Macedonia

next comes one of those Greetings from... cards...and as I have previously said, I do not collect this, but honestly I am glad to have this Macedonian one, written and stamped :)))

Now...my opinion on this one...well I do love the picture they have chosen...I often say that the church of St. Jovan Kaneo is one of my favourite spots in the country....now as for the information they have decided to include here...starting with the famous Macedonians...I remember there was a huge argument on Facebook about the draft-design of this card, that eventually got nasty, you know with insults and all - of course over Alexander the Great...I mean, it is ridiculous how that issue inevitably provokes nasty arguments...so for safety reasons, Alexander was left out...but leaving Toše Proeski out is like some sad violation of this 'famous people' category....and Pero Antić, no offense in case you ever get to read this, but I am clueless based on what you have deserved a spot here among the others...you are good in what you are doing an all...but dont get me started on all those distinguished artists and musicians and revolutionists that have done so much for this country but have been left out...I mean, I know one cannot please everyone (talking about the designer of the card here), but in this case it is not about pleasing me, cos I am trying to be really objective here...so a big *thumbs down* on this one..sorry..

Another issue I also tackled last time, is the number of Postcrossing Members....it says 'over 60' here, which is more or less true, cos the website says 67 at the moment...but do you know how many of those are actually active? Just 1/3...or in numbers, around 20...some of those 67 have not logged in for years nor have sent a card ..... so again, this whole statistics thing gives some kind of false impression (and I think this would be applicable in all countries).

Other than that, no other remarks on this one...I think I was judgmental enough :)

well, the stamp is actually sufficient for international postage, but I guess that maybe that's all they had available at the PO...you know how things are with our Post Offices here...it is past mid- February, and they still have not issued the Stamp Program for 2016....really really shame on us =/

edit: i forgot to tell you that this is one of my favourite Macedonian stamps.  well, the whole set of four jewellery stamps is great and this butterfly brooch originating in Bitola in the 19-20th century is something that has become like a symbol and can often be found in different colours and sizes at the filigree jewellery stores

thanks a million to Anita for this lovely surprise! :)

Bitola, Macedonia

well, I didn't manage to finish this in one go as planned...my eyelids did start closing last night, and I did go into another attempt to get some sleep...failed again...and just when I thought I would come back here and finish this off, my attention was drawn to this tennis match between Sharapova and Ivanović...I rarely watch women's tennis...it just doesn't have the thrill (for me) the men's tennis has...but damn, this one had to be like one of the most fantastic, dramatic and entertaining matches in women's tennis Ive ever seen! So I'm really thankful that I did catch that...quite a good party at 3 am :) And Im really happy Ana won the match! Not cos Sharapova didn't play well...on the whole contrary...they both were like ripping each other's eyes out..but my heart was for Ana on this one..
anyways...it is already noon now...woke up a while ago...and it's such a nice nice weather outside...finally some cooler temperatures today compared to the past week that was all in the tropical-heat mode...
so feels really good now to chill out with some coffee and continue writing here...

and next comes a card that arrived as a total surprise recently! I actually think that all the Macedonian cards I receive arrive as absolute surprises

and thanks to Anita, I have my first Macedonian written and stamped card sent from Bitola! And at least I can say that this is one of the Macedonian towns that I have actually been to and have personally seen this clock tower. Because...even though Macedonia is rather small, there are just still sooo many places I haven't been to, it is embarrassing =/
According to the legends, even though the existence of the Clock Tower was mentioned before in the 1664 (17th century), present Clock Tower was built in the 1830s, in the same period when nearby, the Orthodox Church of St. Demetrious was built. It goes on saying that when the Ottoman authorities were visiting the nearby churches, they collected like 60.000 eggs, out of which they made plaster, mixing it with stones, and used that mixture to build the tower, whose firm walls have not suffered any damage until today.
It is square-shaped and 33m high.

the stamp is from a set of two definitives issued in 2013, representing architecture of different Macedonian towns - this one showing the small town of Makedonski Brod.

