Day 5 - Last Day in Skopje

Today was our last day in Macedonia. Everyone was a little tired so we agreed that they would pick us up at our hotel at 10am. I still got up a little earlier and spent a little time shopping at some of the small stores around our hotel. I also walked over to a Turkish Bath that was near our hotel. I think this building was around 800 years old by I am not sure. I am really curious what the inside of a Turkish bath looks like but I didn't have time to go in. I have included a picture of the Turkish Bath in this post. The Turks ruled Macedonia during the Ottoman Empire and their influence is all around. Turks are mostly Muslim and the population here still has a high percentages of Muslims. I have heard their call to worship several times throughout our stay. We have also seen a number of times. Many of the Orthodox churches have the scars of the Ottoman empire. They thought if they got rid of the Orthodox churches that the Christians would suddenly see the error of their ways and become Muslims. Of course that never works so many of the churches took to the hills. They also defaced some of the frescos in the Orthodox churches which is a shame. 

We had decided that we would spend our last day with a minimal amount of work and a trip to an old Monastary. We swung by the office and took care of a little business and said our goodbye's to some of the people at their company. Then 7 of us took off for a tour of the Monastary. They had turned this really large cellar in the Monastary into a restaurant and we planned lunch there. The Monastary was high in the hills over looking Skopje. We got to travel through a new part of town and finally saw some neighborhoods that were made up of houses. It was raining today and when we got to the Monastary there was so much fog that you couldn't see the city. There were supposed to be beautiful views of the city from our top of the hills. 

We arrived at the Monastary and decided to look around inside before we ate lunch. It was locked so they had to get an old gentleman who cared for the place to come and let us in. Unfortunately this is another place where you can't take pictures inside. The guys unlocked the doors and led us inside. It was fairly small with really high ceilings. There was an altar at one end and the place had fresco's painted on just about every inch of the walls and ceilings. I guess you can still rent out the Monastary for weddings which I thought would have been awesome. The Monastary was built in the 1100's. The caretaker had turned on some music that was of the Monks singing traditional songs and chants. It really added to the atmosphere of the place. Some of our friends gave us some of the history of the Monastary. There were frescos that had the eyes rubbed out on their faces. They explained that thousands of years ago blind people believed that if they rubbed the eyes on the frescos they would have their sight restored. I am guessing they were a little disappointed. This was a really neat place to be. You could just feel the history.

One of our hosts brought 2 thin candles for each of us. There was an Orthodox tradition that you would light the candles and stick them in the sand of these round circular places. You could light the candles for a loved one that had passed away or just for good luck. After that I bought a couple of post cards that showed some of the art work inside since we couldn't take any pictures. 

We then proceeded to the restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was really great. It was in what used to be the cellar for the Monastary. It was a really big room built with bricks and rock with wood beams going across the ceiling. It had lots of little things on the walls that tied it into the history of the Monastary. There was also a nice fire going in the corner of the room that made it really warm and cozy. We had another traditional Macedonian meal that included tons of appetizers and a main course of meat. The meat was lamb, pork, and beef muscle in a thick sauce. I actually really like the meal. I had been growing a little weary of the food here. Not that it is bad or weird or anything it is just that they used spices and seasonings that are different from home. I am missing the food back home. They also took these pieces of bread that resembled a half a hamburger bun and the waiter toasted them right on the fire which I thought was a nice touch. We all spent some time reflecting on the week and it was a nice moment. I feel like I have made some new friends. Of course they asked me if I wanted some of the local liquor call rachia(sp?). I really don't care for this liquor. I answered "no thank you" and they all chuckled and said they were really asking me just letting me know it was coming. They showed me some mercy and my glass was much smaller than theirs. This really was a feast for lunch, much more food than I am used to eating in the middle of the day. As I sit right now I am not really looking forward to dinner because I could easily skip that meal. So far our hosts have paid for every single meal and drink we have had. I told them that we would really like to pay for the meal and let me know in no uncertain terms that it would be insulting to them if I paid. I was glad I said something because I had planned to sneak away and give the waiter my credit card. I really didn't want to hurt their feelings and looking back at it if I would have snuck away they wouldn't have been happy at all. We spent a long time just chatting and enjoying the experience. We wrapped things up with a cappuccino and a yummy hazelnut crepe with local honey for dessert. 

