Blog

A warm heart

I was up and out in the drizzle early today, hoping to make it to Skopje in time to look around. First off – a relatively big climb (11km / 500m) to get up and over.

At the border post on the way down I queued with a coachload of Kosovan teenage school-trippers. Baggy jeans, hair flicking, feigned indifference, mobile phones. Same the world over.

From there on it was one of my easiest rides, virtually all down hill! (I will pay for this tomorrow, mind). I covered off the 100km by midday and arrived in the impressive central square in Skopje in great time to look around.

I remember plotting this route in my kitchen and wondering if I’d even make it this far. And if I did, what Skopje would be like. I’m afraid my imagination wasn’t nearly as generous as Skopje is impressive. The magnificence of the central square by the river is matched by the ramshackle attractiveness of the old bazaar, all overlooked by the fort. I soaked up the atmosphere.

In the early evening I joined a walking tour, inspired by my experience in Sarajevo. It was excellent. A highlight though was bumping into Rod on the same tour, a typically bright Aussie who happened to be celebrating his 64th birthday (we didn’t sing The Beatles’ tune). He was on his way to walk the via Frangicena in Italy with a mate, but preceding that with a Balkans tour by public transport. His enthusiasm and positivity was totally infectious.

Going back in the day though, at the top of the climb out of Kosovo I connected to the WiFi in the cafe I stopped at. I had received a reply to an email.

Do you remember Phil from Day 7? He is a sculptor. Our conversation whilst crossing the Rhine by ferry had gone deep quickly. I think that being a traveller and knowing your interaction is fleeting can  facilitate this. It was the same with Maxime, who I met on the roadside briefly in Montenegro recently.

Phil and I had talked about kindness and joy. Phil shared that he was working on pieces inspired by Lyric Culture/Philosophy. He kindly gifted me a small chalk sculpture.

In Serbia I remembered I had Phil’s email address. So I wrote to him, telling him how I’d carried his sculpture with me and how it has become talismanic for me, a symbol of my journey.

I received his response in the cafe on the mountain pass near the Kosovan-Macedonian border.

When Phil and I met he had been on the way to see his daughter, so I had inquired after her in my message to him. He wrote that maybe one day she might take a journey to meet the owners of these works. How cool would that be? Phil’s email response fuelled my day, I was flying.

I’ve received other heartwarming messages recently. I’m often asked how I deal with the solitude of this journey, but the truth is that there is so much to consider, do, and plan on a daily basis that I’ve never even dwelt on that.

Nonetheless, hearing from colleagues, ex-colleagues, neighbours, family, and friends recently (you all know who you are) has helped me along the way. So drop me a line why don’t you?! If not by that link then by WhatsApp.