Skopje, North Macedonia & Pristina, Kosovo – March 2025

5th Jun 202515th Jul 2025 ~ HowNot2Life

Thanks for visiting my first Wales football blog of 2025! The destination was North Macedonia, which is a new country for me and I think the 49th in total, with the day trip to Kosovo being number bloody five-zero!

Macedonia, officially North Macedonia (we’ll come on to that) is a Country in the Balkans, formerly part of Yugoslavia. It is landlocked and bordered by just the five countries; Greece, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria. It has a population of 1.8 million with around a third of these living in the capital Skopje. It is not in the EU and has the Denar as its currency.

The trip was Monday to Friday with the football match on Tuesday.

Costs

I travelled with my friend again for this trip who was designated planner (give me a break I’ve already been to 4 places in France and Istanbul since Christmas). He did a splendid job sorting return flights from Heathrow for £212 each. We did have to stop at Frankfurt going and Zurich coming back but that did break up the otherwise 4 hour flight.

The four-star Queens Hotel costs around £150 each for 4 nights including a simple but satisfactory breakfast. It was around 15 minutes walk to the main square, opposite a bus stop and had a supermarket underneath.

Public transport was cheap. The one time we caught the bus it cost about 40p. A ten minute taxi was around £3 but the city sights are all within walking distance of each other.

Food at restaurants was very good value. A bottle of local Skopso beer was £1.50 or £2.50 centrally. Cigarettes £3 a pack. I went a whole bloody week without fast food so couldn’t price up a Burger King or KFC, but that does lead me in to my first fun fact: there are no McDonald’s in the country!

Ummm, what else? We caught Flixbus to Heathrow and the taxi from Skopje airport to centre was 1000 denar, thirteen quid to you and me. The ticket cost for the game were either £4 or £13. What a nice surprise.

Important health update for fans

Avid readers or those who tripped over my recent Istanbul blog in February will remember my foot had been a proper five digit fuckhead since January which almost ruined Turkiye for me. I still struggled the week leading up to this trip but you’ll be delighted to know my right Plantar Fascia was okay. I took my walking stick… FML… with me most days but it was 90% precautionary and in total over the full three days I probably achieved 50,000 steps.

Itinerary

Day One – Home to Skopje

I’ll keep days 1 and 5 short as we’re all adults who know what an aeroplane is and what a twat the whole process can be.

9:30am bus to Heathrow, fully recovered from the electrical outage the Friday before and quieter than my usual experience.

We flew with Lufthansa and had spare seats next to us on BOTH legs. An absolute dream! Just a quick note about Lufthansa. Obviously having a spare seat next to me was paradise beyond the airlines control, but how nice to have a complimentary bottle of water and mini Lindt chocolate bar! I’d be a kidney lighter having that on WizzAir…

It didn’t feel like a long day but we arrived at our hotel at 11pm and there is only an hour time difference. That didn’t stop us bumping into a couple of other Welsh fans who easily tempted us to go for a beer in a bar just up the road. The local lager hit the spot. One turned into three but all very sensible.

Image ^ Testing the local lager after a long day travelling.

I already mapped out that food was unlikely, so felt proper chuffed with myself unpacking a Bombay Badboy Pot Noodle out of my bag for supper!

Day Two – Skopje and match day!

Instead of scheduled rain it was a lovely sunny morning as we enjoyed breakfast on the roof terrace, heading out around 10am to ensure I had ample time for getting drunk after the touristy stuff!

Before we could catch the bus in to the centre we had to get cash from an ATM and then get some change. Easy with a supermarket and soft drinks nearby.

Fun fact: I was horrified that my otherwise fabulous “Nothing” brand of phone was not compatible with an eSIM. The plan was to get a card over there, but as the morning went on I didn’t bother. Then as the week went on it, my point is that it was actually rather liberating not to have notifications every two minutes. I did have the odd catch up in restaurants and Pete had his hotspot for emergencies, but I did honestly enjoy putting my phone away throughout most of the day!

Anyway. Bus. A very old, stinky, busy scrap of metal but did get us to where we wanted to go! Still, it was the first and last of the trip!

Image ^ A very quiet street in the Old Bazaar

The Old Bazaar (kinda like a market area) was a must visit although very quiet first thing in the morning, bearing in mind it was still Ramadan. The plan was to pass through here and walk up hill to Skopje fortress in the hope of some good pictures.

It certainly didn’t disappoint as even before the entrance one could see the stadium in all it’s glory and looked very impressive. We’ll be seeing you again later.

Image ^ Skopje city centre from fortress with Vodno mountain in background

The fortress was not exactly Kings Landing but it was free and useful to map out other parts of the city centre. There was also a small bar here that slowly filled up with Cymru fans having the same idea of a midday beer or two. Lovely.

Image ^ Cymru fans enjoying a midday beer

We continued back through the Bazaar, now much busier, and to the main square, passing not one but two statues of Alexander the Great.

