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.