Фала ти многу Анита =)

Triumphal Arch, Macedonia

Gloomy Sunday greetings from Macedonia...ok, let me correct that...greetings from Macedonia's capital all covered in smog! Same problem every winter...though I have a feeling that each winter it gets worse and more polluted and just...terrible!

Here is a picture of Skopje this morning, courtesy of my friend Goran Andonov...where here, in front of you, you should be seeing the Triumphal Arch...a really huge and grand object that can't be missed even from afar...but with such thick smog, you really need to be right in front of it to be aware of its existence...can you believe it that this image is taken during the day? when there should be sunshine and all????
They are comparing us to Mexico City, when it used to be known as the most polluted city on Earth...though from what I've seen there are places in China that are real competition.
Anyways, no signs of any winds or rain or snow in the near future...so we'll just continue breathing in whatever crap this air contains....

and well, this is what you actually should be seeing on the picture above...I know that for a moment you may get the feeling you are in Paris, but no, this is our own Triumphal Arch...part of that notorious Skopje 2014 project...does look cool on the postcard I must admit..but as I've said times before, I am really against the entire money-waste regarding this project.

And it is actually cool to be posting a written and stamped Macedonian card, or more particularly, from my own town!  I do not get such very often :) and this card was actually sent as a surprise by the same Goran Andonov whose picture I used above! Nice coincidence and actually I like it how the jigsaws fall into their place sometimes and give me such a complete post =D
To see more of his great work, you can visit and follow his facebook page here => Goran Andonov's Photography

the stamp Goran used is a bit overpriced for sending a card within the country, but I guess some postal workers here either do not care enough or want to rip you off or whatever...quite unfair..but then again, I don't think I'll ever receive this stamp on a letter or a card, unless I move to live abroad and people send mail to me :) The stamp was issued in 2004, as part of those "Macedonia in the EU" series...even though Macedonia is not a part of it, but we never seem to give up...I won't go into my opinions of why I do not want to be a part of EU, despite it does have some advantages...

And well, below you will find a few more Triumphal Arch cards from my collection (bought to myself)...all surrounded with clear blue skies...*sigh*..

And it is funny how most of them  try to capture Alexander's monument right through the gate...

In case you feel like having some more info on the Arch though...
It is dedicated to commemorate the 20 years of Macedonian independence and its outer surface is covered in 193 m2 of reliefs carved in marble, depicting scenes from the Macedonian history. It also contains interior rooms, one of which has a function of state-owned souvenir shop, as well as elevators and stairs providing public access to the roof, allegedly intended as space for weddings. I still haven't been on top of it but I'm sure it offers a nice view..when there is no pollution :)

Did you know that it is said that the money spent on this Arch are estimated to €4,4 million? And that the whole Skopje 2014 project is estimated to €500 million? Isn't that just way too much? Especially for a country like Macedonia, with such terrible standards, high unemployment rate and where many employees work for the minimum wage? And what frustrates me to the utmost is how the Government never reveals the actual data but keeps convincing people how all these monuments and stuff are necessary, the money are reasonably spent. the rate of unemployment has decreased...yeah, sure...

At least some nice postcards have resulted from all this =)

Lesnovski Manastir, Macedonia

To my horror, i realized that it's been a shamefully long time since I had posted a Macedonian card here....shame shame shame shame on me!!!

So to fix that mistake, i picked this card that Dani sent me a few months ago, showing the Monastery of St. Gavrilo Lesnovski, located in the vicinity of the city of Probištip (in the eastern part of Macedonia)

