Amazing

I left Himarë yesterday after soaking up the beach and sweating in my bikini and saltwater. It was probably for the best because by the time the bus arrived, I had sweated through my entire dress as if it had been dipped in broth and then glued to my body.

The bus stop wasn't really a bus stop; it was nothing, just a gas station. Nobody knew anything. As an anxious Scandinavian, I was there long before the scheduled departure. I wandered up and down the street with my suitcase, checking the time. I was the only one getting on, and the bus came 20 minutes late; still, the two drivers chatted with me for a good while before I even got to board.

Speaking of chatting: apparently, they switch to German when they don't understand Macedonian. I should know a thing or two since I studied it in school for six years and lived in Berlin. 😅 But I can't. Well, I can understand a bit, but speaking: no, no.

In any case, I learned that one of the drivers really loved women and thought we could meet in Skopje: stroll a bit, eat something, drink some schnapps, and go to a room. Good offer, and he really stuck to it for the rest of the trip: offered me gum, fished out beer from his cooler bag for me, called me darling, etc. They laughed when I put on my seatbelt after we nearly collided with a car: they had no fear at all, continued driving jerkily on the winding mountain roads. They started fiddling with cigarettes after five minutes, and it went on like that. Smoking on the bus?! 😂 I was a child in the '80s, back then we would stand in the back of the car while adults smoked with the windows rolled up. But I had FORGOTTEN. I must say it was extremely uncomfortable with the smoke. But what a landscape, all these mountains, dramatic. It looks like New Zealand? So close to home.

Anyway, I arrived in Ohrid yesterday. Late due to all the breaks the drivers had to take to smoke (even outside the bus) and chat away.

I got out for dinner around 11, but it was so much fun in the town; people were playing and singing, having dinner, chatting away, there were places with ice cream and tacos and all sorts along the promenade, kids out and about. I didn't see much of the lake in the dark, but today I've been there, of course, and swam in fresh water.

By the way, the beer bottle is GIGANTIC 1.5 liters, no small talk.