Огномет и големи статуи во Скопје (Fireworks and big statues in Skopje
Since meeting Jennifer Aniston look-alike, the Canadian tourist, Jody, on my trip to Transylvania in 2018, I've had an important structure added to my bucket list aspirations - to go to as many countries as your age, or more. That last World Cup trip to "Russia" in 2018 (actually it was to ten former Soviet Republics) I added several more countries to my list, reaching 62 in my 60th year, and so climbing two above my target. But after that my 2019 trip to Portugal and Spain didn't add any further ones and then there was COVID. So, after a third of a decade of no international travel I fell behind. Still stuck on 62 in my 63rd year. Time to do something about it.
 |
| Fireworks in Skopje by Vadar |
I had visited Yugoslavia but after the break up of that Serbian dominated block, a whole new set of FYRs emerged. I visited Croatia in 2018 and I still count my visit to Belgrade as Serbia, but it was time to add another.
North Macedonia (as it is awkwardly called) borders the Greek region, also called Macedonia and so its capital, Skopje was an obvious destination, especially as I was now going there from Thessaloniki.
It used to be called the Republic of Macedonia but as Greece has a region in its north, also called Macedonia, it objected to the use of the name by as it saw it as an implied claim to its own historical and cultural heritage and argued it could create confusion over the identity and history of the ancient kingdom of Macedon, which was located in the northern part of Greece.
After years of negotiations and talks, a compromise was reached in 2018. The Republic of Macedonia agreed to change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, and Greece, in turn, lifted its objections to the country's bid to join NATO and the European Union. The agreement was approved by both countries' parliaments and also received support from the international community.
Diplomacy, eh?
So Skopje, strangely, was my obvious next destination.
Previously: Thessaloniki, Greece.
From Macedonia to Macedonia:
Fireworks in Skopje (Wednesday,23rd November)
The bus journey turned out to be surprisingly cheap, comfortable and quick. No hassles at all at the border and the dual carriageway stretched pretty much from city to city.
It was a very pleasant journey indeed...
 |
| First View of Skopje |
 |
| North Macedonia |
Having arrived in my next destination, the first thought was - "where's an Irish pub to watch the match? There's bound to be one." It turned out there was one that was just a fifteen minute walk from the bus station. Saint Patrick's (they're not very imaginative with their names, are they?) would be my first port of call.
 |
| The River Vardar dominates an impressive, if small, city center. |
Game #9: Morocco 0 Croatia 0 (1pm)
I arrived a bit late but it turns out I wasn't missing much - the third 0-0 draw of the tournament.
I was just in time to watch Perisic hit the ball just over the bar and pile on a late burst of pressure. There were few chances in the second half and it ended goalless.
 |
| When in Skopje, drink Skolsko |
Games 9, Goals 22, Goals/Game 2.44.
Right. That was a decent start to my time in Macedonia as the "worry" of missing out on a match had been abated.
Now, it was time to find my accommodation, "The Best Western" which was right in the centre of town, about 15 minutes walk away.
Here, there was one of several Booking.com "cock up"s. Apparently, I'd double booked. So I had to cancel one of them using the hotel's WiFi before checking in. Thankfully the receptionist was kind enough not to charge me for the cancellation, which I guess, technically, he could have done.
Anyway, the room was nice and big and had a good shower and bathroom, as well as a lovely view of an orthodox church that was just opposite.
 |
| The view from my bedroom |
Having unpacked, it was time for the next mini adventure - to find a different pub to watch the next match in.
 |
| Skopje has several very impressive monuments, including this "Macedonia Gate" |
Google Maps to the rescue again, and I was directed to a brew pub just around the corner imaginatively called "Center Bar", presumably because it was a bar in the town center. It was a pleasant enough place and the bar staff were very happy to put the football on for me.
 |
| Best Western, round the corner to Center Bar. |
 |
| The Brewery above the bar was more impressive than the beer |
Game #10: Germany 1 Japan 2 (4pm)
Credit to the German players for making a bold demonstration against FIFA's banning of "Gay Pride" and other demonstrations.
 |
| German players protesting about not being allowed to protest |
I must admit that I didn't really like the beer, however, and sitting on my own wasn't really the kind of atmosphere I was hoping for.
