiful artistry on the outside of the building.
We've now walked home.
Clothes still not dry -.-
Will is off to the Gym while I pretend I'm packing but will probably watch a cartoon.

Well, I started to watch land before time.. I told Will to take the key but he said no he will just knock when we comes back but now I've realized that he won't be able to get into the building at all without the first set of keys so his knocking plan won't work. So, I've popped over to the grocery store across the street with the aim of buying toilet paper and sunscreen but they didn't have either? Thy didn't even sell tissues. I ended up buying coke and a snickers hahahah I always have good intentions but it never goes well for me lol.
I got through check out without mentioning I didn't speak Greek once. She rambled on to me and I just paid silently. So proud.
So now I'm sitting at the bottom of the stairs just inside the front door waiting for Will to come back. He could be 10 minutes, he could be 3 hours :\ I was hoping it would be closed cause it would mean he should be back by now, but alas, he is not.
The coke isn't even cold so I can't drink it. Poo.

It's been 40 minutes.. still waiting.

There is a buzzer outside that he could press which would let me know when he was back..
but as I'm the one that pressed it on day one, I'm not sure if he knows which one to press and I'm not willing to take the risk, because if he doesn't know then I won't hear the end of it.
BUT I just know that because I'm sitting here being a good human he is going to come home and be like "uhm I could have just pressed the buzzer"
We will see.
1hour35.

So what happens?
A man opens the front door and Will waltzes on in with a small "thankyou" to him.
ARE YOU KIDDING. -.-
Gah! Waste of time.
Will stunk so he had a shower while I packed and had a little iddy biddy baby whinge. I AM SO PROUD HE SAID HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE KEY.
This is a real personal growth moment.
As an I'm 'sorry' to me ( not an apologize cause he didn't do anything wrong but rather sorry because I had to sit on the stairs due to circumstances ) he said I could get some sweet chili Doritos :D they are so good.
We went to dinner at the place we found on TripAdvisor with terrific ratings that's been closed since we arrived - it's worth the hoo-ha.
Fantastic atmosphere, fast service, yummy food, and super friendly waiters. First time we have tipped in ages.
One guy asked us where we were from so we said Sydney. And he repeated back "Melbourne city" so happily and walked off.
He returned later to say woooo Melbourne city and added a fist pump hahah.
Because it was our last night in Greece we agreed we would both try an Olive.
Will had a bite and then spat it out.
I thought it was a slightly melodramatic reaction until it was my turn and spat mine out too. It was atrocious! So bitter and yuck! Blehh!
I bought my Doritos for our bus trip tomorrow and we have basically packed. Only our toiletries are out.
I've liked Thessaloniki- granted I'm quite bored with it but it does have its beauty. The atmosphere tonight helped me see that.
I'm happy to change countries though - so much still to explore!
Thessaloniki, with a fresh coat of paint, really could be beautiful.Read more
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- Apr 19, 2017
- ⛅ 11 °C
- Altitude: 277 m
- North Macedonia Opština Karpoš Skopje 42.003361, 21.43465342°0’12” N 21°26’5” E
Day 16
Skopje
April 19, 2017 in North Macedonia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Not good not good. We spent the night scratching. We brushed our teeth, made the bed, collected the rubbish and did a final scan of everything. We were instructed to leave our key in the room so we did.. we walked downstairs and found the front door locked, we needed the key.
We were stuck.
Will once again was far more stressed than me. It really surprises me, I thought I'd be the one having anxiety.
We waited and luckily one of the residence came down for his morning smoke so he let us out.
We went to the taxi rank and asked to be taken to Thessaloniki station. He was not happy but agreed. I think he was cranky because it's not a big/long job and they have designated pickup stations so once he dropped us off he would have join the back of the queue again So it's a big waste of time for him. He was a miserable sod and overcharged us but I tipped and extra euro anyway which cheered him up. To his credit he could have said no to us so I'm thankful he drove us.
We were an hour early for the bus so we waited in the only open coffee shop.
We couldn't help but notice the difference between counties. It was 7:30 on a weekday and the station hadn't opened yet. There was like 5 people around and this is the main station of the city...
we waited where we thought we were suppose to - there was a sign with our bus company on it but the rest was in Greek. Eventually after time had past and still no one else had turned up I went searching for another potential bus stop and found one. We rushed over - lucky we checked it was nearly time to go.
It was only a little shuttle bus type vehicle but we fit.
When we got to the Greek border our driver took our passports and went inside, they got stamped and we went through. They didn't check to see if the passports matched those on the vehicle lol.
