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With the ongoing heat and almost no wind, the air isn't getting any better. Sunrises are pretty in a slightly post-apocalyptic kind of way (although I have to admit that Moscow 10 days ago was the most post-apocalyptic thing I'd seen in a long time). Hazy, red, and when the sun goes higher it's a sickly yellow on a milky-blue sky. This, however, doesn't prevent it from heating the city to melting point.
So yesterday Irene and I girded our loins and set out around 2.30 to explore the pool.
You have to have been in both Macedonia and Kosovo in order to really appreciate the difference between two countries which are only as big as Austrian provinces (which, given that Austria is small, aren't very big), and, even more astonishingly, the difference between parts of Macedonia inhabited by a Macedonian or Albanian majority. The northwestern part of the country, starting immediately at the northern outskirts of Skopje, is mainly inhabited by Albanians, and a lot of those don't live here (same goes for Kosovo). Consequently, the area is full of modern houses, many of them complete architectonic nightmares, constructed by expats who come there only during the summer months and will probably return to stay once they're retiring. And they also have this strange tendency to build shopping centres and hotels, which are totally out of proportion and usually stand in the middle of nowhere.
The New Star Hotel being a case in point: an enormous, slightly nightmarish cross between Gotham City and postmodernism, smack in the middle of a stretch of uninhabited land. On the opposite side of the narrow road, the accomodation centre for asylum seekers. (Yes, people do come to Macedonia to seek asylum. The centre is very big and, according to Stefan, very spacious and more like a hotel. There are about 60 asylum seekers there)
The pool itself was, on the whole, a pleasant surprise. 1) because they have a separate, smaller pool for the ankle biters, and 2) because the main pool is really big, I'd say 30m by 50m. Depth between 1,40 and 1,70. The water is cool and relatively clean, there are deckchairs and umbrellas. The floor is concrete, which makes it hot but dry.
There are, however, two drawbacks -- not enough to scare me off, but drawbacks nonetheless.
The first is the loud disco music. Permanent, uninterrupted, deafening. I'm able to banish it from my mind and read or even sleep, but Irene is a lot more sensitive than I am, and she gets headaches from it.
The second is the fact that the pool teems with young men. Before you say "But...", let me elaborate. These are not well-toned-and-oiled Adonises lingering around the pool in seductive poses. No, they're mostly Neandertals, 50% of them extremely hairy, engaging in toddler behaviour, i.e. jumping into the pool with as big a splash as possible, climbing out and doing the same again. The whole interrupted by well-timed genital scratching (their own, merely for exactitude's sake). To be fair, they're just being big, neandertal toddlers and don't molest women. Most of them can't swim, so if you stay in the middle of the pool, chances are you might be able to actually swim, although you have to be cautious when approaching the edge, or a Neandertal might land on your head.
All things considered, it's not too bad, but we decided to try going there next weekend right when they open in the morning, because I have a suspicion that not only will the water be cleaner, but the jeunesse dorée of Izbegovo probably has a lie-in and will show up later. So we'll have to try that out next Saturday. Anyway, being able to get in the water when it's 40° in the shade and possibly somewhere near 60 in the sun is a blessing even with assorted Neandertals.
The women obviously have to stay home and prepare dinner. I've never seen so few women (and girls, for that matter) at a pool; the ration is probably 4:1, probably also due to the fact that 80% of the public are Albanians, i.e. Muslims, i.e. women don't wear bikinis in public, which makes going to the pool a pretty useless and potentially lethal exercise, given the temperatures.
Re. salad: tomatoes, rucola, basil (would have preferred coriander but there was none), green salad, cantaloupe melon, figs and pink grapefruit. Roast prawns, add garlic, soy sauce, chili sauce and a splash of rakia (vodka or brandy will do as well). Let cool down and, once cool, mix with the veggie and fruit. It's delicious, but you have to eat it at once, otherwise the salad will wilt. Accompanied by bread, butter and a bottle of well-chilled rosé. YUM!!!
So yesterday Irene and I girded our loins and set out around 2.30 to explore the pool.
You have to have been in both Macedonia and Kosovo in order to really appreciate the difference between two countries which are only as big as Austrian provinces (which, given that Austria is small, aren't very big), and, even more astonishingly, the difference between parts of Macedonia inhabited by a Macedonian or Albanian majority. The northwestern part of the country, starting immediately at the northern outskirts of Skopje, is mainly inhabited by Albanians, and a lot of those don't live here (same goes for Kosovo). Consequently, the area is full of modern houses, many of them complete architectonic nightmares, constructed by expats who come there only during the summer months and will probably return to stay once they're retiring. And they also have this strange tendency to build shopping centres and hotels, which are totally out of proportion and usually stand in the middle of nowhere.
The New Star Hotel being a case in point: an enormous, slightly nightmarish cross between Gotham City and postmodernism, smack in the middle of a stretch of uninhabited land. On the opposite side of the narrow road, the accomodation centre for asylum seekers. (Yes, people do come to Macedonia to seek asylum. The centre is very big and, according to Stefan, very spacious and more like a hotel. There are about 60 asylum seekers there)
The pool itself was, on the whole, a pleasant surprise. 1) because they have a separate, smaller pool for the ankle biters, and 2) because the main pool is really big, I'd say 30m by 50m. Depth between 1,40 and 1,70. The water is cool and relatively clean, there are deckchairs and umbrellas. The floor is concrete, which makes it hot but dry.
There are, however, two drawbacks -- not enough to scare me off, but drawbacks nonetheless.
The first is the loud disco music. Permanent, uninterrupted, deafening. I'm able to banish it from my mind and read or even sleep, but Irene is a lot more sensitive than I am, and she gets headaches from it.
The second is the fact that the pool teems with young men. Before you say "But...", let me elaborate. These are not well-toned-and-oiled Adonises lingering around the pool in seductive poses. No, they're mostly Neandertals, 50% of them extremely hairy, engaging in toddler behaviour, i.e. jumping into the pool with as big a splash as possible, climbing out and doing the same again. The whole interrupted by well-timed genital scratching (their own, merely for exactitude's sake). To be fair, they're just being big, neandertal toddlers and don't molest women. Most of them can't swim, so if you stay in the middle of the pool, chances are you might be able to actually swim, although you have to be cautious when approaching the edge, or a Neandertal might land on your head.
All things considered, it's not too bad, but we decided to try going there next weekend right when they open in the morning, because I have a suspicion that not only will the water be cleaner, but the jeunesse dorée of Izbegovo probably has a lie-in and will show up later. So we'll have to try that out next Saturday. Anyway, being able to get in the water when it's 40° in the shade and possibly somewhere near 60 in the sun is a blessing even with assorted Neandertals.
The women obviously have to stay home and prepare dinner. I've never seen so few women (and girls, for that matter) at a pool; the ration is probably 4:1, probably also due to the fact that 80% of the public are Albanians, i.e. Muslims, i.e. women don't wear bikinis in public, which makes going to the pool a pretty useless and potentially lethal exercise, given the temperatures.
Re. salad: tomatoes, rucola, basil (would have preferred coriander but there was none), green salad, cantaloupe melon, figs and pink grapefruit. Roast prawns, add garlic, soy sauce, chili sauce and a splash of rakia (vodka or brandy will do as well). Let cool down and, once cool, mix with the veggie and fruit. It's delicious, but you have to eat it at once, otherwise the salad will wilt. Accompanied by bread, butter and a bottle of well-chilled rosé. YUM!!!
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