Skopje Weekend

From Skopje

I went to Skopje from Wednesday 12th to Monday morning 17th. I went with one of the college students. I thought going to another Country would be a great addition to my learning experience and I was right. Spending a long weekend in the heart of the Capital made me learn a lot more about other cultures. I'm glad I was exposed to another culture and I made more realizations about all of the cultures I recently have been exposed to. The more you talk with others and make comparisons the better my understanding of everything is. Over all I feel like I have gained a lot more now.

Moving on, for a capital of a country and a large population I was amazed how non big city it felt. There were trees and strips of land everywhere. A lot of the buildings had space next to them and not another building. Plus there were some nice parks with ponds, water fountains, many different trees and nice trails for walk on. I've talked to a few people and they have asked if its similar to Portland, but I have never been there so I dont know.

I did have some issues with a few intersections. The pedestrian crossing signs, walk dont walk, were located in two places, the first half of the street and the second half. I am use to one sign that I can walk across the entire street. There were a few occasions that I would see one sign and start walking, then as cars are turning towards me I realize that is for the second half and not the first half where I am trying to walk. I did learn and change my ways. Most of the time (depending on intersection) there were few cars moving so it took me longer to learn to look for two signs. Plus I feel like the signs were not within the same line of sight, that I would have to look around to find where each one was.

I got to walk around the city and see a few sites and take photos. In the evening I got exposed to a few different bars, restaurants, and cafe/ live music spots. I enjoyed it, I felt like I was exposed to many different places and atmospheres. On Saturday I got in a car with the family, which consisted of Spire, Mom, Aunt, and Uncle, we drove to Ohrid. I was nervous because we drove threw a lot of fog, but to my surprise the sun was shining and it was a great day for seeing sites. I took photos and when we started to wrap up the day the sun disappeared behind the clouds. Went out to eat before driving back, we had the most unfriendly waiter ever. It was clear he was having a bad day or in general hated people and life. The drive back had thicker fog or at least it felt like that because the sun had set and everything was darker. I loved what I got to see and I had a great time with everyone. Huzzah for friendly families willing to take me out and show me the sites.

Over all I had a great time. There was some concern about me getting back into Greece but I had no problems at all. Traveling itself was a pain, the train was about 2 hours late and then we hit some construction on the tracks that we would have otherwise have missed. Over all got to Thessaloniki about 4 hours late and then we had troubles with the bus. It was a very long day of traveling with lots of sitting and waiting. The food we ordered has never tasted so good.

Athens Oct 24-28

I went to Athens for a long weekend with one of the high school students. I had a great time, I really enjoyed his family, the weather and seeing the sites. I didn't get to see as many of the museums as I wanted to but it just gives me a great reason to go back. Plus his family made it clear that I am to return and stay longer.

I enjoyed going to the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon. I wish I could have recalled more from my art history classes but I still enjoyed it. I was told to take a lot of photos and I did. I couldn't believe the view, it was surrounded by city everywhere, in all directions. Sunday was a family day. There was a baptism that I got to attend. It was not a full church service, it was at a small church and it was just the baptism. It was nice to meet more of the family. I really enjoyed seeing how everything was done and how they celebrated. Lots of colorful balloons and pink decorated items. Little gifts were handed out to all and a dessert snack thing. Afterwards there was a reception at the far end of town (lots of driving). It was in the back half of a restaurant with some live music. I enjoyed seeing my host mom and her parents dancing. I still need to learn some traditional dancing.

I even got to see 'The Mall', a very large mall in Athens and that is the name of it The Mall. On Monday we (Thano & I) went to see a movie there, Burn After Reading. I really enjoyed the movie, especially the part where one character mentioned he use to be a Greek Orthodox Priest, it made the line a lot funnier being in Greece.

I got to know the transportation system very well. Train there and back (Austria's train seats are more comfortable), the bus, metro line, and car. It felt like most of my time was in transit but I know it wasn't. Over all I loved it and am happy I got to go and spend time with a family, even for a weekend.