And this is one of the place that I had the chance to visit something like two years ago, and absolutely loved it!!
Not only the monastery, but its surroundings are amazing! As you go up the road, there is this space with rocks, it even reminds you of an observatory coz of the way the rocks and stones are set. Anyways, we stopped there and I think I could have stayed there like forever....just sitting on the rock, enjoying the wind and the sun, and the endless view in front of me (the altitude is rather high, so you feel like you hold the world at your hands...really really beautiful and just so tranquil!)
The origin of the monastery is related to the life of Gavril Lesnovski, for whom a number of hagiographies exist according to which the monastery had existed when he lived, where he became a monk. The monastery is first mentioned in some writings from 1330, and reconstructed later by by the ruler Oliver 1st. Some of these things this monastery is famous for are for housing one out of three iconostases made by the famous Macedonian woodcarvers Frckovski and the Filipovski brothers. (The other two are found in the church of St Spas in Skopje and in the monastery St Jovan Bigorski in the Mavrovo National Park - I think ive sent to some of you postcards of the latter - if not and youd like one, let me know). The other thing it is famous for its manuscript-writing school and also for being considered as the centre of the Christianity in this part of the country. Apart from the monastery, if you ever come here, i strongly recommend visiting its surroundings, including the Cave church, the millstone caves and the eco-paths. Im SURE you're gonna love it!!!  Not to mention what the fresh air is gonna do to you :)

Dani used a definitive stamp from a set of 12 issued in 2010 showing cities in Macedonia, and this one shows the city of Probištip indeed...how convenient!! I have another card Dani sent me, showing the city itself, but ill show it to you some other time!

xie xie Dani!!

Skopje, 26th July 1963 - 26th July 2010

Today is one of the dates that will always be engraved in my country's history, the day still remembered by many who shudder at the thought of what they lived through 47 years ago. My family is also one of those people who do not dearly remember this event and who had to find ways of how to make their living in the months and years that followed until they could get back to a normal life...if anything could have been normal after that.

Today is the day when 47 years ago, at 5:17am, my hometown was struck by one of the most disastrous earthquakes, which took way too many people's lives and destroyed many homes, lives and memories. The 6,1 earthquake is said to have killed over 1,070 people, injured between 3,000 and 4,000 and left between 120,000 to 200,000 people homeless. Between 75 and 80 percent of the city was destroyed.

I happen to have a number of vintage reprints portraying my hometown before and after the earthquake and I thought it would be a great opportunity to post them now and share with you the kind of Skopje none of us will ever see again and the kind of Skopje which is being missed by many...even me, even though there was not even the slightest plan of me coming to this world, when reading about those times and seeing pictures, I can for surely tell that back then Skopje had a soul, it had its identity, it had its charm...now it is just another craving-to-be-modern-by-all-means city, cluttered with concrete wherever you turn to, a city without a concept and getting worse every day...and it is a public secret I dont actually like it.

Old Skopje, a picture dating from 1926, showing among else, the Stone Bridge and the Railway Station (that's the bottom right picture). If you take a better look on the top right picture, you will see something which reminds of a person's spirit, and that is actually the apparition of Mother Teresa.

A Panoramic view onto the centre of Skopje with the two banks of the river Vardar. If you cross the Stone Bridge, you will find yourself in the Old Bazaar.

Skopje before and after the earthquake...you can pretty much see the devastating power the earthquake had.

The Army House and the Railway Station, before and after the earthquake.

The Krango Palace, built in 1926, demolished in the 1963 earthquake.

Panoramic view of Skopje central area before the earthquake with St. Konstantin and Elena Orthodox church built in 1926.

The Clock Tower, built in the middle of the XVI century.

The National Theatre, built between 1921-1927, demolished in the 1963 Earthquake. Nowadays missed by many and incomparable to any of the existing Macedonian Theatres.

The Building of the Railway Station before the earthquake.

The preserved part of the Railway Station building, with the famous clock, which you could see it illuminated on some of the above photos. This clock stopped at exactly 5:17 am, when the earthquake struck, and has remained like that ever since, to serve as a reminiscent of this day and is considered as a symbol of the earthquake.
Today, here in this building, is the Museum of the City of Skopje.

edit: here is a video I found in the meantime, reporting about the earthquake

Macedonia

A card that feels really special to me, and which is one of the Macedonian cards i REALLY like...coz in general, i dont think we have some magnificent choice of postcards here....and there is a story behind this card as well...which is about to follow below...

