I’m cold
Came back from a wonderful vacation around the Balkans - from Ljubljana to Thessaloniki. Weather was beautiful and I could have got sunburnt had I wished so. What can I say? Ljubljana is like going home; calm and quiet, clean (although they do miss the sea). Trieste… well, it’s Italy and everything is closed for most of the time. Istria; quiet sunny small towns, fishermen going to the sea. Zagreb is nice… try Hotel Ilica and it’s interesting owner (no, I did not use their public toilet despite him being quite insistent. Strange isn’t it?) Beograd, brass music, weddings, romani music, pollution and traffic. Thessaloniki is a bliss; good food, sunny promenade by the sea, cheap wine in a nice bar. However, parking in Thessaloniki is either a headache or super expensive - you choose.
But how about Kosovo. Well, it’s winter time! First snow covered the mountains early this week. This morning it arrived to town. And I’m freezing as it is not winter from the point of view of the landlords. Oh no, not until 1 November. And no heating before that. I’ll try to survive under my blankets, a hood on my head, and wearing a few pairs of socks.
Elections on 15 November. Fun.
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Congrats to Macedonia (not FYRoM)! She will soon (by the end of 2010?) start the negotiations with EU for membership. I wish her all the best, as it is slowly becoming my favourite country in the Balkans. It’s definitely worth a trip. A suggested itinerary for a week: Skopje, a bit of hiking, lazy day in a winery, Bitola, Ohrid, and, if you really have to and you like it, skiing.
Here they say that the heating was supposed to be turned on 15 October. Well, not in my apartment! Although it’s not that cold yet, around +12 during the day.
I want to go around the Balkan, too! Especially Macedonia, since I’ve already been to the Greek side of it…and Thessaloniki is great, although a bit more stressful on a hot summer day, with all the cars and noise of a big city. Although the area around the train station is not the prettiest, I felt like being in Torremolinos or some other Spanish resort with some really ugly blocks of flats :)
Warm thoughts for the winter!
Kiitos kiitos. Mulla on reilu 12 astetta sisalla kampassa, joten vilu on kova. Naapuri nukkuu pipo paassa etta tarkenee.
Kreikan Makedonia poikkeaa mielestani aika paljon Makedoniasta. Etenkin tie Kreikan rajalta Gevgelijasta Demir Kapijaa on todella kaunis - ehka Balkanin kaunein (vaikka Albaniassa Strugasta Elbasaniin on kylla vahan samanlainen tie).