I am getting better for walking as the trip wears on, but I am usually like a woman of old.. several paces behind the man. One could do a where’s Waldo type thing in my pictures of my brother’s retreating back.
just below the acropolis yesterday (turns out it closes at 3, so we couldn’t go till today)
at the acropolis today…etc.
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We took the hop on/off bus today. We had done much of the same route on foot yesterday.
We went slowly yesterday and had a drink on the way uo the hill at a nice rooftop restaurant in the Plaka area which is full of tiny old streets.
The port is several kilometers from the city, so we hadn’t been yesterday. 
It wad nice to see the Mediterranean Sea for the first time on this trip.
Author Archives: gillianknitter
Arrived in Athens
After leaving Ohrid at 10.45 on a bus, we arrived back in Skopje at 3.05
Yes, we had to double back for political reasons. Macedonia and Greece both want the name, Greece has been vetoing Macedonia entering the EU because they think the name belongs to them. Due to this, bus/train service to Greece is very limited, so you have to go through Skopje. Apparently it is lucky we came south from Serbia to Cosovo. You can’t go the other way because Serbia doesn’t recognize Cosovo…it’s all fun and games…
Anyway we arrived in Skopje at 3.05 and took a bus to Thessaloniki in Greece, at 5 pm.
We got Thessaloniki at 9.30 pm and got on a train for Athens at 11 pm
we were spit out of the train at 5 am and have landed in a not very nice hostel.
A couple of hats, Barbara
I have done a couple of hats since I posted the other one. This chinese lady liked this one so I gave it to her.
I cast on 96 stitches and did Welted Leaf Pattern, pg.36, then increased to 116 for the Night and Day Stripe, pg 83. I went back to 96 stitches, did the Welted Leaf again, then decreased 12 stitches every 3rd row to 12 stitches, kept knitting 2 together and ended the 6.
The other hat started with 96 stitches and the X and Diamond Border, pg 36. I then did Jacob’s Ladder, pg. 33 and Halved Diamond Pattern, pg. 34.
I did 4 double decreases every other row
White peacocks
We went on a day trip to the St. Naum monastery. It was a lovely 30 km drive around Lake Ohrid. We were waiting at the bus stop with a woman from China and a taxi driver offered to take us for the same price as the bus. He was a great guy, a font of information and obviously loved talking to foriegners about their homes to get an understanding of the world at large. He met us when we were finished and brought us back too.
it was a lovely setting with lots of peacocks both regular
and white wandering around. A couple of days ago a guy told me they were mating when he was there, but that seemed to be over, sadly.
There was an old church
Nice inside too
Ohrid..calm and beautiful
We thought we were taking an 11 am bus, but when we arrived at the ticket booth at 9.58 we were hustled onto a 10 o’clock bus. It was a lovely 3 hour drive through the mountains. We took a taxi for $2 to our hostel. It has a beautiful view from the balcony.
That this picture doesn’t do justice. We had to wait for the owner to show but Niel Young was playing so who cares? After settling in we went for a walk in rhe old world heritage site neighbourhood and it really deserves it’s designation. Tiny winding cobblestone streets leading to
a roman amphitheatre
an ancient city gate
with city walls leading to a fort
with great views
then down the hill to the church of St. John the theologian. Apparently the most photographed structure in Macedonua. The light was wrong for the most classic shot. There was lots more great stuff in the old part. The town is beautiful and feels like the air is drugged. I am glad wr came now, it is probably overrun in the summer.
Skopje and environs
I took a really pleasant day trip today to Matka Canyon. It was at the end of a city bus line (#60) and cost $1 each way to get there. Then it was a short walk past a power dam
Just after the dam, you can get on a boat
This putts up the river through the canyon
Where you visit a cave
Apparently the cave is popular with divers. When I got back, Charles and I went for supper in the old quarter and wandered round a bit.
On the way home we passed along the new/old waterfront buildings. One was still under construction
It is this really bizarre development project with huge buildings meant to look like old ones. A German we were talking to likened it to Disneyland.
Setting a gruelling pace
Even with the hiccups at the beginning of the trip, we are more than making progress. This morning we woke up in Pristina, Kosovo, yesterday morning it was Belgrade, Serbia and now we are in Skopje, Macedonia. Granted, they all used to be in Yugoslavia. I think I have convinced Charles to spend at least three nights in Macedonia before heading to Greece. This morning we took a walk before leaving Pristina.
This statue is at the end of Mother Theresa boulevard (she was born 100 km away in Skopje)
This is the monument symbolizing the new nation after the war
We went up the clock tower on Mother Theresa Cathedral (only one euro and it has an elevator) and got good views if the city including
the national library…wierd and wonderful building
and surely no visit to Pristina would be complete without visiting the Bill Clinton statue on his boulevard, just off George Bush Boulevard.
A bit of Barbara in Belgrade
This is the first project I have finished on the road. Sorry, no good place to take pics.
We are in Belgrade for the day. We got here on an overnight train. Found accomodation, then went for a walk around their citadel. 
It is a great place, fought over a lot in the past..
Used as a city park now
And with great views of the rivers meeting
Barbara stuff: Little Herringbone,pg. 98, then Fretwork Pattern, pg. 82
A bit of walk round Budapest (well Pest anyway)
We had a plan…go get overnight train tickets to Ljubljana, Slovenia, then walk round killing time till then. Turns out there is no overnight train so we took the subway 9 stops to the bus station to find the next bus is Tuesday. We returned to the train station and bought overnight tickets to Belgrade instead and went for the walk.
We thought this was the opera house, but it turns out it was only AN opera house around the corner from the real one.Don Quixote was across the street.
We found the real one 
The front had lots of adds so i took a picture of the roofline. Then we continuef on to St. Stephen’s Basilica:
Then the Grand Synagogue:
Next up..the market…really nice one
Coukdn’t get a good picture outside…maybe when I come back. It is right beside the Danube 
Then we walked back past the Parliament buildings
And that’s all she wrote.
Budapest health system…sadly I know too much
Our first day in Budapest was spent mostly navigating the health system to get a bleeding ulcer diagnosed for my brother. An ulcer which arguably should have been looked into before we left Canada, but oh well. He had had symptoms for a week which he had been hoping would miracurously disappear. Needless to say, they didn’t and got really fired up by the travelling. I had very little sleep on the metal-mesh benches which were available once the er waiting room cleared a bit around 3am.
We were in the er for over 12 hours and actually got what we needed, a diagnosis and a prescription, after the gastroenterologist started their shift and was available for a consult. 
The main problen, as I see it after commiserating with locals who spoke English, was the incredibly unhelpful ward clerks who felt no obligation to communicate with anyone except their colleagues. The local Hungarians felt as isolated and frustrated as we did, so it was not a language barrier deal. But then again, I have never been a ward clerk, so maybe there is another excuse.
This is the subway stop near our hotel. It is deep underground, not London tube deep, but deepish. We took a bus, then a subway in from the airport and saw much which seemed to be soviet era housing. The end of the line subway stop has some renovation issues, and many stops on the line are having work done.
Our hotel has virtually nothing to recommend it except it exists and we found it. 
Okay, it is in a pretty, old building too. Maybe I will do some internet previews going forward. Gotta catch up with the world of today after all.