I bought this postcard not so long ago at a store here which started selling this series of postcards...they differ quite a lot to all the Macedonian postcards I have seen before...in design, quality, places they depict...and of course, price :) But i just cant resist buying some of them, so in case you have or will receive a card from this 'Macedonia' series from me, it means i consider you special ;)
As for this card, the moment i saw it i knew i had to get it, for myself...not because the image is just beautiful, but because it is also railway related..and gives so much to think about...
Anyways, the more i kept looking at this card, the more i felt something was being incomplete about it....and then it dawned on me...it was blank....probably at this moment you might be having an assumption how i solved it..so yeah, since i was having the right stamps at home, i did what i probably never really thought i would do, and i wrote and addressed the card to myself...I mean, i do send cards to myself when i go away, and thats not really odd...but to send a card to yourself from your own town...now i know thats a bit...ok, that it is VERY awkward and probably crazy to a certain extent...but i just couldnt resist it...and either way, i dont actually have many written and stamped Macedonian postcards...only a few actually, and since i developed this philatelic interest to a great level, means that im also interested in having written and stamped and CANCELLED cards from my own country as well...so i had to help myself, no? :P
well...here comes the *fun* part....i mailed the card on 28th November....thats last Saturday....at a post office thats like 40 minutes walk from my house...and wanna take a guess when did the card arrive??? YESTERDAY!!! 4th December!!! 6 days!!! Amazing 6 days it took this card to arrive to me sent from Skopje to Skopje!! It would have literally arrived faster if someone from the postal service walked from there....im still astonished about this...so if a card takes 6 days to arrive sent from my own city, then how can i possibly have faith in our postal service about all those internationally sent cards! I wrote about this on the forum, and there was this comment which said "its good that they havent sent it via Indonesia" :D :D :D :D

So yeah, there you go...thats my adventure with our postal service....though honestly, i think im gonna keep doing this in the future as well, coz otherwise i dont stand much of a chance to receive a written and stamped Macedonian postcard...call me crazy :)

I also love it what the image represents....the road to nowhere...or the road to the unknown....the rail just goes into the distance until a point where you cant follow it anymore...you dont know whether its gonna turn right or left, or if it goes beyond those mountains...you just cant tell whats ahead of you, until you actually get to the point...just like life is....though this calm atmosphere is one which gives hope along the winding-life-roads...

and here are the two stamps i used...the one on the right is from a set of two stamps issued in 1996 under the subject of  "Children - joy of the world". The other one is from 2006, from a set of 6 definitives which depict traditional copper ware from the 18th-19th century...and this in particular shows a šamdan. Whats its name in English, i honestly have no idea...

Коčani, Macedonia

You cant possibly imagine my reaction when i found this in my mailbox some days ago....yeah, its not a bought card, but a sent one...from my own country!

The thing with Macedonia is that the places where a friend can send you a card from is most probably Ohrid...as for the others its like a real rarity, so receiving something like this in my mailbox was just a call for joy! A friend who lives there just decided to send me one, coz he knows im a postcard nuts :)
I still havent sent myself a postcard from Skopje...though i probably will soon...since they raised the prices and i may buy some of those new stamps and stick one to my own cards and send it to myself...well, if i could do it from Montenegro, why not from here...even though it sounds to be totally retard...
what should you know about Kočani...its a town in eastern Macedonia, not very far from the border with Bulgaria...and i have never really been there...
Its called the city of rice, and ever since i was little, when my parents would go to the market to buy rice, they always preferred to buy the Kočani rice, due to its high-quality. Rice is among my very favourite kinds of food...though nowadays i prefer the brown rice, whicn unfortunately doesnt come from Kočani and which more unfortunately is hell more expensive...but i just have this thing when it comes to nutrition, that if i can i go for brown bread, brown rice, brown sugar...low-fat stuff (milk/butter/cheese) etc..but if you ever have a chance to try this Macedonian rice, do give it a go...

hmmm, something ive been talking about over and over again...the stamp issue in Macedonia...and that postal workers here dont really use stamps but these automated machine stamps....thats why i always end up prepared with stamps before sending something...well, ALWAYS when it comes to postcards, almost always when it comes to stuff sent in an envelope...coz if i dont, you will most probably receive a postcard with this sort of a stamp, and its not a fancy one, is it?