Fun fact: Alexander the Great is not Greek. In fact don’t mention the G word. He is Macedonian, at least according to the locals. Apparently the statue upset Greece, which leads me on to another…

The centre of Skopje is truly bizarre! A previous leader had an idea of Project Skopje 2014 and turn the place into a tourist hotspot, by erecting new buildings but making them look old. In total he placed dozens of statues and 13 buildings. This REALLY pissed off the locals given the cost and considering the Macedonian public services could have benefited immensely instead from this cash. If you don’t laugh you’d cry and whilst I don’t think I have any great photo’s, they did indeed look bloody ridiculous. Ten year old buildings trying to look like 100 year buildings!

In sympathy, to maybe see where he was coming from, Skopje was flattened in the 1960s by an earthquake, which saw a huge 80% of it’s buildings collapse. I just think the unjustified cost of his plans leapfrogged any good intentions.

Image ^ Vardar River running through Skopje

Walking over the old Stone Bridge, which I believe is older than say, a fortnight (lolz), we bumped into a friend at the main square before collecting our match ticket from a nearby hotel.

I left the lunch decision to Pete. I just fancied a burger at most before getting on the beers, I felt rather “meh” about going to a nice Macedonian restaurant but OH MY GOD it was so good I’d end up having exactly the same meal the next day! The place is called Old House (link).

A T-bone pork joint with fries, salad, garlic bread and a drink came to about 16 quid. Just look at the size of it….

Miraculously by the time we made the short walk back in to the centre, plus a few Marlboro Gold’s, I could stomach a beer and as Pete went back to the hotel for his regular match day siesta I went in search of some booze!

I was blessed not only to meet up with some fellow Newportonians but also newfound friends from gogledd Cymru and really enjoyed many a beer and a few sing songs before the game. One of the best parts, so I take very few photos!

Roll on three hours. I did lose said pals on the way to the ground in search of some cigarettes, but after 12 pints or so the independent walk to the ground was a mix of an experience, both quite fun and challenging (no mobile data for maps remember). I’m not naming names but if this was another Balkan country or two I’d be shitting myself. It’s a good job my wife never reads this stuff…

Watching the football match was never in doubt and I re-joined Pete before kick off for the anthems, and a minute silence for the poor souls that lost their lives in a Macedonian night club fire just a few weeks prior.

The game itself, at the time I thought was very disappointing for a match I took for granted Wales would win.

The game to life right at the end of the game after Joe Allen, the living Jesus, of all people, gifted a Macedonia goal, only for Wales through Dai Brooks to comically equalise in the 90th plus whatever minute (highlight link).

I need to comment on the ABSOLUTELY SHIT hospitality in the ground. No beer, no food, not even bottled water! This was in the posh seats.

Fun (depressing) fact: I STOLE a bottle of open water off a stewards desk at half time, I was that parched. I wonder how such occurrences can be allowed (not the stealing bit) but that’s UEFA for you…

Feeling knackered after a long day, twinned with being trapped in the stadium with zero facilities, loo roll inclusive, I didn’t really have the mantra for beers after the match. Therefore, Peter and I walked back to the hotel in search of food, that was not forthcoming. You’ve got 30,000 people in a stadium and food outlets closed and hour beforehand. FML. 24 hour shop for crisps and chocolate and bed. I could have murdered another Pot Noodle…

Day Three – Vodno Mountain and Lake Matka

After a chilled breakfast we headed back to the fortress before our half-day trip in the afternoon. We had time to kill so wandered around the vicinity. I took a great interest in a nearby caravanserai named Kursumli An, as I had been playing the Assassin’s Creed Mirage video game set in Iraq where they were prominent. A caravanserai is kind of like an old fashioned motel and service station.

Image ^ Outside the Kursumli An caravanserai

This building dated back to the 16th century and had since been a prison before just left to dilapidate. I thought it would make a great hotel and in such a prominent location.

Image ^ A peek inside the Kursumli An caravanserai

What made it more frustrating to allow such a dwelling to fall into disrepair, was the fact that the “Museum of Macedonia lay only 100 metres away, in this concrete eyesore of a building that was supposed to resemble some type of old v modern middle-ground. The museum itself was closed, well, I assume it was because we couldn’t even find it, just a smattering of office workers walking around at lunchtime.

Time to go on our day trip I think.

We booked through Viator (link here) a half-day tour to Matka Canyon and Vodno Mountain. At £25 each, this was great value for money. I think we had to pay about a quid for the cable car (£24 cheaper than Dubrovnik and 3 times longer) and around €9 for a boat trip at the canyon/lake to visit the Vrelo Cave.

The three minibuses was full with other Welsh supporters and it took a good 30 minutes to meander up the mountain to reach the point where we could catch the cable car. The guide was really good too, giving a history of Macedonia, why to them it is NOT North Macedonia and why they are not that fond of the Greeks.

Ooooh, maybe I can introduce a new section. A history lesson, but by me? A Christory lesson if you will. A really to the point, citations probably needed, half-arsed couple of sentences to cover centuries of historical importance.

Christory lesson: Why is Macedonia called North Macedonia and not just Macedonia, or where is south Macedonia?

Well kids, the area of Macedonia is actually a large area that covers North Macedonia and a large section of Greece. Today, Macedonia is a former administrative region in Greece that includes the prominent city of Thessaloniki. In fact, the region is considered to include parts of six countries, namely all of North Macedonia, large parts of Greece and Bulgaria, and smaller parts of Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo.