After about half an hour the Japanese goalkeeper, Gonda, decided to play kamikaze and not only trip wing back, Raum, but then make sure and basically jump on top of him. I haven't seen a more blatant penalty and, of course, inevitably, Germany scored through Gundogan.
 |
| Kill!! |
Another boring German win?
So, at half time I had two reasons to find a change of scenery and I headed back to St Patrick's to watch the second half, with a bit of sight seeing thrown in.
 |
| "Warrior on a Horse" - we know who you mean! |
 |
| The monument to Alexander the Great is really impressive |
 |
| Stone Bridge over the Vardar |
 |
| The Archeological Museum - Next time! |
Germany started well and almost scored a second when they hit the post on the hour. Then Gonda made amends for his penalty goof up by making a great save to keep his team in the match.
Moriyasu, the Japan coach, made one change at the break, and followed with four more quite soon afterwards. This seemed to lift the team and Japan started showing some belief in themselves, forcing a good save from Neuer.
What a transformation!
With just fifteen minutes to go, one of the subs, Ritsu Doan equalised and then, eight minutes later, Takuma Asano beat Neuer at the near post with a bullet into the roof of the net to send the Japanese team, fans and, let's face it, pretty much all the world outside of Germany, into ecstacy.
 |
| Takuma Asano stuns the world |
So, wow! Two big shocks already. This was already turning into a great World Cup.
Games 10, Goals 25, Goals/Game 2.50.
Another touristy ritual I have to do in each visited city is try out the local cuisine, hopefully in a place of character. Again, with Google to the rescue I was recommended to visit a place called "Old House" (Ресторан „Стара куќа“) which was just the other side of the river from St Patrick's pub.
It had a bit of an "oligarchs welcome" feel to it, but the food was nice and I was soon out of there as it wasn't really a suitable place to watch the next match, Spain v Costa Rica.
 |
| Old Ship restaurant on the river Vardar. |
 |
Ресторан „Стара куќа“ |
 |
| Macedonian Hot Pot |
From the restaurant, I walked the short distance into the narrow cobbled streets of the Old Town, looking for a bar to watch the game.
I took a wrong turn and ended up in a cafe instead. It was pleasant enough and being "Sensible Victor" these days, and not wanting to get drunk, I thought I'd watch the first half there with a coffee or two.
Game #11: Spain 7 Costa Rica 0 (7pm)
In goal for Costa Rica was a man who I'd soon worship as a Forest player... Keylor Navas. Funny how events twist, although, of course I had no idea at the time.
It took less than eleven minutes for Spain to take the lead. Navas came to close Dani Olmo down well, but it was shot a point bank range past his arm into the net. Ten minutes later it was 2-0 and perhaps Keylor could have done better with this one. He got down well to his left but only managed to palm it into the net. And, metronomically, it was 3-0 on half an hour. A simple penalty where Navas was sent the wrong way.
Refreshed, and now ready for a beer, I headed around the corner and upstairs to a nice little "Craft Beer" bar where I watched the second half with a bunch of young dudes.
Eight minutes into the second 45 and it was 4-0. Ferran Torres seemed to dribble his way past the whole defence, including our man in goal. On 74 minutes it was 5-0. This was the pick of the goals. Gavi volleyed in a cross from the left that went straight in off the post. Navas, no chance. Carlos Soler made it 6-0 on 89 minutes clinically burying the ball as it came out from Navas' low palmed clearance. And, in the 2nd minute of extra time, Spain added further salt to injury in injury time. Alvaro Morato with a powerful strike right in the corner. Poor old Navas must have wondered what had hit him.
 |
| Navas beaten seven times. |
Games 11, Goals 32, Goals/Game 2.91.
As I left the bar, I was thinking what an incredibly full day it had already been, but there was still one more match to go. I decided to watch it back in the town center near my hotel so I could head off straight to bed afterwards.
As I walked over the old stone bridge, I started to become away of a lot of crowd noise coming from my right. There was the sound of explosions and someone shouting with a loudspeaker.
Curious, I had to investigate.
I turned right on the right bank of the river and headed towards the noise. Soon, I realised that it was coming from the stadium, clearly marked on my Google Maps friend and I could see the floodlights were on.