After lunch we went back outside and I was pleasantly surprised that the fog had lifted a bit. It was still there but you could see the city below pretty clearly now. We took some time for pictures and to admire the view and started our trip back down the mountain. On the way down we stopped at a big parking lot with a great view of the city. We noticed a car parked off in the corner and from the look of the steamed up windows someone was enjoying a different view in the parking lot. Some more pictures and it was time to head back to the city. We split up and some of the guys went back to work. We were dropped off with one of our hosts named Miska and he took us to a few shops too look for souvenirs. We had an idea what we wanted so we made quick work of the shopping. Our host walked us back to the hotel and left us to our own devices. I had decided that a nap was out of the question today. I need to get to sleep early because we have an early wake up call tomorrow. 

I was feeling stuffed from lunch so I decided to walk back across the bridge into the shopping area. I wanted to get a brightly colored luggage tag for one of my bags. Seems like a pretty simple thing to find, right? Think again. There were 2 big malls in the area and lots of shops lined the streets. The fact that I couldn't read the sign on the stores made it pretty difficult to find the right place to shop. I walked all over the place and couldn't find what I wanted. I even went to 3 different stores that specialized in luggage they didn't carry anything close which I thought was a little strange. I found that I didn't speak the language caused me some problems in several of the stores. I guess everyone doesn't speak english after all. Anyway, I ended up at a grocery store and found some stuff to make do. One of my bags is plain black and whenever I go to the baggage claim it seems like there are lots that look alike. The last time I flew someone else grabbed my bag thinking it was theirs and I had to chase them down. I think I have the problem take care of though. 

It is time for me to head off to diner and hopefully an early return to the hotel. We have to leave the hotel at 5 am to make our flight so I figuring that will mean a 4:15 wake up call to take a shower and get my things together. Keep your fingers crossed for us that our flights go more smoothly on the way home. We go from Skopje to Zurich to Frankfurt then on to SF. We seem to have plenty of time between flights. I have had a good time but I am looking forward to coming home. 

Signs of Macedonia

Fortunately our hosts have been really great about taking us anywhere we needed to go. I have included some signs that I have seen around town. All of the businesses have signs that look like this so it is really difficult for a tourist. The Macedonian's use the Cyrillic Alphabet which is nothing like the English Alphabet and it is impossible for me to read. 

Signs of Macedonia

Day 4 - Thursday in Skopje

It was tough to get up today. I didn't really drink much last night but that still didn't make up for the fact that I only slept about 5 hours. I decided to skip breakfast so I could sleep in. We headed off to work around 9 and I will skip the boring details about work. One of our new friends here arrange for us to have a tour of the Macedonia Museum of History before lunch. We really had a great time at the museum. Unfortunately they didn't allow any pictures inside the museum so I just got some shots outside. We had limited time there but I think we could have spent all afternoon. We asked the guide to take us to the best spots but even then the hour and a half flew by. The first part of the museum that we explored was full of artifacts that had been discovered either on purpose or accidentally during archaeological digs. Some of the things we saw were estimated to have been created in 6000-8000 BC. That is OLD. There were lots of different types of clay pots and jewelry. There were some amazing stone carvings when you think about the primitive types of tools they must have had. Over such a long period of time Macedonia had been occupied by many different people. 

