Wednesday 4 September 2013

Bit of ol right - Bitola, Macedonia


Ohrid was like...(over the top voice) soo a mazing! Bitola not so much. Wasn't overly impressed at first. But that soon changed. We even found some night life. The first bit of real night life since Croatia.
I use a web site called Metal Travel Guide. http://www.metaltravelguide.com/ It has a pretty up to date & accurate account of rock bars in any given city. We found a place called Hard Rock Cafe. Not to be confused with the greasy burger, crappy cocktails Hard Rock chain of the U.S. I discussed the name with the owner & he was very quick to point out that no one owns the term "hard rock". I found this pretty funny & drew comparison to the movie Coming to America. Mr McDowell was being sued by Mcdonalds as his restaurant "Mcdowells" was incredibly similar to Mcdonalds. McDowells has the Big Mick & Golden Arc. Mcdonalds has the Big Mac & Golden Arches. Nothing alike! The owner of the bar had not seen the film :O





The owner was a pretty cool guy with an unpronounceable name. He has been in a metal band for 20 years called Medusa. They are about to release their 9th studio album. He has his own Macedonian TV show called Hard & Heavy. He interviews bands & goes to all of European rock festivals on a press pass. Lucky guy. He played what ever we asked for - System of a Down mostly. He even fed us.


This portrait is above his bar. Hair definitely gone. Might still have the six pack but I doubt it

Our evening meal


Earlier on the guy working in our hostel told us about his friends band who are playing at a bar & will be doing Black Label Society covers. I'll admit (not to him) I did not know who they were so I looked at some youtube videos & we both agreed that they sounded pretty good.  We caught their set at 11 & they were excellent. Loud, fun & very good players. It was such a treat to hear good music all night. Dance pop crap everywhere else we go. To hear some real music is a bit of a treat. I think that if I hear that "I don't care" song once more I am going to crash a car into a bridge..oh crap. I will admit to liking Naughty boy though :/




A short walk from where we were staying is Heraclea Lyncestis. Heraclea is an ancient Greek city. Founded in the 4th century BC. How freakin old is that?! When the Romans conquered Macedonia they built a theatre & a basilica with tons of mosaics & even a working drainage system. 


















Greek masks exhibition. Taking things seriously as usual.







We picked our hostel based on price & the bunk beds had curtains. Genius! some privacy in a shared room. Why don't all bunks in hostels have curtains? When we were shown our room, the bunk beds had no curtains. I asked what the hell was going on?? The guy explained that they had been removed by the owner so that they could be replaced. I would think that the removal/replacement would be done at the same time right?. On the first night we were the only ones in the room so privacy was not a problem in the end. The second night a couple checked into our room so I bartered & got a private room with a double bed for an extra £2.80 art erotique included.




As we walked down the stairs to leave the hostel Cat heard a ticking noise. She turned to face where the noise was coming from only to receive a face full of battery powered air freshener! It was hilarious & she smelt better for it :D 




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