When admitted into the United Nations in 1993, Greece kicked off about the use of “Republic of Macedonia” which resulted in the place called “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” before the two sides both agreed on The Republic of North Macedonia in 2019.

I did make some notes about some other interesting bits, but as I’m writing this part in June, I’ve since deleted them. Top blogger.

The top of Vodno mountain provided a superb panorama of the city and we were told that on a clear day Greece, Albania and Kosovo are all in view. Still no sign of my dignity though after pinching that bottle of water last night.

Image ^ The Millennium Cross on top of Vodno Mountain

Built in 2002, at 66 metres high, the cross is one of the largest of it’s kind in the word according to Wikipedia. What that doesn’t tell you is that you can actually see the cross lit up from as far away as the Kosovo border some 20 plus kilometres away. You’ll see a really shit photo as proof if you keep scrolling to tomorrow…

Image ^ Antenna Tower of the Agency for Electronic Communication under construction.

In progress was a new eyesore next to the Millennium Cross. I was very interested in how on earth they can build such a structure up here. To be honest though, I did think it got in the way of the main attraction. After some research, this monstrosity is going to be the Antenna Tower of the Agency for Electronic Communication, which will be the tallest building in Macedonia at 155 meters. twice the hight of the cross.

The mountain top views did not end there. Peter called me over to peek over the… peak… towards the south facing side, to be treated with perhaps my pick of the trip photos.

Image ^ Church of Saint Panteleimon, Skopje

Before heading to the canyon we had a quick pitstop at the Church of Saint Panteleimon up in the hillside, a small 12th-century Byzantine monastery constructed in 1164. I didn’t choose to go inside, instead entertaining the sheep outside (not like that lads) but a fun fact is that the Church is on the back of the Macedonian Denar banknotes.

45 minutes drive from Vodno, our drop off location to access Lake Matka was a good mile away and whilst I didn’t necessarily need my walking aid I wasn’t gutted that I brought it with me! The route was flat albeit with an incline to rise to the top of the dam. I don’t see many dams and concluded that I find them rather impressive. Hoover Dam will be ticked off at some point I’m sure, fingers crossed.

As the lake opened up there was an opportunity to take a boat ride to some caves, or stay in the restaurant. Pete opted for coffee and cake whilst I headed out on to the water with most of the other tourists in our minibuses. It would have been great if the weather was a bit nicer but nevertheless the 20 minute ride was quite relaxing, in preparation for undoubtedly some going up and down at the cave.

Once we departed the boat we had to wait for the driver to power up a generator that would light our path in to the cave. There were some 100 steps to the cave entrance, 100 down in to the cave and vice-versa on the way back. The cave was quite cool but something that could be missed if you can’t be bothered with the steps or confined spaces. Whilst a very low budget experience this positional lighting made a difference. 9 Euro was about right.

A relaxing cruise back to the restaurant later and the mile-long trek back to the buses (which felt like three know the fun concluded).

Image ^ Waste of an orange on my Baklava!

Once back in Skopje, my preference was to revisit the restaurant we had lunch at yesterday. I had exactly the same meal, with the addition of some baklava to finish. Two massive plates of food, sharing salad, side of garlic bread, two desserts, one beer, two cokes and a shot of vodka for forty quid. Diolch yn fawr Bois.

Image ^ Glad to be fluent in Macedonian at this point

Day Four – Kosovo Day Trip

27th March 2025 was the day that I reached my 50 country milestone. It was really annoying that I assumed I was on 49 until the journey home to Wales, thinking that my upcoming trip to Kazakhstan or a neighbouring country would take the acclaim. I forgot the wonderful country of Slovenia off my list, even more annoying as it does have its own blog post!

To book our day trip, we used the same company Skopje Daily Tours as we did from yesterday’s trip, albeit by contacting them directly to save a few quid. We perhaps could have squeezed them a bit more as they wouldn’t have to give Viator a sizeable cut, but we were content paying £90 each for the bonus of a tour guide and a comfortable people-carrier, enjoying the day with two other Welsh fans and without my bloody walking stick!

There are several daily public buses/coaches that make the journey to Pristina and I priced these up at £20 each return. If I were travelling alone I would have chosen this option, but the organised trip was significantly less hassle. As a corollary, the tour guide and second stop at Prizren were additions I would have otherwise have missed.

Image ^ Border control between Kosovo and North Macedonia.

Meeting in central Skopje for an early 9am start, we were told the border crossing can get busy at times but thankfully the queue for cars was flowing and it took no more than ten minutes, noticing the queue for 50+ lorries were very close to blocking access to the roundabouts leading up.

Image ^ Kosovo national football stadium

It would have been a wasted opportunity not to get close to the national stadium, should I not come here to watch Wales in the future, so I was delighted when we parked up in the vicinity of the stadium. The tour guide was certainly perplexed over our interest in the paltry 14,000 capacity Fadil Vokrri Stadium.