Struga, Macedonia

Well, i think its been a long time since i had shared with you a Macedonian card....so while anticipating for the summer holidays and beaches and water to swim in, here is something to have a look at...

Struga is a town situated at the Ohrid Lake, and is in fact, some 20km away from Ohrid, but Ohrid is the one who dominates in popularity and so. The last time i went to Struga was actually the year when i finished primary school, so do the math...15 years....
I think that Struga is much calmer than the busy crowded and MUCH MORE expensive Ohrid. But the problem with Struga that many people have is the fact that many Albanians live there, and there is this eternal tussle going on regarding that issue, so many people just avoid Struga coz of that...unfortunately, throughout the year, there have been incidents between the Macedonians and Albanians living there, to the extent that the pupils protested and didnt go to school...since there were fights among them and they just demanded different schedules as they wouldnt have a chance to be at school in the same shift.
I know people who have apartments/houses there and who spend their entire summer in Struga, and they have no problems with anything, but i guess that the majority of people has developed some sort of antagonism to this...
One of the reasons why I respect Struga, is that its the host of the Struga Poetry Evenings, and is considered to be the world's largest poetry gathering. Each year, they award the Golden Wreath to one of the poets, and so far, people like Pablo Neruda, Allen Ginsberg, Miroslav Krleža, Artur Lundkvist, Desanka Maksimović, Seamus Heany etc etc etc, have been awarded this wreath.
They are usually held in summer, in late August, so if you happen to be in Macedonia, this event is highly recommended for attendance....it is also supported by UNESCO.

Ohrid, Macedonia

Here is something for UNESCO collectors....homemade! :)))

This is the Samuel's Fortress in Ohrid...well, its not exactly in the centre of the town, but you would need to lose some calories till you climb there, but its worth it! (ehh, its soo nice when you can write an opinion about something due to personal experience and not based on what you've read or the impression you;ve received about it).

During King Samuel's reign (976-1014 A.D.) Ohrid was the capital of the first state of the Macedonian Slavs. Samuel’s Fortress in Ohrid dates back to the 3rd century and initially had three entrance gates, of which only one, the Upper Gate, has been preserved to this day. Before and after Samuel’s reign, the fortress had been demolished and rebuilt several times.
The highest part of Ohrid, which is 100 meters above the lake level, is surrounded by 10-16m high walls, built of stone, lime, and sand from the lake, and two defense towers.
After the arrival of colonizers from Asia, led by their commander Mino, the town started spreading outside the walls, on the surrounding plain.

There is a legend about tzar Samuel which ive known since i was little.
In the many battles fought back then, Samuel's army was defeated by the Byzantines and all the 14000 men in the army had been completely blinded...each 100th soldier had been left with one eye only in order to be able to guide the others back home. When Samuel saw his people blinded, they say he died of a shock and broken heart.

Matka, Macedonia

For quite some time ive been having an idea for several thematic updates, and finally, one of them gets to see the light of day today...Today's update can be called ex-Yugoslavia, since im about to present postcards which relate to each of its former republics...your opinions and suggestions are more than welcome, esp if you have any ideas for any sort of thematic update, you are more than welcome to share it with me...as long as it can involve at least 4 cards, its ok....and if a certain subject can lets say involve 10 different kind of cards, i dont need to have all ten of them in order to make a post....so, you are more than welcome to contribute...i have another idea pending in my head and it will come up shortly as well :)