My first thought was that this was some kind of political rally. The loudspeaker guy was clearly whipping up the crowd into a frenzy. As I got closer to the stadium there were more and more others approaching too.
On the way, there were yet more impressive Skopian sights..
 |
| Outside the stadium. What was going on? |
Eventually, it dawned on me. Of course! It was a football match. The guy with the loudspeaker must be the "ultra" fan leader, whipping up the "boys" to ever greater fanaticisim.
 |
| The Impressive Macedonia National Stadium: "Todor Proeski." |
Apparently, it was just a friendly between the local second division team Vardar Skopje, who were celebrating some kind of anniversary, and the relatively famous Zelneznicar Sarajevo.
The club was founded in 1947 and has a long history of local success, having won numerous domestic league titles and cups. Their passionate fan base is known as the Komiti. It was they who making all the noise of course.
For a crowd of, what?, 6,000, they made an incredible noise and generated an amazing atmosphere - literally as well as metaphorically. The firecrackers gave off so much smoke that at one point i thought the game would have to be abandoned.
 |
| Loudspeaker guy |
But hold on. Didn't I have another World Cup match to watch, and not this friendly?
Oops. So, having ticked off another ground I left at half time (along with hundreds of others, bizarrely) and headed back to the town center.
I found a bar around the corner from my hotel and sat down with a nice beer and a big bowl of peanuts to watch the second half of Belgium's easy-peasy first match against Canada.
Game #12: Belgium 1 Canada 0 (10pm)
Not so easy.
Canada got off to an explosive start when they were awarded a penalty in the first ten minutes for handball. Unfortunately, it was a poor one and Courtois, the goalie saved.
On half an hour another Canada penalty claim was turned down but from the resulting rebound a ferocious shot was again well saved by Courtois.
All of that I missed but thanks to the internet and friends watching all over the world I was able to get the gist before the second half started. Surely, in the bag now for Belgium.
Belgium continued to disappoint in the second half and a Spain-like goal avalanche never materialised. Instead, Canada very nearly got the equaliser their play deserved at the end.
 |
| Café "Trend" for Belgium v Canada |
Games 12, Goals 33, Goals/Game 2.75
Then it was bed, after another one of those amazingly eventful travel days.
Sight Seeing in Skopje (Day Two, Thursday 24th November)
I think it was on this day that I found out I'd been the victim of a credit card fraud. Bizarrely, the guilty party was apparently someone in Australia, but the result was the usual: the knee-jerk cancellation of the card, leading to a frustrating few weeks waiting for a new card when I got back home. In the short term, it meant that I could no longer use my ING card, with their generous policy of not charging for any currency exchanges, and instead had to use my MasterCard where you have to "pay through the nose" for this.
Anyway, after a pretty decent hotel breakfast I had a couple of hours to explore the Old Town a little more before the football started again.
The old town is also known as the "Čaršija." It's famous for its Ottoman-era architecture, including the iconic Stone Bridge which I crossed every day I was there, and the Mustafa Pasha Mosque. The narrow cobblestoned streets are lined with traditional shops and restaurants.
It is comforting to see such a close integration between the local Muslim population here with the Christian majority.
 |
| Mosque in the Old Town in the foreground. Big Christian Cross overlooks Skopje in the background. |
 |
| The old bizarre |
 |
| There is a big Albanian presence here in Skopje |
 |
| I almost bought a T-shirt here |
 |
| Lesley didn't want me to buy her any jewelry's, otherwise I'd have been in there. |
 |
| Walking back to town over the Stone Bridge |
Game #13: Switzerland 1 Cameroon 0 (1pm)
Back in the town center, I had a good look at the very impressive Alexander the Great statue (Споменик „Воин на Коњ) which dominates Macedonia square. They love him here, and have adopted him as some kind of national hero. Technically, he wasn't born in Skopje, or the territory of modern day Macedonia, but in the Greek town of Pella, not far from Thessaloniki. I guess Macedonians might claim that this used to be all one great country but I suspect, if true, the language they spoke was Greek not Slavic.