Next up was, what I believe to be, the number 1 tourist attraction in Kosovo, the Newborn monument. Although it is by far the greatest spectacle, its meaning bears much more weight, being unveiled on 17 February 2008, the day that Kosovo formally declared its independence from Serbia. To give it a bit of jazz the artwork is changed every year on the anniversary. As of 2025 Kosovo is the second newest country in the world (after South Sudan, 2011).

Just a few meters up the road from the Newborn monument was a statue of Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State for the second term of Clinton’s presidency 1997-2001. She advocated for NATO intervention to protect Kosovo Albanians from the violence perpetrated by Serbian forces under Slobodan Milošević. It’s safe to say without this intervention, the country may not exist today, with over 90% of the population ethnic Albanians.

Next we made a visit to the Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa. It was only a couple of Euro to visit the left bell tower.

Image ^ Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa

The next two photos I think show a good contrast of pre and post independence. A cluster of high-rise buildings populate one area of the City with more continuously being constructed, with plentiful American investment. The other picture shows the old town, which is where we’d be heading shortly.

That very strange building to the right of the photo is actually the National Library and not something from a Crystal Maze zone. We did pop in there but unfortunately it didn’t look anywhere near as interesting on the inside. Just past the library is a church that was never finished. It doesn’t look far off I’m surprised it’s just left there, although it was meant to be a Serbian Orthodox Church… so in that case I’m surprised it’s still there at all!

Image ^ National Library in front of the Old Town part of Pristina

Walking to our next stop we passed several mosques, many of which make up the oldest buildings in the City. I did find it bizarre why you would have three places of worship within 150 metres of each other, but then within a half-mile radius of my workplace back home there must be at least a dozen Churches.

Writing this part now four moths after the visit, I had to do some digging to find out where we went to next. Thankfully I’m quite good at using maps to retrace my steps and can tell you that we visited the small Ethnological Museum. In the museum, tools and items related to lifestyle from the Ottoman Kosovo period are on display. It was very St. Fagan’s like and although the ten minute tour was interesting, it was not something I would make a detour for.

By the time we walked back to the car, through the main street of bustling shops and cafe’s (desperate for a wee, thanks Burger King) it was time to head out of the city. Another peculiar top-tourist spot in the city was a stature of the aforementioned Bill Clinton, that I just managed to snap whilst passing in the car.

It was a 90-minute drive away to Prizren. This is the second largest City in Kosovo but seemed significantly small when parking up in the old town. The four of us enjoyed a banquet lunch that consisted of a huge meat platter that we couldn’t finish. I recall being quite agitated in the restaurant, the name of which I won’t bother mentioning. I had a nap in the car on the way here, thus groggy, was rushing to make the most of the Wifi and message my wife, both of which were exacerbated by the waiter taking the piss because I didn’t want a beer with my lunch. I know turning down a beer is not my usual mantra but this geezer really wound me up!

Resting bitch face been and gone, we walked along the river and a few buildings and monuments important to the history, but truth be told there weren’t a great deal to do. You can see a Citadel at the top of the hill but that wasn’t part of the day. The amount of plastic running down the river certainly took away from the picturesque nature of the area and the weather was now miserable as we made it to a café just in time before the heavens opened.

Image ^ Skopje’s Millenium Cross seen from the Kosovo border.

The drive home was without incident and the tour guide was nice enough to drop us off at the hotel. For our final dinner of the trip, at a place within walking distance from our hotel, I thought I would be a smartarse and order some fish for a change. As someone who prefers their fish boneless, battered or in a tin, it ticked none of the boxes and I’d still be picking the skeleton out now if I didn’t give up half way through. The salad and chips were nice though, as was the live music. For me though, I was ready to go home after a very pleasant few days.

Day Five – Skopje to Home

This will be quick. Our flight was at 9am so we were out of the hotel by 6:30am. Two hours to Zurich. Hour transfer. 90 minutes to Heathrow. Zurich airport was a bit shit efficiency wise (thought they are supposed to be good at that stuff??) but no qualms.

Flixbus home. Pint in the local. The end.

Thanks for reading!
ANOTHER trip to Brussels awaits in June…

Football: Albania, November 2018

11th Jan 201921st Jul 2019 ~ HowNot2Life

Albania… why are you going there? You would think my nearest and dearest would have caught on by now.

An early finish on Friday lunchtime allowed a few drinks in my Newport local before fellow County pal Donna gave me a lift to Cardiff for Wales’ home game with Denmark, with a win seeing us through to the Nations League playoffs. Unfortunately this didn’t materialise and the Danes provided an experienced display in a 2-1 win.

A lot has happened since that home game but I do remember being bitterly disappointed at our ability to create chances, at least until someone pointed out to me we had EIGHTEEN attempts on goal. Afterwards I may have had an extra cider or two than I anticipated to compensate, the up side being that before I knew it my friend Peter and I were at Gatwick airport, boarding the Saturday afternoon, 2h40m British Airways flight to Tirana. Good value for £150 return.

By the time we had arrived in Albania’s only international airport, night time had already set in. Perfect timing to pick up our hire car knowing that the roads and the local drivers may turn our 60 minute journey into somewhat of an assault course!

