What a day! We spent most of the day in transit on a bus between Skopje and Nis. It should have been a short bus trip but we found ourselves on a "milk run"...making many stops between the two cities. The border crossings added to our delays as we spent about 45 minutes at the Macedonian border, trying to leave the country while officials investigated two passengers. Down the road about 500 meters we were stopped again at the Serbian border. Everyone had to disembark and present passports, stand under cover from the rain then get back on the bus and take all of our belongings off the bus. Then they screened who could re-enter the bus and who would be searched. We were finally cleared to leave after another 45 minute delay. Back on the road it wasn't long before the police stopped us agin for an inspection.
We arrived in Nis around 3:30pm...not having eaten since 8:00pm the previous night...starving and cold. The temperature has plunged to 4 degrees!! A decision was made to walk from the bus station to our rooms. Not a good decision because we took the long route, in the ccccold.
Our landlord arrived and showed us to the rooms which are okay...25 euros per night with small kitchenettes. He gave us directions to an eatery so we immediately set off on foot again to a small restaurant where we shared too much meat...a huge platter of mixed meats... and several other dishes.
We walked back to the rooms for a rest while Kalliroi and Theo went for an exploratory walk. They found the short route to the bus station and picked up some food for breakfast. Meanwhile John suffered an unpleasant reaction to consuming so much meat after having an empty stomach for 21 hours! He continued to rest while I joined Kalliroi and Theo for a walkabout town and a glass of wine in a local jazz bar. Now I stink!! Smoking is allowed in cafes, bars and restaurants in Serbia!! Yuck!
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