Next we went to an exhibit of frescos. A fresco is a type of art that is mostly found in churches and were commonly made during the Renaissance. They were usually painted on the plaster but sometimes they were painted on wood. Many churches during this time would have the walls and ceilings entirely covered with frescos. Each fresco would tell a story. They usually told stories from the bible. They were able to recover many of them from churches that were thousands of years old to display them in the museum. They had many beautiful pieces here that were valued in the millions. I guess some of the pieces had been sent to a museum in New York at one time. Our guide told us that many historians believe that the Art Renaissance actually started in Macedonia. Originally the frescos would depict many of the people from the bibles as something higher than humans and there were particular styles. One of the things that marked the Renaissance was that the frescos began to take a more human form. Their faces would be painted to express some sort of emotion and there was greater detail in the muscle structures. She said that some of the frescos found in churches in Macedonia were from several hundred years before historians say the Renaissance started. 

We were running out of time so we sort of sped through exhibits that displayed ancient tools that had been found, and exhibit of clothing that people had worn in Macedonia over the years, and an exhibit filled with these marvelous, intricate rugs that had been woven long ago. 

Outside was a building from the 1500's. It had been used in various ways of the years but mostly it was an inn for travelers and it had a courtyard that had seen many parties. I have included several pictures of the inn. The stonework was pretty amazing considering how long ago this was created. Both the museum and the building were next the remains of a fort that overlooked Skopje. 

After that we went out to another large lunch. We got back to the hotel early and I was pretty happy because I was tired and starting to fade fast. We agreed that they would pick us up for dinner at 9pm. I laid down for a nap and woke up at 8:55. That is not really a good way to wake up. Fortunately when they say 9pm they always mean 9:15 so I was able to grab a quick shower and change. I still got to the lobby before they arrived.

We went to dinner and of course they wanted to take us to some bars again. Lucky for me they had stayed out later than us the night before and didn't have the benefit of a 4 hour nap so it wasn't long before they were ready to call it a night which was fine with me. The bar we went to did have live music. The lead singer of the band was also a well known local opera singer during the day and moonlighted singing in clubs at night. Once again every single song we heard them play was an american song. After that we went back to the hotel and since I was well rested I decided to get a head start on my packing. 

I have included a picture of Laura and I outside of the FX3X offices which is the company we are visiting.

I have also noticed a considerable amount of graffiti around the city so I snapped a picture.

Day 3 - Surviving a night on the town

Wednesday started out pretty normally with breakfast at the hotel and then off to work. I was feeling a little under the weather all day. Something didn't quite agree with my stomach. I wasn't too sick but just a little off. We decided that since we were going to be going out for a big night on the town it might be nice if we could get back to our hotel and have a couple of hours to rest. We went to lunch at an Italian place. I ordered the Lasagna and when it came it was HUGE. I mentioned this before but everyone seems to clean their plate here. Since I wasn't feeling quite right seeing that huge lasagna wasn't good. I put a picture of it here. That start a little debate over lunch. The people from Macedonia think when you order a meal in the US you get way too much food. I sort of feel the opposite. I have had much larger meals here and if you go to a really upscale place in the US you know you are going to get some tiny portions and have to swing by Taco Bell on the way home. I did my best but I just couldn't finish it. 

The food here is good and not really too much different than what we eat at home. However, no matter what you get there are still subtle changes to taste because of the different spices here or maybe the animals were fed. It is definitely a little easier than eating asian food for an extended period of time but it would be good to get home and have a nice big burrito. 

I have also included a picture of my traveling partner from ILM. We are in front of the Italian place where we ate lunch. She has been really great to travel with. We have worked together a couple of times but that is about it. She is fun and easy to talk to so it makes being away from home a little easier to handle.

So anyway, after lunch we went back to the hotel early. If we were going to be out late I knew that I needed to take a little nap. I had a quick chat with Erin and Austin and then crawled into bed. I slept for probably a solid 2.5 hours and felt a little bit better when I woke up. We went to a Pub with several guys for dinner. Fortunately it was a much more manageable meal. We had some salad which they seem to have at every meal here. I think it just a part of how they eat here. The nice part is lettuce, tomato, carrots and cucumber taste the same no matter where you go. Of course I didn't see any 1000 Island dressing around but what are you gonna do. They ordered a meat dish which had 'mixed meat' which generally makes me a little nervous. I think it was probably just chicken and beef but it was very tasty. It came sort of like a beef stew or something in a thick brown sauce with a couple of vegetables mixed in. 

