Whilst waiting for the bus to Skopje I thought I'd make a sandwich. Sitting and in mid preparation I was listening to a podcast and didn't notice the metallic sound of the pâté tin scraping on the floor as a cat was lapping up the contents.
In the city I met up with Nico. One thing to note is how polite Nico is, he would always take time to ask people how they are, how their day was going and actually listen to their response rather than asking as a token gesture.
Skopje is a bizarre city. In the centre you can find the imposing statue of Alexander the Great in Macedonia square; the statue stands at 22m (eight storeys) and looks across the square to the Vardar River. On the other side of the river there is a spot where you can see approximately 50 statues around you and there is a consistent high pitch noise which I'm not sure is meant to discourage and disperse children or the stray dogs.
The country is in a strange transition to establish an identity separate from the former Yugoslavia and claim historical figures. Unspeakable amounts of money have been sunk into this project and a third of the country lives below the poverty line. The citizens revolted through art, they take to the streets with brushes and paintball guns. It's time to paint the town red. The Macedonia Gate (a triumphal arch), the lions at the base of Alexander, the faux neo-classical columns (which are unfinished and you can see the iron-work) have all been emulsioned. The Ottoman ruins and market are the only thing that's real in the city, the rest is an estimate of half a billion euros on essentially statues.