Is an interesting place. It was 80% destroyed in a 1963 earthquake and rebuilt quickly. After independence there was an intentional effort made to create a city center that "feels" like a European capital city, so many new buildings were built to look older and statues are all over. The old bazaar was renovated and it appears to be focused on tourism.
Alexander the Great could have conquered the world faster on a bike.
In hunting down a smaller (easier) chainring for my bike (lots of climbing in our future) we made some friends. Slave and his coworker (former Yugoslavian national cyclist in the '70s) dug through parts bins to find one for me. No payment accepted, but some beers were shared.
Then I met Nenad (excellent bike mechanic, mountain biker, world traveller, and rapper with 5 albums) in one of the many bike shops in town when I needed a specialized tool to install the chainring. I got it on only to find it didn't quite work. Nenad volunteered to cut it to fit (wish I had a picture of the sparks flying!) while I worked on the wheel he was truing. We agreed to meet after work and ended up talking until 1 when the place closed (although still full). Great guy...
The sun is out and it's looking like some excellent spring weather for our 3-day ride to Prizren in Kosovo.
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