The main road between Tirana and Elbasan will soon be easy-peasy. As it is now however, there’s a 6km stretch of the motorway yet to be completed that forces you to meander along the mountainside. Anyone catching one of the 20+ coaches on match day would be in for a real treat!! Arriving shortly before 11pm we checked in to our hotel, a four-star five minutes from the ground. I’m reliably informed that our accommodation was Elbasan’s first luxury hotel. Perhaps not what we would expect back home but perfectly adequate and £20pppn. As we’ve had to visit outside of peak season there was no chance of popping in to the attached pizzeria, and the outside swimming pool wasn’t even considered during our stay.

Sunday

After a very basic breakfast we made our way in to the centre. We were surprised how quickly we reached the arena and had a walk around to the grandstand that’s was four to ten times smaller than many other international stadiums I have had the pleasure to visit. A little over ten minutes walk further to the centre we found ourselves at Elbasan castle and clock tower. These were a little underwhelming considering they often top the “things to do” lists I looked at beforehand. Inside the castle walls instead of a bustling market space I had expected it’s filled with a handful of places of worship, run down (derelict?) restaurants and small living spaces. We later found out that the two remaining towers make home to a nice cafe and garden, the other being a 5-star hotel. Chalk and cheese.

Walking back to the hotel along the main boulevard linking the castle to the ground we noticed several bars that would soon be rapidly running out of beer later in the week. I did have concerns about the suitability of boozers but they did indeed create a vibrant pre-match atmosphere during the game on Tuesday.

OK. Elbasan ticked off the list and it wasn’t even lunch time… back to the drawing board. With my travel buddy Pete and his forward-thinking-won’t-cost-you-a-kidney mobile data usage he – somehow – found a small church 25 minutes drive away. This time I was my turn to get behind the wheel, good practice for my New Year travels to Jordan, as the small, decaying Church of St. Nicholas resided remotely up a mountain, inaccessible by your average vehicle, let alone the invasions of Ottoman Turks and atheist communists who wouldn’t have found it as fascinating as we did, thus why it’s still standing today.

Regular readers will be aware that Churches and Museums rarely get my blood pumping, however this was a brilliant find. After a few minutes wallowing outside, an elderly resident at a neighbouring farmhouse came to meet us. The chap spoke absolutely zero English but within five minutes he had shouted his mate to (I can only assume) lob him the keys and let us take a look inside. We were greeted with paintings (frescoes) designed by famous Orthodox painter called Onufri. I was glad to have Pete explain the paintings to me that told the story of the New Testament. The cracks in the 500 year old walls only adding to the unique interior. I was really pleased Pete seemed chuffed about the visit as we took off the handbrake and rolled back down the mountain to the hotel.

Trying to avoid the blog being referenced on an upcoming episode of Songs of Praise, the day was a great start to the trip, so we shouldn’t have been too surprised to get back to the hotel only to be told we would have to leave the hotel to accommodate the Albanian football team. The cheek! Once the surprise and concerns were discussed we were happy to be transferred to the aforementioned 5 star hotel in the castle walls, only then to be told 30 minutes later that we were able to stay! As means of an apology the hotel staff offered us a free lunch, three courses with a tremendous portion of steak and chips.

The remainder of our first day consisted of a few hours siesta (it was a Sunday…) and a walk back in to the centre for a taste of the local beer. With a day in Tirana tomorrow we only had a sensible amount and planned our day in the capital. That, I’m going to bore you with now…

Monday

Pancakes and strawberry jam consumed at breakfast and unexpected sunshine, when I would usually be on the way to work. What a time to be alive.

The commute to Tirana didn’t seem half as bad in daylight and after only an hour although we were negotiating the Tirana side streets about as well as Theresa May has done with Brexit. My first thought of Tirana was that it was a cross of what I would expect a middle-eastern city to look like and an installment of the Assassins Creed video game. With a big sigh of relief we made it to our first port of call, the Dajti Express cable car system up to Mount Dajt. For only 6 quid each we were treated to a fifteen minute incline up some 1,040 metres above see level. As a forced cable-car enthusiast, following similar journeys in Beijing, Hong Kong and Tbilisi over the past 18 months, this was probably the longest, and made the vast amount of multi-storey buildings simply equate to a pixel or two on my substandard mobile phone camera. Even an Instagram filter won’t help the cause – I tried.

Before we made the trip back we bumped in to a family of Wrexham fans and discussed our upcoming second round FA Cup tie. That should be a great encounter but I was honest in saying I will Luis Suarez their hand off for a replay. The amount of Wrexham fans I’ve bumped in to must now be in the hundreds and I’ve always been welcomed in to conversation. Splendid. (Note: we were lucky to draw 0-0 and won 4-0 at the home replay, THEN went on to beat Primer League Leicester in the next round!)

A marginally better trip a few kilometers in to Tirana central, we parked the car (didn’t look AT ALL dodgy mind) and strolled to the most bazaar point of interest I’ve ever witnessed. The Pyramida, that often tops Tirana’s top attraction lists, is located on the main boulevard between the main piazza and Mother Theresa Square. This concrete and glass monstrosity was originally built to honor some communist geezer but when shit hit the fan in 1991 it was turned in to a convention centre, once being used as a base for NATO during the Balkans war. Since then they can’t decide whether it’s best to do something useful with it or demolish it. Whilst I had every intention of climbing up to the top after 10 feet I thought better of it, although was a bit envious to see a half dozen Welshmen complete the climb. Instead we bumped in to yet more people from North Wales, and this gang actually remembered me from a previous trip.

