looking at this house brings back memories:
in first half of 2001 sauseschritt visited skopje. sitting together with friends on the balcony of a house close to the city park of skopje (see below), enjoying their hospitality and the warmth of the early summer sun. nevertheless, the situation in macedonia at that time was very serious. one could hear the noise of military conflict (bombing) only a few kilometers from there. you could not only hear, but also "feel" the explosions on that balcony. for months my friends were ready to escape a possible war in the city via the southern route to skopje. and they were waiting what would happen next: doing their jobs with their things packed and their car ready to leave. well, the conflict was settled before the war really broke out and nowadays a fragile peace, which is sometimes in question, can be sustained. we tend to forget these things very quickly .....

ach ja, da war damals noch dieser junge mann aus österreich, der sich zunächst weigerte, mit mir abends über die [steinbrücke ....] in das albanisch/türkische viertel von skopje zu gehen, um zu abend zu essen. er vertraute mir auch an, dass er eine kugelsichere weste mit im reisegepäck habe, für alle fälle. er war sichtlich in einer stimmung zwischen angst und (abenteuerlicher) erregung, wie so oft, wenn mann dem krieg begegnet.
© all photos of this entry are taken by the author and explicitely subject to the GNU free documentation license