Macedonia

We drove through Macedonia at night and then for three hours during the day. Serbia was the shortest stay, Macedonia was the second shortest, and Albania the third on my list! Always a first! The roads are equally disgusting and full of potholes. Macedonia looks a little bit less than a squatter camp.

A beautiful rural landscape unfolds in front of us, little wooden bridges over streams, and plenty of poplar trees.

Our bus driver turned out to be the best driver ever. He drove through the night at 60 kms an hour. At the end of our journey I gave him a R50 note, with a lion on it as a keepsake! I tell him, he is the king of bus drivers, polite, very safe to be with! He is all smiles and very happy!

At the station we meet a very smart sigeunerin! With gold capped teeth and a proper leather purse, dressed to the nines, she visited her sister that lives in Albania. She lives in Sofia, Bulgaria. She says Albania is too hot! For sure! She shows us pictures of her children, the first beautiful gypsies I have seen. There is just something special about this lady. I finally met the real gypsy I was looking for all along. Not the discarded or the down trodden, but the street wise and funny, full of life and joy version!

We are back in Bulgaria, a sigh of relief. Off to the spa for 3 days and then schlepping from Thessaloniki with ALL the luggage to Athens and then home.