As luck would have it, the group we met were the same wonderful heroes who looked after me in Georgia after way too many beers. I remembered both going for wine in Tbilisi and falling up the escalator on the way to the ground, but less so my drunken conversations and them repeatedly making sure I didn’t get lost – I was very thankful!

Feeling rather sheepish after that we walked to the main square which was adorned in Christmas decorations, fairground rides and German-style market stalls mostly offering beer. It was a perfect time for lunch and the £3/400LEK spicy sausage and chips with a local beer consumed was a delight.

To complete our day in the capital city of Albania we marched to the park to see a collection of war graves before it became too dark. After a good half hour walk we arrived at the small gated area that had 40 or so gravestones remembering those who lost their life on Albanian soil during World War 2. I think there were only three people aged over 30. It certainly made me feel grateful I was here ‘on holiday’.

Leaving the park we were a lot closer to the car than we anticipated and it was only a short, but interesting wander around Mother Theresa square that separated us from the journey home as the sun set. That night we really did run out of things to do in Elbasan so eventually found an Italian restaurant willing to feed us some Ragu and Steak before stopping in one of the many bars offering a glass of wine (or 4), completely unaware that tomorrow would see every one of their tables full, staff unable to keep up with demand and a songs about players they probably haven’t heard of.

Tuesday

Matchday was upon us and again we were given the odious task of trying to find something to do around town before striking beer o clock. A sophisticated coffee at the cafe inside the castle walls was unsuccessful as they were preparing for a private function, one that probably involved a lot of beer and red shirts. So instead we started chatting to a group from Newcastle Emlyn as we headed back to the row of pubs we ended up last night, the “Coffee House” our pub of choice… and here I stayed from 11am to 30 minutes before kickoff! Good work Christopher!

Although I do have solid experience of staying in pubs for 9 hours, it certainly helped when after lunch the majority of the Welsh contingent arrived on buses from Tirana, including my life-long friend and County fan Donna arrived as Peter went back to the hotel for a siesta. It didn’t take too long at this point for the pub to start bursting in to song, aided immeasurably by a cocktail of… cocktails, and wine once I got fed up of the beer. By the time Peter returned we were hassled to start walking to the ground and we arrived minutes before the anthem sounded.

The game itself was really shit for want of a better word. It will go down in history as the game where Chris Gunter became Wales’ most capped player but little else has lasted long in the memory… perhaps two penalties we should have had, whilst the embarrassing Albanian match winning penalty was rather dubious even from the other side of the pitch, plus athletic track.

We said our goodbyes to Donna and miserably sat down to scoff a pizza before returning to the hotel, even meeting Tom Lockyer’s dad and brother did little to raise my mood. Thankfully as far as the trip went the best was yet to come!

Wednesday

The hotel breakfast room was a bit livelier today, populated with at least a few Swansea supporters, as we checked out. Today we would be heading to Berat, which as the crow flies didn’t seem to far away but considering the road system in Albania took a longer than anticipated two hours.

Certainly the number one thing to see in Berat is the castle that sits at the top of the cliff overlooking the houses built during the Ottoman Empire, and that was number one on our list once we settled in to our accommodation for the evening high up a hill outside of the city.

Worries about the road standards reaching Berat Castle lived up to expectations… more holes than a sponge… and after a wrong turn even had the opportunity to stage the first ever Albanian leg of the World Rally Championship! For added hassle we parked a wet, 10 minute walk outside the castle entrance when we could have parked right outside. Thankfully once we were inside it was worth the effort.

The 13th century citadel overlooks the entire city and River Osum and in it’s heyday contained up to twenty churches, most of which has now fallen foul to nature. We were rewarded with tremendous views over the City and scaling the ruins was interesting. Unlike any other castle I have visited (apart from Elbasan funnily enough) there we people who lived in the castle walls, and a wrong turn could well find you tripping over a chicken in a front garden! In one of the photos you can just about make out the remnants of a rainbow. Cute.

After our easier, yet still bumpy descent from the castle to the centre we parked up in the main square. It was pleasant to see in front of us a church and a mosque side by side as we walked along the main promenade before lunch in a decent restaurant mixing Italian and Albanian cuisine, the family business consisted of the son front of house whilst Mum was cooking the food… that reminds me I haven’t left that review I promised them… #hownot2keepreviewpromises…

Sun already setting, we returned to the hotel, had a plethora of dishes for tea and planned our itinerary for tomorrow.

Thursday

A great night sleep meant we hit the road to our final stopover in Sarande in good spirits. Sarande lies on the south-west coast a few miles from the island of Corfu, and is Albania’s most popular seaside tourist destination. We booked our room for the night in a hotel and spa that wouldn’t look out of place along the Costa Blanca and with that came the possibility of going in the sea which was something I was keen to do. In November. Unlikely?

First up though we had to get there, which was straight forward up until the point where we left the main motorway and climbed a mountain that seemed to never end. In fact it was some 300m incline.

