If you are in Skopje, the Fortress (Kale) is a very good place to go and kill an hour or so. The fortress offers excellent views of the city and surrounding mountains and, best of all, it won’t cost you a cent to get in. As for the location,...
Macedonian Supermarket Beer: There’s an Unusual Bottle Deposit System
Last night a bought some Macedonian beer from the supermarket and discovered there’s a bottle deposit system. Not for all beers though. It depends on the brand. I normally buy beer in cans because you can crush them so they take up less room in the trash. However, the...
Macedonian Burek Vs Albanian Byrek
Up until a few days ago, I was eating Albanian byrek a few times a week. Today I tried Macedonian burek for the first time. It’s very similar to Albanian byrek, but there’s a lot more pastry going on. Byrek and burek are both variations of börek. Börek is...
How to Buy a Bus Ticket to Travel from Tirana to Skopje
When you want to buy a bus ticket to go from Tirana to Skopje there is not a lot of information online. The little that is available is often inaccurate and it’s impossible to buy a ticket. Most of the bus companies situated in Balkan countries don’t have an...
My First Shopping Trip to a Large (Vero) Supermarket in Macedonia
There’s a large Vero supermarket a short walk from the bungalow I’m renting in Macedonia. I went there today for my first “real” shopping trip. Yesterday, after I arrived, I bought a few things from a small Reptil supermarket. It’s even closer than the Vero supermarket but it lacks...
Moving from Albania to Macedonia: It Was a Long Day
Yesterday was a long day. It began in Tirana and ended in Skopje, with a brief interlude in Kosovo along the way. I left the apartment in Tirana at 5:20 am and began my journey on foot. With my backpack on my back and my laptop backpack strapped to...
Port Designs Laptop Backpack Review (It Was the Best!)
I’m writing this Port Designs Laptop Backpack review earlier than I would have liked to do. Tomorrow the bag is going in the trash. I’ll miss it. This bag has been travelling with me for more years than I can remember. I had a few laptop bags before it,...
How to Avoid Paying ATM Fees in Albania
If you want to avoid paying ATM fees in Albania you need to be selective about which banks you use. Even if your own bank hits you with fees, there’s no need to let greedy Albanian banks charge you extra money on top. I lived in Albania for two...
Another Power Outage in Tirana
Today while I was working I saw my computer screen dim. Then I looked across the room towards the internet router and saw all the lights had gone one. No electricity! A power outage in Tirana again. It’s not the whole city. Just a few streets This happened last...
There Are Different Types of Hot Dog—Did You Know That?
Until I began travelling I never knew there are different types of hot dog. I thought they were all the same. They’re not. What constitutes a “hot dog” can be very different from one country to the next. Because I grew up in Yorkshire I thought all hot dogs...