After that it was time to hit the bars. We first went to a bar that was called 'Circle'. I discovered that bars are pretty much the same everywhere. We found out that there is no last call here so that got me a little scared. I knew I had to stay out for a while so I didn't seem rude to my hosts but it would have been a little nicer knowing that at some point they would stop serving alcohol so we could get back to the hotel. It was a small sort of upscale place and I sipped my drink trying to stretch it out as long as I could. I really wanted to avoid getting too drunk because I really wasn't interesting in waking up with a hang over. It is bad enough to be hung over at home but in a foreign country knowing that you have to represent your company the next day makes it even less appealing. That bar closed at 12 but they still had other plans for us. We went to another bar that wasn't quite as nice as the first one. The crowed was definitely a little older and much less hip. One thing I found a little strange about this bar was that they had a fairly big guy who was working the door. You would have to actually knock on the door, which was locked, and he would open it and let you in. As far as I could tell he didn't turn anyone away so I am not really sure who they were trying to keep out. We stayed here for a little while listening to the DJ play Michael Jackson songs and they decided that there was somewhere else we needed to go. The last place we went was called the Jukebox. They had a live band playing rock music. At all the bars we went to they played American music. The live band was really pretty good. This place was pretty crowded and dark. The music was loud so conversation was a little difficult. After we had a drink at this bar Laura and I decided that we need to plan our exit. This bar was open until 7am and we were starting to get the feeling that our hosts would have no problem staying all night. I quietly asked one of the guys here named Marco if he could give us a ride back to our hotel. I knew if we asked Miska, who is one of the owners, that he would not be pleased. It was 2:30am so we felt like we had done our best not to insult our host. He wanted to buy us some more drinks so we knew it was time to make our move. We declined and told us that we were ready to leave. He tried to convince us to stay but eventually gave in. I felt like I had survived. I had a couple of drinks but no where near enough to worry about a hangover. We got back to the hotel and I decided that I was going to skip breakfast so I could sleep as long as possible. I had slipped a couple of pop tarts into my suitcase before I left home so I was covered. I am pretty sure we will have to go out again tonight. Our flight leaves at 6:30am on Saturday so as far as I am concerned a night at the bars is out of the question for Friday. The only thing worse than being hung over in a foreign country has to be being hung over on a plane with 20 some odd hours of traveling ahead of you. On of the pictures I have included is the outside of bar where you had to knock to enter.

I put another picture of the Stone Bridge in this post. It goes over the river Vardar. I learned some interesting facts about the bridge. There used to be pillars that lined both sides of the bridge. During the Ottoman Empire they would behead traitors and thieves and put their heads on the posts. Later on they would hold public executions in the center of the bridge. There was a king here, who I forget his name, and he was put to death by impalement when the people turned against him. Not really all that pleasant but it is a little strange to think about it when you walk across the bridge. 

There is a picture that I took out of our car of some buildings. These buildings are basically big apartment buildings. One of the things we have noticed are there aren't any houses around. We asked about it and I guess there are some houses but they are only for the rich and most people live in the apartments. I guess this goes back to when Socialism ruled the country. For the majority of Macedonians this is where you will live. 

Time for me to get some work done.

Day 2

The second day in Macedonia was a busy one. It was a little cold but it was sunny. The cold reminds me a little bit of Tahoe. I was really hoping for a little snow while we are here but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. It is supposed to warm up to the 40's for the next couple of days and rain. Maybe if it rains in the night time it will be cold enough to turn it into snow. 

