Two days in Skopje without cycling. On Sunday morning Andrew Wright arrived from England to cycle with me to the Adriatic Coast. We have been friends since first met when we arrived at Sevenoaks School at the age of 13 - 53 years ago! We walk around Skopje's extraordinary centre. Extraordinary but unlovely. Few ancient buildings remain - all destroyed by earthquakes, conflict and redevelopment (even the house where Mother Theresa had been born was bulldozed to make way for a shopping mall. What stands are these enormous grandiloquent neo-classical buildings and statues especially along the Vardar River front and around the central square, and medium-rise cheaply-built apartment and office blocks. A few exceptions. The 15thC Kamen stone bridge, several mosques and the Old Bazaar building have been renovated - the latter now houses an exhibition of modern art. The old Turkish quarter of Čaršija has a bustly happy feel to it - the narrow cobbled streets lined with cafés, eateries and single-storey shops bedecked with flashing neon signs, selling ice-cream, tourist tat, jewellery, shoes, clothes and other modern goods. A few small bright rugs - but no other crafts. Families scoff ice-creams and sit long and cheerfully in the cafés and restaurants. The fort above Skopje has also been renovated - we walk around the ramparts. We plan to visit museums and more the following day. Which turns out to be Monday - and all museums and public buildings are closed. We visit the St Demetrius Orthodox church, the modern cathedral and take a long stroll along the river and chat about old times, family, friends, holidays, business, cycling and aging. Off at 8am today - and quickly up a 350m climb to the 12thC church of the Pantelejmon Monastery. The frescoes - like those of Boyana Church near Sofia - in the gentle true colours of the earth. Depicting Christ and biblical figures and scenes gently and lovingly. No sight of purgatory or hell. It is arrestingly lovely and peaceful. On westward to the Matka Canyon - the steep rocky sides plunging down to the man-made lake, created by a hydro-dam built in 1938. The Canyon entrance - nearest Skopje and much-visited - is commercialised - the lake-side path lined with cafés and restaurants. A boat trip away from all that would have probably been rewarded by spectacular scenery - but we couldn't leave our bikes & panniers, so continued on to Tetovo. Tetovo is a centre for North Macedonia's substantial Albanian population. Flags and posters of Albania's twin-eagle symbol are much seen - and the restaurant menus are in Albanian rather than Macedonian. We checked into the Tivoli Hotel, lucnhed there and then went off in search of the Painted Mosque. Painted in the 1820s - the exterior like a giant pack of cards, the interior in florid Baroque plumes, flowers and city-scapes. From there to the Arabati Baba Bektaši Teke. A teke is a Sufi monasatery - and this one had the appearance of a large walled compound; several acres of long grass populated by maybe a dozen buildings; prayer halls, meeting rooms, pavilions, store rooms, offices and a mausoleum - some in disrepair, some rather expensively renovated - both types apparently little-used. An extended family of middle-age and older women in headdresses picniced on an area of grass while their children played. Elsewhere flocks of chickens scrutched hopefully in the grass and rubbish area. The receptionist at Tivolo Hotel (Suata?) spoke good English and was quite feisty. We asked her if she could please call the Bigorski Monastery to see if we could stay there the following night. She called several times - but no-one answered.