theatre of the absurd: Macedonia, part I

Skopje city centre

I’m going to go all out and say it, I found this country shabby, hot, dusty and uninspiring. I spent a week here in total and was bored out of my skull by the time I bussed to Kosovo. I think quick traveling suits my personality much better after all; I can’t take my time and travel slowly because I’ll be bored out of my mind. I spent 4 nights in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and then another 3 nights in Ohrid, supposedly the pearl of Macedonia, although I preferred Skopje a little bit more – at least there was actually something to do in Skopje and the restaurants in that extremely boring capital city were at least a little nicer and cheaper, surprisingly – and there were slightly more people there than there were in Ohrid. But no matter. Should also mention that I’m writing this aboard a Heathrow bound flight from Dublin that arrives in 25 mins, well the flight takes 55 mins anyway, and I’m enjoying a Gordon’s pink gin and tonic as I write this. I may have found my favourite mixed drink now, and it’s pretty refreshing – it’s not white Russian, it’s not Jake, it doesn’t taste of my early twenties, but as I like to tell other people, we need and want different things at different stages of our lives. Right now I’m happy, I’m in a space in which I feel comfortable, I have good alcohol with me, I’m doing one of my favourite activities, which is writing, I am en route to meet an old and dear friend, an epic NYE party is in the wings, and I’m content.

En route to Skopje

D gave me a lift from my hotel in Eindhoven to the airport, which I appreciated, as it meant that I wouldn’t have to squeeze and wake up at the crack of dawn for the bus, which I also did not care for, as there were too many negative memories associated with the Eindhoven airport bus for me. It was a good trip, and I got to the airport with minimum hassle – got myself a coffee, and then sailed through security, whilst texting my friends apprehensively – what if I got kidnapped in Macedonia? What if something bad happened to me there. Macedonia was such an unknown quality to me, no one I knew had ever been there before or even thought of going there, D – the other D, Sarajevo D – had scoffed at me for wanting to go there – and I had planned to go there in April before I let my heart override my mind, and let that plane ticket go to waste. But if anything I always end up getting what I want, and I wanted to go to Macedonia, and I did, eventually, although I ended up being pretty disappointed with it – suffice it to say that D actually was right about it for once. The only thing I really liked about it was the restaurants – I found a very good one in Skopje.