This is a roof tile, but not just any roof tile, this is from the 1873 railway station that was built in Skopje. It was demolished in 1937 to make way for the new central railway station, although that’s now mostly fallen down due to the earthquake in 1963. During the demolition of the city’s first railway station, it was suggested that two tiles and two bricks were taken as some sort of memory of Skopje’s early railway history. One of them is displayed here and I like that things such as this survive, it’s a little survivor of the arrival of the railways into the city.
This is what the city’s first railway station looked like, opened in 1873 when the Ottomans opened the line from Skopje to Thessaloniki in Greece. I’m not sure that the First Balkan War between 1912 and 1913 is much referenced in the history taught in UK schools (which seems to mostly be Tudors to trenches with a few mentions of steam engines, but there we go), but this is when the Ottoman Empire lose most of their European lands, include the city of Skopje.
There seem to be a lot of these firebugs around Skopje, giving the initial appearance (to me at least) of ladybirds but they’re not closely related although these firebugs have apparently started to make their way into the UK (when I say these firebugs, I mean the general species, not these actual ones which seemed quite happy on their Skopje pavement). The Latin name is Pyrrhocoris apterus, I hadn’t realised that pyrrhos meant flame, so the English translation is the ‘flame coloured bug which is wingless’. I’ve also discovered that ladybirds are beetles and firebugs are bugs although I’m not sure how I’m going to translate that new knowledge into the wider world but I’ll try and find the appropriate social occasion.
A few years ago, a restaurant on the main square of any city, Macedonia Square in this case, would have had a reasonable chance of being something of a tourist trap. Fortunately, social media and online reviews have made that nearly impossible, and as this tempting little number advertised craft beer and was positively reviewed, that was lunch sorted.
I was offered the chance to sit outside, but I didn’t want that stress and anyway, there’s a tree inside so that is like the same. Just with fewer insects and less bright sunshine.
I ordered the tasting board and I must admit to becoming a little muddled up, but I think that they were all brewed by the Donkey by Temov Brewery. One the server said was a pilsner, but it didn’t taste of a pilsner, one seemed to be an APA and another an IPA, but that didn’t match the beer options on Untappd. Anyway, they were very lovely and that’s going to be the limit of my beer analysis on this occasion.
The basic burger seemed to me to be the most suitable option in the heat and it met my expectations in terms of the taste, temperature and presentation. The tomato in the burger might not be visible in the photo but that packed some taste, much better than the tasteless little numbers so often sold in UK supermarkets.
The service was attentive and polite, with the air conditioning being on point and definitely delighting me. With extreme temperatures outside of 31°C (88°F), I very much needed that. The whole arrangement cost £11 for the four beers and the burger which all felt entirely reasonable. The highlights for me were the beer, the tomato and the air conditioning, which might not be the most decadent trinity of items, but they were very welcome on a hot day in North Macedonia.
Skopje’s Old Bazaar is one of the oldest and largest marketplaces in the Balkans, with trading activity recorded in the area from at least the twelfth century. It developed most strongly under Ottoman rule, when Skopje became an important commercial centre and the bazaar filled with mosques, inns, shops and hammams. It’s been a bit bruised and dented by the 1555 earthquake, the 1689 fire and 1963 earthquake, but it’s all still there. I’m not sure that it felt entirely historic when walking around, but it was heavily reconstructed after the 1963 earthquake and I’ll meander around some more of it today. Anyway, some photos….
There was a large earthquake which destroyed this building, then used as the central railway station, on 26 July 1963. There were substantial offers of help from around the world following the disaster, which had killed over 1,000 people and left 200,000 people homeless, with 80% of the city centre destroyed.
I quite like exhibits like this, a tangible reminder of the help that was offered by others. This is a mobile kitchen provided by the German Red Cross that was used in the Taftalidze district where residential buildings were being rapidly constructed. In the meantime, people were living in tents and this would have been heavily used to keeping people fed. There must have been some excitement about the grand urban vision being created here, but food matters more in the short-term.
And a nice sticker because even amid destruction there should be a bit of branding. Civilisation might be partly shelter and partly food, but it’s important that everyone knows who bought the ladle….
Just photos, but this Macedonia Square in the evening, looking rather beautiful. Also visible is the Stone Bridge and there’s been a river crossing here since Roman times. All rather lovely.
This is Skopje’s former railway station which was built between 1938 and 1940 and was designed by the Serbian architect Velimir Gavrilović. At 05:17 on 26 July 1963, an earthquake struck Skopje which killed over 1,070 people, injured thousands more and destroyed about 80 percent of the city. The clock on the facade of the railway station stopped at the exact moment the tremor struck.
This is what it looks like now, the left hand side of the station has gone, the central section is mostly standing and the right hand side has been turned into a museum. More on that in future posts.
A photograph from the time shows the damage and this scene isn’t recognisable today other than the surviving bit of the railway station, as there’s now a large shopping centre where the railway line once was. That’s a little symbolic of the city perhaps, there needs to be a significant overhaul of the current central railway station, a brutalist designed building that needs repair, but the new Diamond shopping centre is quite decadent and evidently expensive to have built.
It was decided to keep this damaged section, now in the garden of the museum, as a memorial. There’s a sharp bluntness about keeping a broken building, it’s quite powerful.
It was interesting to see how it was constructed and a little sub-optimal that it lasted under 25 years. It had been constructed on the site of the city’s first main railway station that opened in 1873, but more on that later as well. Such excitement stored up and my two loyal blog readers can pace themselves accordingly.
The remaining arches can be seen from the rear. It’s nice that there’s a little museum here for free, although that’s more about the city’s history, but there is a video playing inside which gives more information about the earthquake and the massive damage that it did to the city.
