Last man standing

Mini pub crawl around Stockport on Friday pm.
Pubs visited:

The Crown
Black Lion
Spread Eagle
Queens Head
Pub on corner I can’t remember name of.

I see Big Brother 6 or 7 or whatever has started up again. I just can’t see the point of this programme. What’s next – people watching other people watching Big Brother?!

Stalybridge (or Staly Vegas) sat pm. Very large number of pubs/bars/night-clubs in a Las Vegas-style strip, albeit in a run-down part of Greater Manchester. Was an interesting night but I can’t really see how Staly Vegas will continue to be sustainable, since it seems to be an economy built on nothing.

So France has voted “non” for the EU constitution. What does this mean? I don’t really know and neither do a lot of other people. The idea of a United States of Europe is looking more and more remote. If the pro-European French vote No I just can’t see the anti-European Brits voting Yes.

On the other side

FA Cup Final today and 10K Manchester Run tomorrow. My money is on Shiz. He, in my opinion, deserves to win through the dedicated effort and thorough preparation.

My Russian language hasn’t been getting any better over the last couple of months mainly because I never seem to be able to find the time to listen or read much these days. Also not being able to speak on a regular basis is a problem.


A quick report on Bajram Curri in northern Albania – one of the places me and Mark are considering going to. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Kosovo/Story/0,2763,207327,00.html

One more for the road

16-31 July
Got the Skopje, Macedonia tickets booked. We fly out on 16 July via Milan, Italy.

No fixed itinerary - depends on if/when/where we can get transport. Personally I'd prefer to spend more time in Albania than Macedonia, not sure what Mark is thinking. Just reading a book called 'The Accursed Mountains- Journeys into Albania' about a British traveller's expedition to Albania in the spring and summer of 1996. Very interesting reading, but I hope the security situation has improved since then!

Vilnius 22-26 June 2005.
A short break to meet up with some friends/see how much the city has changed in a year. I think I'll try and make a pilgrimage to this city every year. Was moderately surprised to see it had changed a lot between September 03 and June04.

The afternoon after

Day after the big Bramhall Rangers pub crawl. Feel OK, more bloated than anything else. We got a lot more drunk last year I'm sure- the curry must've soaked the alcohol up.

Haven't got the 'Hello' section of blogger yet, so can't upload any photos yet.

Waiting for Mark to get his University dates setup so we can finally book the plane tickets for the summer trip. At the moment the plan is to go Manchester- Skopje in FYR Macedonia which will involve a connection in Italy. We're hoping to spend a good deal of time in Republica Shripka - land of the Eagle - Albania. NOt sure what it'll be like - until recently it was Europe's poorest country with pretty much no private cars or private property and had the reputation of being the most Marxist country of all the Eastern Bloc countries. Was also the worlds only official Athiest country. Was completely closed off to foreigners from 1948-1990 after they broke with the USSR - the Russians were getting too westernised.

Regarding other trips
Hoping to do a trip around 6-8days in September. Got a few Lonely Planet books out of the library and am toying with the idea of China (Beijing), but it could turn out to be quite expensive. With China, it appears that flights get cheaper the nearer the time of departure - the exact opposite of Europe. Current prices seem to range from 350-450UKP. It also seems a bit of a waste to go all that way for just 1 week.

Other ideas are to get a flight to Bucharest, Romania and then head onto Chisinau, Moldova for a couple of days. There's a wine festival held at this time of year....