Getting up was a little easier today. I have found that I feel pretty good in the morning but for some reason around 3pm in the afternoon my body tells me it is time to go to sleep. We have been eating a lot here. They are great hosts and have been taking us out to all of our meals and make sure that we can go anywhere we need to go. There is a little pressure at the meals though. At lunch on the first day I ordered some grilled pork and the plate was big. I was full and didn't really want to eat everything. Near the meal I became acutely aware that our hosts were really paying attention to what we were doing. They thought I didn't like the food but I assured them that it was fine but I was just full. I am getting the impression that it is considered impolite if you don't accept their hospitality. When we went out for dinner they ordered a traditional Macedonian liquor. It was a little bit like whiskey and you were supposed to sip it and drink it straight. It wasn't really all that bad but I am not really big on sipping liquor like that. I didn't finish my glass and after the waitress took it away they commented on the fact that I must not have liked it. Again, I noticed how much they were paying attention to what I was doing. They also REALLY want to take us out to some bars or clubs and no doubt the plan includes lots of drinking. On the first day we told them we were tired but they were very insistent that we go out. I had to really exercise my assertiveness to let them know that I didn't want to go out. I was really hoping that they didn't think I was being rude. 

For most of the day we just had work business to attend to so nothing really exciting happened. We went to lunch at a very nice place near the middle of the city. I ordered some pizza and they had a salad bar. The way they operate the salad bar is a little strange. When you go to the salad bar there is a girl who works there. Usually she takes your plate and you tell her what to put on your plate. They told me I could do it myself which I appreciated. After I made my salad the girl takes it from you and keeps it there until all of the first courses are ready for the table and then they bring it to you. It wasn't really a big deal but it was a little odd. 

After work they took us out to a big dinner. It was at a place that serves traditional Macedonian food. They brought out a ton of appetizers. A couple of different kinds of salad and this really big tray filled with a variety of different things. I am finding it a little tough to explain exactly what Macedonian food is but it definitely has a Mediterranean feel to it. The salads have lots of tomato's, cucumbers, and onions. The other food was filled with fried cheeses, some wrapped in bacon, various little balls and rolls, some delicious thinly sliced fried zucchini, little breads, sauteed mushrooms, rice, eggplant all sorts of stuff. We got so much food in the appetizers that I was a little worried about what was going to come for the main course. Fortunately they felt the same way so we kept things small after that. The main course was this baked beans sort of dish that I like very much. It wasn't seasoned the same as baked beans at home but for the most part they were similar. There was also some sort of meat dish with the meat cut up into little pieces and cooked in a sauce. I think the meat was beef but I really have no idea what it was. Then they brought out another dish which was sort of like little pieces of bread cut up to about the size of a salad crouton and then covered with shredded cheese. They like cheese here and they have a particular type of white cheese which is pretty good. I don't really know what you call it but it has a similar consistency to mozzarella cheese but is shredded really finely. They also had a band, much like a mariachi band, that played in the restaurant  and then went from table to table. They played traditional Macedonian fold music and I actually found them to be a very nice touch. At times they were a little loud and made the conversation a little difficult. The guys here all speak english but they have an accent so sometimes you have to really pay attention to hear what they are trying to say. With the band playing I found myself just nodding and smiling sometimes. 

After dinner they wanted to take us out to some bars again. We needed to have a call with some people back at ILM so provided us with an excuse to pass again. They said they would be more than happy to pick us up after the call but we resisted. They jokingly said they were going to call back to ILM and ask them why they sent a couple of duds to visit, at least I think they were joking.;) They made it pretty clear that on Wednesday night there would be no getting out of it.

I think we are destined to a late night tonight.

I am also including some pictures of our trip to the grocery store here. I always find it interesting to visit the grocery store in foreign countries to see how the true locals live. It was really very much like the stores at home. Of course you couldn't read a thing on most of the labels but other than that it was very similar. I will include a picture of a jar of mystery stuff that I found on one of the shelves. I think it is some sort of vegetable, maybe mushrooms, but it could be a meat too. There we a number of american things in the store.

