Hey guys, since I last talked to you I have made the trek from Albania to Kumanovo, Macedonia and then on to southern Serbia.

On Wednesday, I set off from Albania and headed straight to Kumanovo, Macedonia to see a guy who I’d met at my show in Skopje a few weeks back. Marko and I had hit it off well and got connected the night we met. Initially, he had offered to set me up with a gig in Kumanovo, his hometown, and have me come visit. At first, the bar he had in mind was interested in having me – but for unknown reasons decided a few days later that they didn’t want me to play afterall. Since I had already planned to come to Kumanovo anyways, we just decided to stick with the plan and use the extra time to hang out!

Upon arrival in Kumanovo, Marko met me and took me to his house to park the car because he said I really didn’t want to drive in the city. His opinion of the drivers of Kumanovo is pretty low! After getting that situated, he took me down to a local taverna to have a special beef dish that is specific to Kumanovo. It was pretty tasty!

At dinner, we were joined by Marko’s buddy Pljav, and afterwards we all headed out to Marko’s weekend house out in the country to have a fire, hang out, and play some tunes. As always, I enjoyed a night out in the country and hanging by a fire.

Marko brought some sausages with us that are another local specialty, Kobasicke, and after a couple hours of hanging around the fire and letting some embers build up, it was time to do some grilling. The sausages didn’t look great, but the taste was incredible!

The next day, Marko and I hung out at his family’s place in the morning (where they so graciously let me stay for 2 nights) and then headed into the city to have a little tour and eat some fish soup that it also a local speciality. After eating the soup, we headed out to the recently discovered ancient observatory called Kokino to have a little hike and check that out. There were some nice views from out there and it but the most memorable thing was being charged double entrance due to being a foreigner. That got Marko a little fired up, but I wasn’t too worried as it was only about a one euro difference. But still, I found it strange to openly charge foreign tourists more than domestic visitors!

After getting back into the city, we went to Marko’s favorite bar where you can have a beer and order crepes from the shop nearby and have them delivered. I asked to see the menu and he said “they have two kinds: salty and sweet” – so naturally, I had one of each. They were really good!

In the afternoon, we went back to Marko’s family home where I got to meet his parents finally. His mother was so kind that she not only cooked dinner for us, but even offered to do my laundry for me. And his dad was a really smart and interesting guy who had worked for KBR supporting the US military in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan during the wars there. So he spoke perfect English and had a lot of stories to tell me about that and also answered a lot of questions I had about Macedonia history and politics. I really enjoyed the time I spent talking with him!

On Friday morning, Marko took his motorcycle in to get the registration up to date in the morning while I hung back and spent some more time talking to his dad. When he came home, we took one last ride in to town to get some more of those pancakes (my request) and see a few more things. After that, it was time for me to say goodbye and get on the road!

I had a great visit with Marko, and I’m hoping that I’ll get to see him again while Bingman and Grant are visiting. He’s talking about coming to meet me again while they are here and he’s more than welcome!

After parting ways with him, I decided to head back to Serbia. I had a lot of fun in Serbia before, and ultimately I need to be in Vukovar, Croatia on Thursday for a show I have scheduled there on Friday. So Serbia is the most logical route to get there from Macedonia. Also, I have friends in Belgrade and Novi Sad that I’m hoping that link up with this week on my way though!

After about 75 minutes at the border, I finally got there and made the short drive to Predejane – a small town that Marko recommended to me because it has a hotel with a restaurant that has some great cevapi. Sounded like a good enough reason to head there, and it was perfect timing because I arrived just as the sun went down.

Tomorrow I’m off to Belgrade to see my buddy Mickey – and tbd after that.

Talk to you guys again soon!