I first came to this charming country in August 2017 and instantly fell in love with this beautiful country. The southern most country of the Balkans with beautiful mountains and lakes. The economy is such that our pound is worth approximately three times its value so money goes a very long way. It is quite a young country once being part of the former Yugoslavia and not having an official language of Macedonian until 1947.
The people are charming and always want to exercise their knowledge of the English language should they overhear you talking.
The food is quite an experience, I have not eaten any of the dishes given to me in my life and I have travelled quite extensively. I have been here three months now and the food is mainly served cold. I cooked a Christmas dinner of Roast Turkey ,roast potatoes ,sprouts and peas. To my astonishment the company of fourteen Macedonian people waited until it was cold before eating. There is a belief that hot food is not good for the stomach. To travel out into the countryside to the small villages is like traveling back two hundred years. The way of life being entirely different than the town folk of Bitola where I stayed. Being a believer in alternative medicine I was amazed to see some of the remedies for ailments administered to sick folk including myself. I was helping to make a form of ketchup on a large wood burning stove and accidentally fell onto the hot plate top burning my arm quite badly. One of the local ladies administered a red liquid to the nasty blisters on my arm. Quite remarkably the burns were fully healed in three days.
As I said I have been here three months and have only heard English spoken once. This beautiful country has not been discovered yet but the western culture and remains unspoiled from chip shops and English pubs. Bitola town is a very charming wonderful small cobbled streets with a daily Bazar, of market selling fresh fruit edge tables clothing and many other items. Be cause the cost of living is so low I am seriously thinking of moving here from my home in Norfolk, England and will be returning here in three months time to chose a property. Again property like the cost of living is very cheap, I looked at a three storey house,three years old , fully furnished fifteen rooms for the princely sum £50,000. I have really taken to the way of life here and feel I can start a new life in the beautiful country.