I noticed that across from our hotel was the Macedonian version of a fast food restaurant. From the looks of it the place is no Burger King. They had some pictures of the food they served so I snapped a picture. They had some burgers and fries but the big difference is the fries actually go on top of the burger. It looked like they had some type of piroshki but other than that I couldn't really identify any of the other things. Maybe one of these days I will get brave and try something there.

Well I need to wrap things up for today but tune in tomorrow to see how our night out on the town went.

Day 2

Day 1 - more pics

Here are a few more pictures around the stone bridge and also a couple of pictures of the company we are visiting.

Macedonia Day 1

Today was my first real day in Macedonia. As tired as I was last night I had a hard time getting to sleep. At midnight here it is 3pm back in California so I guess somewhere in my mind it wasn't time to go to sleep. It was tough to get up this morning. We asked the guy to pick us up at 10 am so we could try to sleep in a little later than usual. When my wake up call came I was nowhere near ready to wake up. Duty called though so I dragged myself out of bed. Today is actually a holiday in Macedonia. It is a religious holiday and I think it is something like John the Baptist day. Since we were visiting and there was lots to do the company we visited was open for business. Our hotel is near the center of downtown. It is called the Stonebridge hotel and that is because we are right next to a river that runs through downtown and there is a very old stone bridge over the river that is a historic landmark here. One of the things the locals do here is swim in the freezing cold river. One of the high ranking church officials here goes to the center of the stone bridge. He throws a wooden cross into the river and a bunch of adventurous Macedonian's jump into the river and swim out to the cross. The first person to get there grabs the cross and I think he has good luck for the rest of the year. That is if he survives the swim in the freezing river. 

There were tons of people right outside of our hotel. Lots of people, lots of policeman, TV cameras, a whole team of paramedics and ambulances set up shot next to the river to take care of people who have a hard time with the temperature in the water. There is a very large PA system that is blaring traditional Macedonian folk music that made the entire scene are little surreal. Unfortunately we had to head off to work before the cross throwing ceremony began. It made for a very interesting scene for the first time I walked out of my hotel into Skopje. I took a couple of pictures and have included some of them here. 

We got to their offices here and they gave us a little tour of the facilities. We spent the morning meeting people and talking about the work we are doing with each other. They have a very different meal schedule here in Macedonia. You eat breakfast at the normal time. Lunch isn't until around 4 and then they eat dinner around 9 or 10 pm. That stretch until lunch seems like forever and when my mind told me it was dinner time I was still pretty full from lunch. I am skipping dinner tonight but I guess I will have to try and get with the Macedonian way of eating tomorrow. They have been really great hosts so far. One of the guys who owns the company here really wanted to take us out for drinks tonight. Me and the lady I am traveling with really were up for drinks. He was really persistent but I just kept telling him that I was tired and that I really wanted to go back to the hotel and that I wanted to try and get to bed a little early. It is 10:20 pm here right now so I am not doing such a good job of getting to bed early. I am shooting for 11pm and I am hoping I can get adjusted to the time a little better tomorrow. Me and my travel partner did take a walk across the stone bridge after we got back to the hotel. Christmas here is actually in the first week of January. They use the Orthodox calendar here and that is where Christmas falls. There are still lots of Christmas decorations up in the public places. In the area over the bridge there is a big town square with a large Christmas tree in the center. All around the square there are shops and stores but unfortunately most of them were closed because of the holidays. The lights and decorations were all very pretty so I have included a couple of pictures of them too. I will put all of my pictures on photobucket at some point.

Macedonia is quite a bit different from any other place I have visited. You can definitely get the feel that this place is thousands of years old rather than hundreds of years like the US is. Honestly most of the places look just a little bit run down. You might say the place is dingy. It is nowhere near as run down as India but there is plenty of trash around and it seems like most of the buildings could use a fresh coat of paint. The TV here sucks, at least the TV in our hotel. Most of the stations are all in Slavic so I have no idea what is going on. I did get to watch some of the Steelers playoff game but I couldn't understand a word the announcers were playing. I guess I going to have to spend some time reading which isn't such a bad thing.

