On a map, Skopje, Macedonia, looks small, yet it seems to spread out forever. Maybe it’s the wide streets, or maybe it’s the huge statues and buildings that confuse the perspective. When I arrived on International Stout Day, looking for craft beer, I found myself walking far more than expected in this capital city of 525,000 people.
My Airbnb host must have known this. I told him I could walk, but he insisted on picking me up at the bus station. Quite a kind gesture, considering I was arriving close to midnight. His apartment was spectacular. It was vintage Yugoslav, in the most elegant way possible. A fifth-floor apartment overlooked an urban park. The walls were old rustic paneled wood. Florid hand-knit carpets, in the Macedonian style, covered the floors.
He walked me to a corner of the main living room and flicked on a light switch hidden behind a glass cabinet. The interior lit up and illuminated a collection of vintage European beer steins.
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