There was a duty free shop one of the girls on the bus wanted to go to so we stoped there and I made friends with a dog.
It broke my heart. He was so so so wet. And he was so happy when I game him a pat. I think he was hungry, he tried to get on the bus :( :( I wish I could take him home.
He must have been so cold.
I had to pay 50c to use the toilet, Will refused but I couldn't because they had hoarded all the toilet paper -.- it's ridiculous. I really don't think you should have to pay for a toilet. Especially if you are going to get in trouble for going on the street? What if I had no money? So stupid I wish I hadn't paid but the man started getting cross so I caved.
We've crossed into Macedonia now and within the first 2 kilometers we saw 4 casinos hahah.
We have both had a small nap - Will is still asleep.
I think we should arrive soon. I already like Macedonia better, the buildings are like little rundown farm houses. I've seen some chickens and so much grass and lush greenery. Didn't realize how much I like plants until this trip.
The leaves are a funny lime green color.

So we arrived and there was this really friendly guy helping our driver get everyone's bags out and he asked if we needed a taxi so we said yes.
We followed him to his car and he drove us to the hostel. He was hilarious! His English was very clear. He made a few good comments but I think the main one that will stick with me is when he asked us how old we were and we said 24/25 and he responded "oh guys this is the best time of your life, live it. Smoke a joint, eat some ribs, enjoy it! His accent and enthusiasm made it all the more funnier. It was unexpected. He was really lovely so we tipped him 5€.
He has given us his his number if we have any questions or I suppose if we need a driver we could call him too.
His name was Toni :)
We got an upgrade at our hostel so we have an apartment to ourselves. It's really nice. It has a fridge and washing machine which is great!
The hostel has a fish tank :D
I was so frighten exhausted so I had a 3 hour snooze while Will researched Macedonia and he updated me when I woke up.
We hadn't eaten at all today so we went for a walk to the main square looking for a place for dinner.
I LOVE the main square. They have a ridiculous amount of statues. Like it's beyond stupid.
Easily 30 in the one place but a big one of Alexander the Great in the middle surrounded by lions and such.
There was a cool water feature nearby too with colored lights. We walked across the stone bridge and back.
We found a spot to eat which had traditional Baulkan food.
Will is regretting his decision to not buy waterproof shoes. He said I jumped the gun buying hiking boots but tonight it was raining and FREEZING and my feet were toasty while his toes were numb.
We ate an entree of mixed meats that's intended for 4 hehe. We made a solid attempt.
We tipped our waited the equivalent of 6€ and he was so so ecstatic and appreciated it. He shook both our hands.
The walk back was COLD.
I love Macedonia already. We have collected all the brochures from the hostel to have a look at and make plans for the week. We also bought cereal and milk on our way home.
Honestly though, it's already kicking Greece' ass and I've been here all of 5 minutes.

I have noticed that there are no stray dogs here. Will has said that he read that out in the villages they hang stray dogs from trees.
Oh god.
I pray I don't see it.
It's forecast to snow in 2 mornings time. Exciting!Read more
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- Apr 20, 2017
- ⛅ 9 °C
- Altitude: 278 m
- North Macedonia Opština Karpoš Skopje 42.00336, 21.43525642°0’12” N 21°26’7” E
Day 17
Skopje
April 20, 2017 in North Macedonia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
I don't know why, we haven't even done anything but we are both just so tired. We got up at 12.30 today which yesterday, in Greece would be 1:30 :S
We ate cereal for breakfast and we are now waiting for our first load of washing to finish before we put on another. I hope I did it right.. it hadn't exploded yet so that's a good start.
Later today we are thinking of visiting the mother Theresa memorial house.
We have just contacted a bike tour company who do rides through the country side. Will is really interested in doing it. We also are going to ask reception if we can extend our stay by 3 nights so we have enough time to do all the tours we want to.
We (ha, me) hung up the washing and put on a second load, organized with Sachin to Skype him later tonight and then went on our way. It's about a 2km walk to the main square. We found the Mother Theresa memorial and I actually really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. I didn't realize she had been recently made a saint so that's kinda cool.
It had lots of pictures of her, items such as her head scarf, documents she had written and other things like her certificate of baptism and Nobel peace prize. It had a small chapel too but we didn't go in. We walked back to the main square and had lunch. I had the most DELICIOUS tomato soup!!! I ordered a second bowl and drained it hehe. :D I also caught a Mr Mime on Pokémon go which I have been trying to do since we arrived so I'm very happy. (You can only catch him in Europe). I booked us onto the free tour for Saturday and wrote some reviews on TripAdvisor - im now level 3 haha.