Well I am going to go crawl into bed and try to get some sleep.

If you have any questions or comments fell free to leave them at the end of my posts. It is nice to know if anyone is reading this. 

Tough Trip To Macedonia

Well  I made it. I am sitting in my hotel in Skopje, Macedonia. It wasn't easy though. I am traveling with another lady from ILM. We met at SFO and I was embarrassed to find out that I had more luggage than her. I guess I am not such a good packer. I guess that must be the old Boy Scout in me that tries to always 'be prepared'. Getting out of SFO was a snap.

My trip was supposed to be a 9 hour flight to London. A couple of hour flight to Budapest and then another couple of hour flight to Skopje and I would get in here around 3:30pm local time.  That was around 18 hours total. We had a pretty short layover in London which worried me a bit but I think it was an hour and a half so that seemed reasonable to me at the time. Well our plane was a little late getting in to Heathrow Airport. Heathrow is huge and we actually had to exit the airport and get on a bus for a 10 minute bus ride to the proper terminal. Then you go through immigration and you are off. Sounds simple, right? Well it wasn't. To make a long story short we got to the immigration about 25 minutes before our plane was supposed to leave. Apparently, that isn't enough time. They told us the flight was closed and we couldn't get on the plane. I immediately flashed to the Amazing Race and we did everything we could to get the lady to let us board but it was no use. So we get back on the bus and take another ride to get to the terminal where we can go to the ticket counter and try to work everything out. The people were very nice. Unfortunately there aren't tons of flights to this part of the world and to make matters worse nobody really new where our luggage was. They could put us on different flights but there were no guarantees our luggage would make it when we did. That wasn't a very happy thought. They were able to book us on an Italian airlines but the bad part was the next plane didn't leave for 4 hours. Instead of Budapest the flight would go to Belgrade, Serbia and then we would have another 4 hour layover and go to Skopje. Instead of getting in at 3:30 and having the afternoon to relax we were to get in at 10:30 pm. there weren't really any choices though so that is what we did. 

We finally arrived at Belgrade and were told to check with the airlines here to see if there was any word on where our luggage was. After we landed at Belgrade we went straight to the office. The guy looked over our paperwork and said there was pretty much no chance that the luggage had made it to Belgrade with us. He told us to come back a couple of hours later and he would see what he could find out. At this point I was pretty much resigned to the fact that the luggage was going to be a royal pain in the butt and I better be getting used to wearing the same underwear for the next couple of days, NOT a pleasant thought.

We were hungry so we found the only restaurant that was open in the airport. They had a few unusual things on the menu but they did have pizza. I figured a Margherita pizza was simple enough. That is what we both ordered. The guy brought our pizza out and I guess they somehow couldn't make that pizza so we got one with ham, mushrooms, and whole green olives. I guess they didn't feel like they should have asked us if we wanted that pizza. It seemed like just going with the flow was the thing to do so I picked off the whole olives. It was really a pretty decent pizza. We killed some time and then went back to the ticket window. I expected the worst but was REALLY hoping I was wrong. The guy got on the phone and it seemed like he took forever. Finally he came back and told us our luggage had made it. I was so relieved to hear that. I wasn't going to feel like I was totally out of the woods until I saw the bags with my own eyes though.  Of course our plane was delayed by 40 minutes.

We finally made it to Skopje and magically our bags came out on the carousel. Someone was looking out for me. 

A guy from the company we are visiting picked us up and gave us a ride to the hotel. It is a pretty nice hotel from what I can tell. It is late and dark here so I haven't had much of a chance to see what the city looks like. I guess I will save that for the blog tomorrow.  Tune in tomorrow to hear about Skopje.  I have only slept about 5 hours in various chunks in the last 24 so it is time to get some sleep.

Naten e mire.