It was too early for beer so I went into a café on the square and ordered a hot chocolate. It was the most delicious, thick hot choc ever.
The first match of the day was the Group G match between Switzerland and Cameroon.
We Forest fans have to start getting used to this. Players in our first team playing at the top level in the World Cup. Long embedded in the Switzerland midfield, was another of our summer signings, Remo Freuler, who had joined us from Italian club, Atalanta.
 |
| Remo Freuler, Nottingham Forest and Switzerland. |
Cameroon started the better team and could have been 2-0 up early on before Switzerland threatened properly. 0-0 at half time and time for another hot chocolate.
 |
| Hot chocolate, drinking chocolate |
I'd had a chat with the owner who was so appreciative of my complements of the first hot chocolate, that he served me another, the top of the range one, on the house. If the first one was good, this was orgasmic, one of those with biscuit's cream, ice cream etc.
In our chat, the owner seemed nostalgic for the "good old days" of Yugoslavia. "There's too much corruption now" he said. Call me a cynic, but I wondered straight away if he was a Serbian who longed for the days when corruption favoured those with friends in Belgrade.
 |
| In Skopje, for hot chocolate, try Café Trend. |
Two minutes into the second half, Switzerland crossed from the right and Embolo found himself unmarked in the middle of the penalty area and he had the simplest task to stick the ball in the net for the only goal of the game.
Games 13, Goals 34, Goals/Game 2.62.
 |
| The most wonderful hot chocolate ever at Café Trend |
 |
| Alexander the Great. Celebrated in Skopje, but born 230km away in Pella, Greece, not far from Thessaloniki. |
 |
| The Museum. If there'd been more time, I would have visited this for sure. |
Game #14: Uruguay 0 South Korea 0 (4pm)
After such a lovely choccy treat, I was ready for a beer for the next match, so headed back to St Patrick's. Under pressure from Mike, a friend on the other side of the world, I decided to yield, and have a Guinness for a change.
I have nothing against the beer itself. It's pleasant enough, although I'm not generally a fan of stout - I find it a bit heavy (fine on a cold winter's evening, but not really in the summer heat.) My problem is really with Guinness, the company. Even there, I am a little ambivalent. They were early adopters of good scientific practices and anyone who has ever done the statistical "student's t-test" should know that the person responsible for that useful little tool was a former employee of Guinness, William Sealy Gosset (1876-1937). Of course, he had to publish his test under a pseudonym (student) because the company would have sued him to high heaven for giving away company secrets.
And therein lies my problem with the company. They're a big bunch of bullies really. I remember reading a book about the family's history and it put me off them for life. Apparently there were over 200 breweries operating in Ireland in the early 1900s but due to "consolidation" in the industry (read: Guinness' success, and other, less palatable practices, driving others to ruin) by the early 1990s there were only a handful left. Guinness, of course, was by far the #1. The only two major competitors were Murphy's and Beamish, both from Cork.
I remember regularly going to Dublin in the early 1990s and once, having a pint in Temple Bar, the trendy area near the Liffey in the city center. I went into a pub called The Porterhouse where they had a range of award winning beers, many of them like Guinness and some, so the bar staff claimed, that were far better.
Tourist after tourist came to the bar while I was chatting to the barman.
"Pint of Guinness please."
"Sorry sir, we don't sell Guinness here. We are a brewery and produce many similar award-winning Stouts."
Was how the conversations repeatedly went, after which the tourist often would just walk out. Apparently, the was the only pub in Dublin where you could not buy a Guinness and the giant from just along the road were not happy about it. Apparently they'd taken The Porterhouse to court many times over this and must have done similar bullying to get rid of all the other competition they used to have.
The barman also told me tales of how Guinness tied houses - and there are many of them around the world - are very strict about their beer taps having pride of place in the bar and that kind of thing.
Unlike the beer itself, which I say, I have no problem with, this kind of thing left a bitter taste in my mouth, so since then I've been reluctant to buy the actual black stuff or buy into all the myths and legends about "where to get the best pint of Guinness" and all that malarky.
I understand that these days, thanks to the universal rise of craft breweries all over the world, and that Ireland's membership of the EU, put a brake on this kind of thing, the Guinness empire's grip on the Irish market has slipped significantly.
