February 17, 2015
Day 33 - Leskovac to Nis: Headwinds - 4, Me - 0
Curious as to how much northerly progress I've made, I looked up the latitudes for Skopje and Leskovac and discovered something mildly amazing: Skopje is at exactly 42 degrees north, Leskovac exactly 43.
Leskovac was an interesting town, with a surprisingly diverse selection of shops, including a place that sold copper stuff. Seeing this is still interesting to me because I keep forgetting I'm back in Europe now. Though some things haven't changed--when I went to breakfast at the (reputable) hotel, the 8 or 9 men in the restaurant all turned and looked at me.
The buildings could be described as eclectic, with a little of everything, some of it interesting or pretty. This gave the streets character. While I was walking, I heard clinking bottles, which turned out to be a small boy carrying bags of beer bottles. Not something I'd ever see at home.
It's the same in Nis, on a larger scale. I like Serbian towns; they're interesting. The villages and rural areas, though, are really dull, not at all visually appealing. Probably nicer in the summer, though I'm sure the houses stay ugly all year.
Getting to Nis was exhausting because it was so windy (freezing north wind). It was a short distance, but I was absolutely finished by the time I got there. There was one hill just before the city, not particularly steep, but I had to push the bike most of the way up. I'm really glad I planned to stop in Nis anyway and already had accommodation picked out.
Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 1,499 km (931 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |