It's what in reality is a nightmare of a journey via train from Kragujevac, taking nearly 11 hours, but strangely it doesn't phase me. it's only my arrival that does that - i put it down to hunger and that I'm trying to recover from a cold.
My first and only hostel is fully booked and the staff are no help. From where I'm stood i can see the Holiday Inn beckoning to me - no chance i say. its like coca-cola and McDonald's i hate going to them - so impersonal. My second budget option is fully booked and i cant find my third option. after over an hour of wandering around in the cold and dark with a fatter and definitely heavier Bob i give in. I check into the Holiday inn - and no I'm not loving it. overpriced, impersonal, clinical grrrr.
So Skopje hasn't made the best starting impression - i try to amend that by eating all i can at the buffet breakfast - can i eat 128 euros of food? - can you believe that the hotel cost that! None of the accommodation is cheap and my will power really was low at the time, in fact this whole town seems pretty expensive, except for the food. my good start to the day allows me to see most of the sights - a stone bridge is the most often mentioned one (hmmm). How about converted mosques come modern art galleries, castle ruins overlooking the town, an old town of windy roads and shops or lots of street traders selling what can only be described as crap. Skopje is not what i expected, and i know Ive been effected by the train journey and the shock of spending so much money - I'm only here for two nights and that is long enough...
