Right in the middle of last week, a very refreshing multicultural wind blew through our house, temporarily alleviating the heat horror that was Skopje. While we were melting at temperatures dangerously approaching 40C and tried limiting our need to step out of the house to a minimum, 2 extremely ambitious souls were making their way around the Balkans with trains and buses (I shudder at the thought of being in a bus in that weather). The heat was so unbearable that for the first time in our CS hosting history we couldn't muster up the strength to go and wait for our guests at the bus station. As I wrote an sms to them explaining which bus to take, into which direction and how to ask the driver for help with getting off at the right stop, I kept thinking "oh, this is a bad idea". If you know me you know that I have issues with control and the public bus system in Skopje completely throws me off.
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On their second day in Skopje, Elena and Maja successfully navigated the complicated public transport system towards Matka alone (which makes me go into another nail-biting frenzy when I think about the possibility that they get lost somewhere along the way) and we then meet downtown after work. My day is hectic; I have tons to do at work, I still haven't shaken off my sinus thing from last week AND my brother and dad are leaving for the World Cup in South Africa (which is a terribly exciting thing that leaves me quite envious too). But Skopje is hectic in June as well, and when we meet downtown and after a quick bite in the Old Bazaar (ќебапи at Destan) we visit Kale (the Skopje fortress) where the girls take note of the gazillion Macedonian flags waving in the city (no, we're not celebrating anything, we just seem to have a thing for flags).
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Sunday evening and once again, I'm at the train station. I swear, the people working at the Skopje train station must  think that I am involved in some sort of human trafficking as they repeatedly  see me collect strange foreign people and wizz them away and to our home.

Alberto and Nuria walk down the train station stairs with their huge backpacks and even bigger smiles. They've travelled for the last 8+ months, mostly through India and Nepal but have also visited other regional places including Singapore, Malaysia and the UAE. They are now making the trip back home to Mallorca, and actually have a plane to catch from Bratislava to Palma in about 10 days. During these 10 days they are planning to see Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia. That sounds like a very ambitious plan and one that does no justice to many countries in the region...but it is what it is...so, fingers crossed for Alberto and Nuria:)
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