On the walk home we wanted to buy toilet paper, pegs, conditioner and more napisan sachets.
Apparently these people do not use conditioner. It surprisingly hard to find. Will also has extremely sore shoulders - partly because he went to the Gym and partly because he is stupid sized and doesn't fit anything; So we got some muscle rub for him too. Everything is so cheap!!!! The cocktails at the lunch place were roughly $4.50 each and the muscle rub was only like $3.
Woohoo!
We're back home and we have just finished talking to Sachin. He is doing good :)
I've hung the 2nd load out - the first load has practically dried because the apartment is so warm!
Just booked us onto a half day tour of "Skopje's surrounding beauties"
We went over to reception and have booked a few more days here so we will now check out on Wednesday AND we get to keep our upgraded room for the same price ( well technical 2€ a day more but big woop)
they printed off our tour receipts for us too :)
YAYAYAY so keen for tomorrow, I think I'll be getting the thermals out though.
We got told we have a maintenance person coming tomorrow to fix our shower door because at the moment half is missing which makes a big mess on the floor so we are quite pleased :)
Went out to dinner at this burger place Will wanted to try. It cost 99 Denar each which is 1.6€. BARGAIN! Burger was average but for the price is was amazing!
It is so so cold! My phones weather app says it's 5 degrees but feels like 2. I have to agree with it.
I really like the juice we bought yesterday. It's tropical flavor but a thinner texture than normal juice.
We have to do another load of washing because we forgot to wash Wills disgusting gym shirt because it was in its own quarantine section. It smells so bad.
I think I put too much napisan in before because some of the clothes have come out with white powder type stains on them so we will wash those shirts again too.
We got our Wills GoPro and are charging it for tomorrow and looking at his old photos from his caravan trip to Cairns with Tim. There is a great video he got of him swimming after a reef shark.

I am doing my first iCloud backup ever right now and so happy about it. I thought the day would never come :,) I was able to change my Apple ID so all my past problem are gone!!! :D
Off to bed shortly :)Read more
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- Apr 21, 2017
- ⛅ 6 °C
- Altitude: 266 m
- North Macedonia Opština Karpoš Skopje 42.002603, 21.43626842°0’9” N 21°26’11” E
Day 18
Skopje
April 21, 2017 in North Macedonia ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
Our shower fixing guy hadn't arrived before we left so we hid the laptop.
We walked and got more money out, had lunch then went to find our tour meeting spot - we walked through Old Baazar and I can't wait to go back and explore it (the old main square). We were told to meet in the car park on fortress kale. This instruction was not helpful and we spent about 30 minutes stressed not knowing if we were in the right place or not because let's just say the "carpark" is not a legit space. It's more like where people felt like putting there car. There was a mosque nearby so there was loud prayers blaring over a speaker. We were in the right place and first to arrive. An English couple joined us next, they were nice. We waited for 2 Canadian ladies to turn up. They had a fantastic reason for being late though - the Princess of Thailand is staying in there hotel and and the hotel went into lockdown for her arrival and wouldn't let them out. An unexpected but very valid reason lol.
We picked up another couple who are very odd, don't speak much and both have bowl hair cuts.
First we drove to millennium cross. Apparently the overworked staff who press a button to operate the cable cars take 30 minute breaks every half hour... so we had to wait and the tour had a coffee in a shop nearby. The hot chocolate I had was a packet mix not stirred in properly :/
We went up the cable cars with the British couple and our guide. It takes about 8-9 minutes to reach the top. The cross was built in 2011 to celebrate 2000 years of Jesus and the cable car was added in 2011. Construction of the cross is not completely finished yet though - they are building a resturant. There was play equipment and a spectacular view!! I WAS BEYOND FREEZING THOUGH. I was wearing my thermal top, a long sleeve shirt and my windbreaker jacket but had to get out my big boofy jacket - I was still cold!!!
There was a dog at the top of the mountain which surprised me. We went back down the cable car and took the bus to a church - Will became very grandad Pickering on the Bus. He asked if it was a working church and was told yes. He then went on to very LOUDLY tell everyone on the bus that that was wrong and as a Christian he shouldn't have to paid yada yada yada making a small scene. It was a touch embarrassing.