An additional stop to the trip was an area that was called the blue eye, just a short 5 minute drive from the main road we traveled on. As we approached the area, that I’m sure was regarded as Albania’s most beautiful place, I became apprehensive as the nearby farm and stream did little to raise the pulses. However, I was pleasantly surprised when a path opened up to the area we were looking for. The Blue Eye is natural spring that pumps up so much water it creates a fast flowing stream running for miles. It is thought that the spring is at least 50 metres deep, but due to the pressure it has so far been impossible to measure how deep the hole actually is. If that was impressive the colour was on par. The blue and greens that emerge from the area that can be no wider than two metres in diameter was something difficult to catch ‘on film’.

The mostly flat, but still bumpy commute from here to Sarande was a lot less adventurous and we arrived at our 4* resort mid-afternoon. What I’m sure would be a packed out (and a LOT more expensive than 48 quid) hotel in the summer was somewhat of a ghost town. One of my defining memories of the trip was when I asked the receptionist if it was OK to go in the sea. The look of “are you having a laugh you daft twat” was impossible to hide as I walked jollily out back towards the grit and the waters edge. It was cold, and a little lonely before Peter came (mildly unimpressed to be seen with me) and took some photos while I was the polar opposite of The Little Mermaid. When is the next time I can say I’ve swam in the Albanian riviera a month before Christmas, or whenever for that matter.

A quick dry off and change and we set off to grab some dinner which would be our last proper meal before home. This was somewhat challenging considering 95% of the shops were shut because it was off-season but we finally managed somewhere on the pier that provided some really nice food watching the sun set, a tad disappointed that I had ordered pizza and chips.

Friday

The morning didn’t get off to the best of starts when we were told breakfast was in room with no tables, people or lights. We were a little pushed for time so saw the positive side, in that we could get going, making our five hour trip back up north, up-and-over the mountain towards the airport on the outskirts of Tirana.

And thank goodness we did! It was all going to plan when we stopped for breakfast (chicken and chips don’t judge) at a services but it we were only about a third of the journey through before we were escorted off the beaten track due to road works. As I have already mentioned, off the beaten track in Albania doesn’t mean a little detour. It would be easier riding a unicycle on the surface of Mars than some of the roads we had to endure for the middle third of our trip. I’m sure at one point I looked in a pothole so deep I seen a sign selling magma. Writing this some two months later it doesn’t seem like a big deal but there were points where us missing our flight was a genuine possibility.

Long story short. We made it to the airport and dropped the car off with enough time to spare to fulfil my allocation of cheap tobacco and an overpriced sarnie.

Thanks for reading, Chris x
#hownot2life

Football: Denmark, September 2018

11th Jan 201910th Aug 2023 ~ HowNot2Life

A 7am drive to Gatwick on Saturday resulted in our flight landing in Copenhagen at 2pm and we checked in to our hotel, which was rather posh. Whereas I’m happy sleeping in bunkbeds at the cheapest hostel in a 20 miles radius, Pete prefers a 4* establishment… so we compromised and stayed in a 4* establishment. The lengths you have to go to get good WiFi and more than one pillow.

Once we sorted ourselves out, dumped our bags and checked the County score we headed out. A walk through the park in Christiania, then past Tivoli amusement park led us to the meat packing district (keep the jokes to yourselves), where many old warehouse units now housed cool, alternative dining. Our recommendation to visit Warpigs off a friend didn’t let us down as we enjoyed parts of a pig I didn’t know existed along with a crisp pint of IPA to wash it down.

When travelling with Mikayla I tend to have a strict itinerary, however this time around my tourism plans for the weekend were held in a single text message I compiled a few weeks prior. The plan for the evening was to walk to Nyhavn but this was the other side of the City and I had friends having a pint nearby both a) promising me a cheap-beyond-belief pint for £2.30 and b) desperate to enjoy my terrible banter and shit jokes. That place was the Old Irish Pub just a two minute walk from the main train station and central square.

What began as an innocent pint soon turned in to an all-night bender, especially once Pete decided to head back after half an hour. The establishment was already full with my countrymen chanting, singing alone with the acoustic guitarist on stage and even ‘borrowing’ his microphone on the odd occasion. Many of us around the table just had just been following Newport win 1-0 away at Oldham making us joint-top of the league, leading us to bellow out numerous tunes the carousel of musicians entertained us with.

I must admit I did have concerns early on if everyone would be able to behave themselves for the duration of the night but fair play, even once the pub filled up with more locals than the Red Wall, everyone behaved impeccably – unless the last 5 or so that were still there when I left at 3am kicked off, but I doubt.

To say I woke up feeling fresh the next day would be… absolute bollocks.
Remembering the great night experienced and that I had a football game to go to, by the time we made the mile walk to our Wonky Sheep coach I was fully conscious, hydrated and washed. Only when we sat on the coach did it hit me how far we would be travelling. Four hours on a coach is a rare occasion for me nowadays as I seldom go and watch the County away anywhere over three.

The trip was made pleasant by some cracking pieces of bridge architecture, me sleeping for large spells and our driver’s dry sense of humour getting the odd laugh from his passengers. We arrived in Aarhus at lunchtime and had a walk through the town.

