Had a lovely night’s sleep, but
any dream of a lie-in was rudely disturbed by renovation work occurring
downstairs. So we slowly woke up, and I dipped in for a shower. We walked
across the road from our apartment to the main inn, where we entered upon a
busy common room wrestling with a ‘buffet’ breakfast. I grabbed a seat, whilst
Liam went ahead. Upon his return, I then got in line. One sale person was in
charge, and things looked like they were running out. So I grabbed a slice of
bread, some cheese, Apple juice and a milky tea. We devoured it then left.
Back at the apartment we set
about our first round of washing. I washed whilst Liam constructed a Crystal
Maze style washing line – involving the windows and a nearby cupboard. He then
rinsed and wringed the clothes whilst I did. We then packed and walked back up
along the long road to the train station. The buildings went from Mid-1800
imperial, to small 1960 constructs, on to crumbling fronts by the time we
approached the station. This was another Communist experiment, yet a recent
addition was made at the front in the form of a massive tent.
We went to information, where a
local lady in her mid 50’s recited the phrase “International desk” whilst
pointing. Following her fingers, we reached our destination. We booked two
couchettes in a cabin of 4 all for £16 – bargain! We then departed the station,
armed with 2 bottles of water and a Coke, for another main road into the
centre. Again, crumbling buildings led to 1960’s ones, that led to older, nicer
ones. We reached a square with 5 attractive points.
First was the synagogue, tucked
down a side street off the square, behind the second point of interest. It had
4 points rising, and its central, larger point too. We then walked through an
old building that contained a modern market. Meats, nuts, fruit, mixed with
beauty products & cafes. We then appeared at the square again. We crossed
the road to get on to the main part of the square, and then saw the mosque.
Very impressive it was too, akin to the one in Skopje. Behind it were the ruins
of the old baths. Nearby was a fountain, and behind two old former baths
looking opulent. To the left of them, over an adjoining road, were several taps
of hot spring water. We bottled a bit of the warm stuff, but decided to pour it
away afterwards.
We then walked via the metro (to
bypass the roadworks) to the next square that had the Orthodox Church on it,
but to the east had the modern Presidency. As we walked past, we peered to our
right. In the Presidential courtyard was an old church. We could freely walk
in, so we did. It was such a juxtaposition, that church and the modern,
neo-classical construct encircling it. We then exited via a different route and
saw the old Communist headquarters. A ‘V’ shaped building facing west, it was
imposing and impressive. South of it, on a plaza, was an old Orthodox church,
now an archaeological museum. So we went in.
75% of it was early Roman/Greek
ruins. Statues, headstones, pots, carvings, coins. All very interesting. 25%
was Christian Orthodox frescoes. Liam did ponder whether the building was Greek
Orthodox (as the roof was glossed white, but cracks exposed some paintings
underneath).We then departed and walked on
the southern fork of the road split by the ‘Party HQ’, that took us to the
largest Orthodox Church in the Balkans. It had a massive dome of gold, and was
adjacent to the Assembly building.
We then cut down a side street to the main
shopping street, stopping for a blended ice coffee on the way. We walked up the
shopping street to the main square, where we had lunch and cocktails for an
hour, before heading back to our room. After our rest, we went over to the main
hostel.
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