Another journey from Luton Airport, so another little snack at Big Smoke, this time the hot honey chicken tenders and a 0% Guinness. All very agreeable and a suitably balanced pre-flight meal.
And that’s the end of Avalon, the little coffee shop, which apparently had closed just a few hours before. It was always a slightly quirky arrangement with some odd food and drink options, limited seating but always friendly staff. There appears to be a new Costa coming, which I can’t say delights me, but if that’s what the passengers of Luton Airport want, then so be it.
My Lounge and the exciting beer option of 0% Heineken, although you’re only allowed half a bottle at a time. I thought half a bottle was perfectly sufficient.
For about the first time I can remember, the cutlery was clean here. It wasn’t overly busy, this is a perfectly acceptable arrangement although for those not on Priority Pass or similar scheme, it’s expensive to enter for what is offered.
“Plane on the way” means that it hasn’t arrived yet, but they’ll start the boarding process. Efficiency is important and all that, although they called the gate ten minutes early which felt aspirational.
And here it is, sweeping in majestically, which is perhaps overstating the romance of a Wizz Air aircraft at Luton, but one must take glamour where one can find it.
I have a temporary bag which isn’t very rufty tufty so isn’t going to be used for long on these expeditions, I’ll be repurposing it for LDWA challenge events at some point, where it can enjoy a quieter life being shoved into village halls and checkpoint corners rather than exposed to the brutal glamour of low-cost aviation.
The aircraft was G-WUKY which is yet another one that I haven’t been on.
The seating Gods not only gave me an aisle seat, but the other two seats in the row weren’t occupied during the flight.
The prices are slowly creeping up, but they don’t feel unreasonable.
And the sandwich prices. These are very much for the more wealthy people, it’s something that my friend Richard would order if on board, as he has the quiet confidence of a man who knows society needs people willing to keep the premium sandwich sector alive. And actually the premium sector everything…..
Bearing in mind that I had a row to myself, the flight itself was relatively busy. As usual, this was another nicely operated flight with a friendly cabin crew, a clean aircraft and clear announcements from the pilots. No-one applauded when the aircraft landed and there were no issues of note during the flight, so I was once again impressed. Bearing in mind that I had only paid £8.99 for the flight, I felt particularly delighted and the fifteen minute late departure was caught up and we landed five minutes early. That’s the joy of padded schedules…..
There were no more photos as the whole airport arrangement was far more efficient than I had anticipated. Border control took two minutes as there was no stamping of passports just a vague look inside and the airport was clearly laid out. Unusually for me, as I usually get a cheap bus, I had a shuttle from the hotel and that turned up just as I arrived outside. That means I was in a car within fifteen minutes of landing, so I didn’t have a chance to take photos. This efficiency does, admittedly, leave the blog slightly short of content, which is awkward given that the blog is rarely overburdened with plot at the best of times.
Another post for the sake of completion, so there were no major dramas getting from Heathrow to Luton. It was rather odd that I was staying around twenty metres from the country’s major airport and had decided to fly from Luton Airport. Such is the lure of the £8.99 Wizz Air flights. Geographical inconveniences don’t concern me though…..
It was raining so I decided against walking the one hour to Hayes and Harlington railway station.
I don’t find buses very exciting, but this was a handy option which only took around ten minutes. I also appreciate that bus content is not traditionally where great travel writing finds its highest expression, but there we go.
I remember when this was all fields…. Well, I remember it before it was on the Elizabeth Line and it had this fancy frontage anyway.
I might not love buses, but I do like trains and here’s the Elizabeth Line train sweeping in. I got the train into Farringdon to complete a little task involving free food and then decided that I’d walk the 30 minutes to King’s Cross St Pancras as the rain had stopped. I’m a natural athlete me, albeit one whose sporting career is mostly based around refusing to pay for short tube journeys.
The delights of St. Pancras, a really rather beautiful shopping centre with some train lines.
Platform 1 was the train to Corby and that would get me to London Luton Airport Parkway in under 30 minutes. I would add that the rail fare was £4.20 which is rather decent value for money I think bearing in mind I only booked it yesterday.
One day I’ll find getting trains boring, but for the moment, it still excites and delights.
In crawls the train…
I don’t like five seats across as I don’t think trains were originally designed for this, but anyway, it wasn’t that busy. I also provided a free tourist service to the guy who was trying to get to Luton and I didn’t once ask him why he wanted to go to Luton which I think showed considerable restraint and perhaps even personal growth.
Still the worst managed railway station in the country in my view, but I won’t labour that point as I might have drivelled on several times before about it.
I walked the twenty minutes to Luton Airport and passed by the Vauxhall building, now closed down and staffed only by security teams and guard dogs.
And safely at London Luton airport.
And the longest queues which I’ve seen at London Luton, although, to be fair, I was still through in under 25 minutes and I was hardly in a rush as I had, once again, arrived five hours early for my flight. I can imagine that my two loyal blog readers can hardly contain themselves with excitement for the next post….
This is the war memorial at Harlington church which was designed by Charles Oldrid Scott and unveiled in 1920. At the time it was noted that it stood overlooking the main street so that it would be seen as a reminder for future generations. Harlington has changed somewhat since then, the road has been diverted because the M4 was built across it, the town has been moved out of Middlesex and the war memorial had to be updated with those died in the Second World War and the Korean War. I’m not sure what the friends and family of those who lost their lives would have thought about the changes ahead for their town.
I was going to pull out just one name, in this case Horace White since that was the nearest to my name, but his name isn’t on the CWGC site and I can’t find out anything about him. There are a few Horace Whites in the wider area, but the only standard search identifies him only from being on this memorial which is all a little circular. So that’s another rabbit hole I’ll have to go down to resolve that to my satisfaction…. Also, more prosaically, I need to get out more.
