BITOLA, NORTH MACEDONIA 26/27 August 2022

FLORINA, GREECE 27 August 2022

A couple of people have asked me why I take up valuable holiday time to write blog posts. There are many reasons, not least of which is to keep a record to help us reminisce. We feel incredibly privileged to travel, especially after a couple of Covid-19 impacted years. You may have noticed that we pack a lot in to our holidays, and it’s easy for me to forget all the details. I joke often that my memory is going, but it’s actually a real concern of mine. Increasing age, hard work, not enough sleep… I’m not sure what it is, but I definitely can not remember things like I used to. Thankfully my travelling partner remembers every minute detail of the last 50+ years which is extremely handy when I need a memory jog ?.

I also blog to share our adventures with interested family and friends. I’m sure there are some ‘Facebook friends’ that have deleted me, annoyed with my over-sharing… but so be it! Others send encouraging messages, so in my opinion, it’s really a case of take it or leave it.

We are halfway through the holiday and I did have a quick re-read of the blog this morning and am very satisfied with what we have achieved, so far. Our good friends Shaun and Steph departed Wagga today, and I can’t wait to meet up with them in a week or so 🙂

Friday started in Skopje with a late-ish breakfast at the hotel before a final wander around the town. The hotel not only let us check-in early, but also check out late which was a real bonus, given our train didn’t leave till 2.30pm. They also booked us a taxi (A$4) which picked us up at 1pm, but not before squeezing in another excellent Macedonian meal of slow cooked beef with rice and Shopska salad for me, and hot chips and bread for Dave!

We had read up about Macedonian trains, and as a result set our expectations nice and low, which turned out to be a good move. The train station was pretty run down, but we easily bought our tickets from a very helpful man who also let us know that the train would be busy, as it was a Friday afternoon and many workers make their way home for the weekend. The train arrived exactly on time and we clamoured onboard the dual carriage train, along with many others. The train stopped numerous times (73 to be exact) and the trip ended up taking 5.5 hours rather then the 3.5 hours scheduled. The Chinese Government donated the trains a few years back and I don’t mean to be unappreciative, but hard seats, unreachable luggage racks and ineffective air conditioning didn’t really enhance our experience! Nonetheless, we did get to Bitola in one piece, albeit hot, thirsty and tired. Of course the three taxis waiting at Bitola station were taken by others faster then us, and so we set off on foot towards the centre of town, where we had booked a night at ‘the Grand Central’ hotel.

Dave was actually more tired then me, so I decided not to mention that google maps estimated the 1.9km walk would take nearly 30 mins. The heat of the day had passed, thankfully, and the walk ended up being ok, although my left arm muscles are certainly getting a good work out. Normally I would regularly swap arms to pull the suitcase, but I hurt my right upper arm a while ago, so that’s not possible. The walk took us along Bitola’s main street, a pedestrian mall, which was full of interesting shops, coffee houses, bars and restaurants, all busy with a Friday night crowd.

I was slightly anxious as we approached the hotel. It was the cheapest of all the hotels we have stayed in, and I was wondering if the good reviews and nice photos were factual. At A$79 a night, including breakfast, I was wondering if perhaps it was too good to be true.

Alas my fears were unwarranted and the low wages in Macedonia must impact the hotel prices, because not only was the room clean and tidy, but it also ranked #1 on the trip so far for pillow and bed comfort! No bath, but a quick shower each to freshen up and we headed out to explore the town and find dinner. The long days in late summer meant it was only just getting dark at 8pm… what a beautiful time for a walk!

Not that the food was bad, but the highlight of the meal was the grey cat who was obviously well experienced at being cute to attract scrap sharing!

There’s a lot to be said for low expectations, which is what I had set for myself about the ‘included breakfast’. Again I was pleasantly surprised, with a choice of cooked-to-order breakfasts offered. We both chose scrambled eggs which came with bread, bacon, sour cream (!) olives, fresh fruit, hot tea and would you believe, a dessert! (I’m not sure exactly what it was, some sort of banana cream cake).

Following breakfast we walked to the Bitola fresh markets which were very close to our hotel. I can’t recall, but possibly that’s why I chose this hotel. Such fabulous colours in the market, enhanced by the sun shining and hundreds of smiling faces! Gosh I love starting the day with a good market visit!

We had pre-organised a driver to take us late-morning the 30kms from Bitola over the border into Greece and to the town of Florina, where we had booked rail tickets to Thessaloniki. More passport stamps out of Macedonia and into Greece so the passport stamp ‘quantity over quality’ rule is being well-followed!

Florina is a medium sized, fairly unexceptional town, in Greece’s far north-west. I have discovered that the cold cappuccinos in this area are very good (whoops) and had my second of the day in a quaint coffee shop not far from the dilapidated railway station where the driver dropped us. We used the free wifi to research alternate ways to get to Thessaloniki, apart from the late afternoon train that we had booked. There was an option for €15 each to travel two hours sooner by bus, and given yesterday’s pretty ordinary train experience, we decided it was worthwhile forfeiting the €10 each train fare.

We are now safely ensconced in the Capsis Hotel in Thessaloniki, whose claim to fame is that it’s the city’s largest hotel… I’m not sure if that is good or bad, but the room has a bath, so that satisfies my immediate plans 🙂

(Note: Writing the blog is also about proving my year 11 English teacher (Mrs Kronbe) wrong. She said to me on more than one occasion: “you will never amount to anything Sarah Purvis!”