Macedonia for a Day

Not very far.

Macedonia is just a hop, skip and a jump from Blagoevgrad (Anne and Mark can literally see it from their office window), but Anne and Mark had never visited that country.  Until now.  Shortly after seeing the production of Moulin Rouge, Anne and Mark had the opportunity to visit Macedonia for an afternoon lunch.  Anne and Mark were not terribly familiar with the geography or history of this area prior to the visit, but were aware that the people who live in Macedonia share some common ancestors and culture with the people who live in Bulgaria.  Upon traveling into Macedonia with their friends Krassi and Zlatina, Anne and Mark were informed of the major differences between Bulgaria and Macedonia: Macedonians speak Bulgarian with an accent and they have much redder roofs.  Wow - such dramatic differences, will Anne and Mark be able to adjust?  Actually, on both counts, Anne and Mark had to take their guides' word for it.  Anne and Mark do not speak Bulgarian (with an accent or otherwise) and frankly, the roofs looked equally red, although you are all welcome to judge that fact for yourselves:

Maybe a touch of crimson, but nothing to write home about, right?

So what do you do if you have an hour or so to kill before lunch in Macedonia?  That sounds like just enough time to head down to the ATM (bancomat) and then head to the farmers' market.  Mark who is well known as an international financier - basically the Donald Trump of Eastern Europe (but without the political/reality television aspirations) - handled the bancomat duties.  Unfortunately, the money in Macedonia was on the metric system or something, and he had no idea how much to get out.  When the choices came up on the bancomat screen, Mark selected the second lowest amount.  It was 500 denars.  This sounded like a lot, so Mark was happy.  (Later, when reading his bank statement, Mark found out this was equivalent to $11.50 - makes you wonder how much the lowest amount would have been worth in USD)

So, flush with cash (or, at least, believing themselves to be flush with cash), Anne and Mark headed to the farmers' market.  Although it was only early April, the produce at the market looked fantastic.

One significant difference that Anne and Mark have picked up on while in Bulgaria is that the local diet is much more closely aligned with what is 'in season.'  The diet is very much concentrated on whatever is fresh at the time, so the new vegetables of spring are a welcome sight after the long winter of cabbage, snow and coal ash burgers.

The market focused on fresh vegetables, but there were assorted other items.  Anne was able to purchase some flowers.  Mark noticed the rooster above, apparently tied to a hitching post while out for a walk.  And, I know what you're thinking - this is all well and good, but what if we need a pair of tennis shoes named after an organ in the human digestive system?  Don't worry, we got you covered there, too.

Liver shoes - Just do it.

After blowing a few hundred denars at the farmers' market (sounds like a lot, anyway), Anne and Mark headed over to the restaurant where they were meeting friends for lunch.  They greeted a few locals along the way...

Nice hat.

The innocent fun of playing with a two liter beer bottle in a ditch across the street from the restaurant.   Good times.

Finally, Anne and Mark made it to the restaurant.  Their friends knew the establishment and made the order for the entire table.  Anne and Mark enjoyed a nice salad and what is best described as a pizza boat (it looked like a canoe with the outsides being deep dish pizza crust and the inside filled with tomato sauce and some kind of sausage).  Anne and Mark ate and were fully satisfied.  It was a very filling amount of food.


Then the meal arrived.

Apparently, all of the hype that we hear about Americans having the largest portion sizes is a load of Bull- garia.  There was food on this table all day long.

Meat served on a bed of french fries.  Who are you trying to kid with those onions on top?

The meat platter set down on the table - excuse me, the two meat platters - were overflowing with all matter of grilled meats: chicken, kabob, pork chops, and even a Macedonian version of a Juicy Lucy (not as good as the original found at Matt's in south Minneapolis, but not bad).  All in all, it was a meal that would have made Bill Swerski and the superfans proud.

Da Bulls.