When You Were Young

This is a picture of me eating a crawfish (I think it is a crawfish) in Hvar, Croatia. Dao and I went to this restaurant (which is behind me) where they sat us in this cute little, non-scary alley. It was in Starigrad (Old City). We split mussels, seafood risotto and white wine. It was one of the best evenings on our trip. Hvar is an island off the coast so we took a ferry from Split. On Hvar, prior to this dinner, was the first time I swam in the Adriatic.

I am so excited. Manuel sent me an email today because he can't figure out the trains between Thessaloniki and Skopje or the bus between Sofia and Skopje. Do you want to know why Manuel is experiencing such problems? Because it is impossible to find the train schedule for the Thessaloniki train station on the internet!!! So, the Skopje train station was happy to oblige. The only catch is Macedonia does not call Thessaloniki Thessaloniki. They call it Solun. How would Manuel ever know that? I didn't know this factoid until yesterday. As far as the buses between Sofia and Skopje, I am an expert on them and could provide all sorts of useful information. I know the Sofia bus station incredibly well due to the fact I was stuck there for 7 hours, no thanks to the so called Information Desk in the bus station. So the total excitement comes from the fact that Manuel is coming in 3-4 weeks!!!!! He'll forward me his itinerary today. Maria is coming too but I think she is flying from Amsterdam to Skopje proper. I'll just have to arrange for a car to pick her up at the airport and bring her to my place. I assume they are coming on the same day...my first visitors of people I actually know well! My best friend on this side of the Atlantic, Manuel, seeing the glorious city that is Skopje!

I had a truly Macedonian evening last night, after my run; I ran for 30 minutes and it was very difficult. Any way, back to my Macedonian evening. I met up with the man who I met while standing in line for the restroom. We met at the Center then went to a cafe and had a beer. After that, we walked around City Park, through the Center and then he had to catch a bus back to his 'hood, which is on the opposite side of town from where I live. In our conversation, he talked about how Macedonians have adjusted their lifestyle to living on 200 Euros a month. What we did is exactly how you go on a date when you have no money; it was pleasant. He is a university student so he really has no money. He told me he would never take me out to dinner because we are young and broke (I think what he meant is he is young - younger than me- but I can agree with we are both strapped for cash). Ok. I can deal with that. We'll see if we go out again. When I told him there was the possibility I would leave as early as mid-November, I saw visible disappointment.