Anyway... "top o' d' mornin to ya!"
The Guinness was as nondescript as the football really.
I must admit, I never have any high hopes of a game involving the gritty perennial underdogs, Uruguay, but to be fair, they were unlucky not to beat South Korea
There were two woeful misses before Uruguay hit the post with a header before half time and the second half didn't produce much before Uruguay again hit the post with a rocket from outside the box.
To my mind, hitting the post is just bad luck and to do it twice is definitely unlucky.
Games 14, Goals 34, Goals/Game 2.43.
Macedonian Cuisine
I was hungry now and decided to try to find some authentic Macedonian cuisine. I went to a restaurant, near the Old Bazaar in the Old Town, called "Pivnica An" (An's pub in Serbian, I am reliably informed).
I had the stuffed grapevine leaves, which were tastier than they looked.
 |
| Sarma - as my son said, looks like something a dog might produce, but it tasted lovely. |
 |
| A glass of rakija - "got to" |
I had a bit of a chat with the owner of this restaurant too, which went in a similar direction and, I have to admit, led me to similar conclusions. The moment he started showing the slightest support for the Russian propaganda about Ukraine being Nazis, my suspicions rose. This is the most black & white, right versus wrong, conflict since the second world war in my opinion.
The Portugal v Ghana game was just beginning and as I'd finished my dinner, and was in the Old Town, I had plenty of for somewhere to go to to see the match.
I decided to go back to the café I'd visited yesterday and have a coffee.
Game #15: Portugal 3 Ghana 2 (7pm)
Looking back with the benefit of a lot of hindsight, this was another match that would feature a Forest player, although he wouldn't join us until the January transfer window, some seventy days later.
 |
| Andre Ayew, Ghana and Nottingham Forest |
This turned out be a classic match after a cagey start. It took over an hour, but Portugal eventually took the lead with a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo penalty.
It only lasted eight minutes before, future Forest signing, Ayew equalised.
But just five minutes after that, it was 2-1 when Joao Felix slotted in number two.
It seemed to be all over when Leao made it 3-1 two minutes later, but Ghana weren't going to roll over and Bukari pulled one back with a great header in the 89th minute.
 |
| Portugal v Ghana was a great match |
In the dying seconds, Portugal seemed to almost gift Ghana an equaliser when their goalkeeper, Costa got caught out kicking the ball out without noticing a Ghanaian striker lurking, but it wasn't to be.
Games 15, Goals 39, Goals/Game 2.60.
 |
| Walking back to Macedonia Square |
Game #16: Brazil 2 Serbia 0 (10pm)
For the final match of the evening I went to a big bar/restaurant near Macedonia square. Again, it had a strange "oligarch" atmosphere, with waiters that looked more like bruising bouncers.
There were a lot of people supporting Serbia. I had to go for Brazil, despite them being greedy five-time winners. This was partly because they're just so cool, partly because Forest now have FOUR Brazilians in our squad (ok... at the time, there was only one, Renan Lodi), although none were in the Brazilian squad for the World Cup, and partly because Serbia have quite strong support for Russia, even as they commit genocide and daily war crimes in Ukraine.
 |
| Renan Lodi. Nottingham Forest and Brazil |
 |
| Brazil attacked from the start |
It wasn't the best game with Brazil predictably making most of the play and the chances. It took an hour for their pressure to finally pay off with a Richarlison tap in.
Ten minutes later, the same dude made it two-nil with a spectacular overhead kick.
Brazil also hit the woodwork twice so there was no doubt about them deserving the win.
After that, it was bed for me.
Games 16, Goals 41, Goals/Game 2.56
First round of games complete
So, with all the teams having played one game, it was time to reflect on an exciting World Cup so far.
There had been a couple of shocks, one massive: Saudi Arabia beating Argentina and one not so massive: Japan beating Germany. The best news was that England started in sparkling form beating Iran 6-2, a result only bettered by Spain.
Despite all the controversy about the political side of "The Human Rights World Cup" (as The Guardian called it) there was no doubt that the football was, so far at least, pretty good.
Right. Next stop Albania, country 64 and an "above par" score on my Jody's Curve...
No comments:
Post a Comment