The church had beautiful frescos in it. It cost 120 denar each to enter. The paint had such strong colour and it hadn't been restored so even more impressive. There was goats me and Will wanted to pat but we didn't :(
Next up was canyon Matka. It was exquisite. The water was so blue but it was so cold - I had trouble taking photos because my fingers couldn't really move. We had the choice to sit in the resturant, go for a walk on one of the trails or take a boat to a cave, we did the latter. We were joined by 2 other guys. 1 of them had just had a beer and was doing disgusting beer burps -.-
The cave wasn't really worth the trip but the boat ride was enough in itself. I loved going through the gorge. Apparently it's known for its butterflies but unfortunately it was too cold to see any.
I liked the people on our tour and our guide. They were super friendly. The bob cut people not so much though but I don't think English was their first language so they are excused.
As we were leaving canyon matka was saw a traditional Albanian Wedding celebration ( or so we think) they were all dancing and wearing fancy outfits. It looked very gypsy-like but they had the Albanian flag. We were suppose to get dropped off at the Macedonia gate but apparently there is a demonstration that takes place at 5pm everyday and all the streets get closed by the police. We haven't realized cause we have been going everywhere by foot.
So our bus dropped us close enough and our guide stayed with us to walk us to the main square.
Macedonia hasn't had a government since December 11. It's obviously a complicated issue but from what the guide said is everyone was angry cause the government has spent so much money on pointless things like the 700 statues which is ridiculous when 1/3 of people are below the poverty line.
She said something about Albanian being made a national language too - not sure if the protest was for or against that point but I (granted I don't know much on the subject) don't think it should be. The argument they have is that 40% of Macedonian citizens are Albanian but I think if 40% of Australia was Chinese and I was told Mandarin should be a national language I'd be outraged too.
Walking through the demonstration was fun. Lots of flags and thousands of people.
I like that they do it everyday AFTER work. I think that shows a glimpse into what type of people they are - hard working and not just having a whinge.
We ate dinner at the resturant from the first night again. Will ordered a chunk of cheese. It's not why he thought it was going to be,
but it was a literal slab of cheese.
I had curry chicken and it was great. I wanted a dessert, Will didn't think he could finish one on his own - I thought this meant he would have 1 or 2 bites of mine but ended up eating half of my crepe -.-
HAVE I MENTIONED IT IS COLD.
At the hostel we did 2 loads of washing cause the first one must have had a tissue in it.
We then watch Hamish and Andy gap year videos .Read more
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- Apr 22, 2017
- ⛅ 8 °C
- Altitude: 297 m
- North Macedonia Opština Karpoš Skopje 42.004884, 21.43290942°0’18” N 21°25’58” E
Day 19
Skopje
April 22, 2017 in North Macedonia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Will finished all the cereal last night so we had to buy breakfast/lunch - we went for the cheap option and went back to 'burger friends'
I don't understand why no one puts salt on their chips.
We arrived at the meeting spot a half hour early so we waited - at first in the shade but then in the sun cause we were cold again.
Our tour guide, Zoran arrived - his teeth were awful! Rotten, half missing and I think the top ones he did have was a plate of sorts. He did spit a bit too - apart from that distracting feature he was great - super friendly and spoke English clearly enough:) we waited a little, but because he changed his usual tour time he didn't expect anyone to show - we only knew about the change of time because we booked and received an email - but the website actually specifies that you don't need to book. So lucky we did. A Spanish man came over and enquired about the free tour umbrella and joined too.
Our first stop was mother Theresa's birth place - the 1963 earthquake destroyed the house but there are gold outlines on the floor to mark where it stood. There is also a tree that she planted too.
Next up was an arch, variety of statues and parliament building. The parliament building still had some signs of the protests from last year. They didn't graffiti like most people, instead they covered the building in paintballs hahah.
We went to the old train station which is now museums and had some of the Thousands of statues explained.
Next we went to the main square - that ridiculously large Alexander the Great statue cost the government 9 million euros - no wonder they are cranky.
We looked at stone bridge and learnt about the explosives that were hidden in there during the war, and looked at another 2 bridges one covered in significant Macedonian artists and the other important Macedonian figures be it politics or philosophy etc. Most of the city is new because in 1963 there was a massive earthquake which destroyed 80% of the city.
we went through the old bazaar to reach fortress kale. We went inside today but there want much to see, it's still under construction. We went to a mosque (the one making a racquet yesterday) and then we went back through the old bazaar again where our guide, Zoran bought us some traditional Turkish sweets - delightful! Everyone else didn't like them as much so I got 3! ^.^
The Spanish dude - who btw was a knob at the start had warmed up and bought a sweet for himself and offered me a bite - it wasn't chocolate like expected but full of dates or similar. The old bazaar is my new favorite spot. It honestly looks like a theme park with matching shop fronts and clean streets but with people selling silly things.