Aarhus seemed nice. Quiet, with a picturesque river alongside countless café bars, albeit making you pay for the experience. The four bottles of Somersby cider at a cost of £22 didn’t fit my frugal agenda and if you’d seen my reaction to the bank balance after the trip you would understand. We sacrificed the option to get a lift to the ground, instead joining the red stream of Welsh and Danish supporters congregating with excitement to Ceres Park.

The decision to move the game from Copenhagen to Aarhus would have upset a lot of Welsh supporters and the associated costs didn’t help matters, but I got the feeling the locals appreciated the opportunity. The ground was basic but adequate and with the reception the Danish players received, you couldn’t imagine they embarrassingly ditched their country over a few extra quid during the week leading up to the evening.

Our anthem was ‘on point’ as one would expect. Win lose or draw it’s always up there with the highlight of the game/day/trip. Wales started the match well, Giggs changed the team more than I had hoped with Gunter starting and Brooks on the bench, but until a mistake led to the Eriksen goal I thought we were the better team, albeit creating little in front of goal. By the time Denmark were awarded their second, a harsh-not-dodgy penalty decision, we seemed to have ran out of ideas without an obvious plan B. The potential witnessed on Thursday wasn’t all there, and as many media outlets labelled it, we came back down to earth. Credit to Denmark though, I personally underestimated their quality and if it wasn’t for three brilliant saves from Hennessey it could have been more. It was a long trip back to Copenhagen.

After a much better sleep than the night before (I had a lie in whilst Pete treated himself to the hotel breakfast buffet) it was time to tackle some of the sights that I sacrificed on Saturday in lieu of the pub. I still had just a list of places, but Pete during his give or take 8-course brekkie had discovered the best way to get to the famous Little Mermaid statue was via the public boats.

This allowed us to see the national opera house and army barracks before we reached “Kastellet”, a 17th century citadel along the river. I was forewarned that the Mermaid itself is rather underwhelming, and I tend to agree. The statue is only around a metre in height and doesn’t benefit from any particularly beautiful backdrop. The area itself was nice to have a walk around and more importantly than life itself, it was another superficial tick on my superficial list.

We were making good time so we decided to walk south to Nyhavn, a small harbour area adorned with colourful buildings and countless café bars and restaurants. On the way here we came to Amalienborg square, the home of the Royal family and Frederik’s Church nearby which was a very grand building.

I’m never going to be the ultimate tourist, but feeling the need to force myself in to Churches and boring museums would be enough for me to want to stay home. Get over it. On this occasion however, the church did take my interest and once inside you could see the grandiose artwork inside of the huge dome overlooking the peaceful atmosphere of worshipers and tourists trying (failing) to be silent.

On to Nyhavn, I think the picture speaks more than words here. I’m quite proud of this picture, not often do I take one I’m pleased with without having to add several newly-found Instagram filters. We passed on the opportunity to grab some lunch, I had very little money left and had a gutsful of considering buying a club sandwich and fries for £18 everywhere we went. Instead we sat down for a drink in a place called McJoy’s… the implied “joy” soon slipped away once I had agreed to a £6 pint of draught sparking water, SIX POUNDS! Without wanting to go ragingly off topic, at home £6 worth of fizzy bloody water would get me 30 LITRES from the supermarket; it’s usually free in pubs! It was a really nice lemon slice though and I was promised the ice was produced using unicorn tears… sigh.

#Watergate over with, we on got chatting to a chap who was spending the day in Copenhagen during his cruise with his wife (who he’d managed to shake off – good work). Once he had introduced himself by boasting about the fact he only paid 20KR for his cup of coffee, we had an interesting conversation around his time serving in Vietnam, all the places we have visited and his current tour along the coast of Europe. It felt like between the two of them there weren’t many stones left unturned… but have they been to Mansfield away on a Tuesday night? As interesting as our brief time chatting away in the sunshine was, once the bloke declined Pete’s offer for a photograph (he don’t believe in those things (mobile phones)) we paid the bill – one kidney lighter – and continued back into the centre wary that in a few hours we would be making our way to the airport.

I had devoured a hot-dog that just about fell in line with the Chris’-suitable-prices-to-pay-for-things, so we made a move through the fashion district (boy did we feel out of place) that concluded at our final destination of The Round Tower, or Rundetaarn, that would give us views across the city. As my calves are still recovering from the step climbing in Prague it was a delight to walk up the tower using a spiral ramp – an “equestrian staircase” rather steps. The tower wasn’t huge – Denmark is a very flat country, and the highest natural point in Denmark we actually passed on the way to Aarhus, and that was only 170m above sea-level – so it didn’t take long to reach the summit and enjoy the best views the city had to offer. On the way down we overheard someone say that it is the world oldest observatory tower too, so we’ll take their word for that.

Following a quick rest for a drink in one of the many bustling courtyards, we caught the metro back to the hotel to begin the journey home. During this point was when I logged in to online banking…

Ohhh…. Shit.

Here’s hoping my current eBay sale brings in a few quid before the next game in Dublin on the 16th October! I may even have to drink less.

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