Back in the day there was a designated street for each thing but now there is only one still doing that tradition which is the street selling gold/jewelry which we walked down.
The Spanish dude said bye to us, we tipped 1000 denar which is about 16 euro (the tour was free in theory - it's all tipped based) then we sat at a shop Zoran recommended. He came and sat with us for a while. He really is lovely but makes too many jokes haha and many of them sexual - the Spanish man and Will found them funnier than I did lol.
I had a traditional salad called a shopska * salad.
It's tomato, cucumber and onion covered in white cheese.
We were meant to go on a pub crawl but we went to the meeting point and no one was there. So we have now strolled through the city and are stopped at traditional Turkish place in the old bazaar.
Will is pretty devo.
We had traditional Turkish tea, it needed a lot of sugar to be yum. Will liked it and ordered another one but we got it on the house. :)
We also had some Melon hookah which was yum.
I feel uncomfortable, not unsafe but uncomfortable. I feel like my hair an eye colour really give me away and a lot of people look at me.
There were a lot of beggar kids walking around.
We gave a big tip again because the waiters were really nice and there money is worth squat. He was so appreciative and supposed.
I plan on buying dog/cat food tomorrow cause I can't deal with all the sad animals :(
We are currently watching Bear Grylls and will go to bed soon.
We both have obvious wind chafing on our faces.Read more
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- Apr 23, 2017
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 276 m
- North Macedonia Opština Karpoš Skopje 42.0017, 21.43557342°0’6” N 21°26’8” E
Day 20
Skopje
April 23, 2017 in North Macedonia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Woke up to the sounds of Will making noises to Jaxon on Skype.
I was so beyond happy because when I finally got a change to get my face into frame Jaxon leant in as if to try and eat my nose - I'm interpreting this as recognition <3 he didn't try to do it to Will. Our little thing hahahah
I miss him and my cat. The 2 things that don't miss me at all.
After we spoke to Jess I spoke to mum and dad for an hour which was great - told them all about Macedonia and how much we like it. No real news on there end except for dad continuing to train for Kokoda track - I'm honestly very proud of him.
We said bye then headed into town - as much as I don't mind walking, I am getting over the 2.2km walk to town. It's not convenient - we walked a couple of hundred meters before Will decided to run back and use the toilet at home and so I took the opportunity to buy 2 bags of cat food and some chews for dogs. I also got blue Fanta which has a picture of a lemon and flower on the front and tastes how toilet cleaner smells.
It was drinkable though.
We ate lunch at a traditional Macedonian place and it was eh. I had the traditional salad again which was great but the chicken I had for my main was bleh. Will had a sort of patty and didn't like his either.
We walked across the bridge to the Jewish holocaust memorial. It was free entry - as you walk in you are hit with hundreds of victims faces.
Of the 7000 people from Skopje who were carted away in ww2, none returned. There are no Jews in the city anymore.
There was a carriage/friet train on display that was used to transport the people, artworks and poems.
A section of the memorial was filled with artworks by a boy/man who's story is - his mother gave birth to him outside of Skopje for the reasons of cleaner air - it was during that time everyone was taken - the family returned and everyone screamed at them to run and hide. They are the only known Jews to have escaped. The artworks are his memories as a boy hiding and although not at a concentration camp, the trauma and fear.

Upstairs was history of Jewish persecution throughout history and then the 3rd floor was more pictures of victims and information about the holocausts effect on Skopje. It was very humbling and I was close to tears on several occasions when imagining their fear.
We didn't speak a word to each other the entire time.
After wards we went to old town to try and buy more of the delicious Turkish sweets/Pastry from the tour but her shop was shut :(
It started to sprinkle so we quickly walked home. We bought some groceries on the way and had a nap hahah it must be the weather. There is no valid reason for us to both be so buggered.
Once we woke up we had cereal for dinner and I sorted out my cat food so it will be easier to access if I come across a stray.
I really need to wash my hair but the shower still hasn't been fixed and I just think water will go everywhere if I try.
We where going to put Wills clothes in to the dry cleaners today but they were closed.
We also had a look at trains to lake Ohrid but it was too complicated so we are going to ask reception to help us organize it tomorrow.
Will must have really enjoyed the holocaust museum because he has been looking up concentration camps all evening. We watched a 45 minute Auschwitz documentary which was really interesting. I'm looking forward to visiting.Read more
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