Ill begin with my own country...well, regarding the location, i was supposed to start with either Macedonia or Slovenia and move forwards, but of course, if i have to choose between these two, the patriotic feelings are gonna prevail :)

Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia on 8th September, 1991....im one of those people who long for the good old days of Yugoslavia...things just seemed so much better back then and the world seemed so easier to reach....right now i feel like in a cage, imprisoned on my own territory
Ever since the separation from Yugoslavia we had been facing this enormous and according to me, a problem with no solution, that is, the dispute with Greece....Greece wont let go, we wont either (at least i hope  we wont), so its a dead-end street

anyway, getting political here wont really solve anything, so lets not waste space with that :)

here on the card you can see a place called Matka, which is in the nearest vicinity of Skopje (17km away) and which is a place where people go on a picnic or to relax, esp during weekends or when the weather is nice....unfortunately i havent been there in a loooong looong time...i dont even recall when was the last time i went there, which is a pity coz its really beautiful...

Matka represents both a canyon and an artifical lake.

There are also a number of monasteries there, like St Andrea, St. Matka, St. Nikola......St. Andrew's Monastery is located on Lake Matka. This monastery was built 1389 and is filled with frescos of a great artistic importance. Near Andrew's is the St. Nikola Shishovski Monastery, situated on top of the cliff above Lake Matka, thus giving the visitor a spectacular view of the lake and its surroundings. While there is no information when this monastery was built, it is first mentioned in the 17th century. Unfortunately, the monastery was abandoned during the 18th century, only to be resettled the following century.
Close to both Andrew's and St. Nikola's is Matka Monastery from the 14th century. The monastery is located on the left side of river Treska, about 12 km from Skopje. The frescos of this monastery date from the 15th century, but they don't match those of Andrew's.

EDIT***  I forgot to mention something which i thought was worth mentioning but eventually it slipped my head.
Matka in Macedonian actually means "a womb"...I guess the canyon resembles a womb. But the funny thing is that "matka" in Finnish means "a trip"....what a funny thing languages are :)

Ohrid, Macedonia

And in the end, something home made...

What i hate about this country is the overall disinterest in postcards production and the overall lack of stamps in the post offices since nobody uses them...once i was told that if it wasnt for me, the post offices wouldnt have what to do...and due to that issue i cant always get stamps or they are of the limited kind...but whats worse, i cant get the cards i want, and most of them get out of stock, permanently...and there is a number of cards from here i really love but i dont have a copy of since i had no idea i had to save a copy coz they would run out of stock...well, the card you see here, last time i checked was out of stock...actually i took the last one..and since (for now) its the last one, i decided to keep it for myself...mainly coz i love the view on this one, and it would be a real pity that i dont have it in my collection.
Well what you can see here is a view of the St. Naum Monastery in Ohrid...which is located in the immediate vicinity of the Albanian border. Ive been at this place, and i have to say its really lovely...if you ever get the chance to visit Ohrid, visiting St. Naum is a must...its a bit away from the town itself, around 30km...but its worth it.

As with most Byzantine churches, St. Naum was chosen primarily for its location – on a high, rocky outcropping over the lake, above deep forests and the life-giving springs of the Crn Drim. The monastic complex and church of St. Naum were built originally at the turn of the tenth century by the monk of the same name; Macedonians believe you can hear the saint’s heartbeat by pressing an ear to his stone coffin inside the church.

The monastery has been renewed and enlarged several times over the centuries. While most of its iconostases and frescoes date from the 16th and 17th centuries, earlier etchings in the Byzantine Greek vernacular also remain. But numerous orthographical mistakes indicate that they were written by Slavic-speaking local monks. Other inscriptions in the church make up some of the oldest epigraphic evidence of Slavic literacy.

The icons of St. Naum are among the best achievements of religious painting in the Balkans. They date from the first half of the 18th century. The wood-carved iconostasis itself was made in 1711 by an unknown artisan.

A final unusual element of St. Naum is located not on the inside of the church but on the outside: the preponderance of multi-colored peacocks strutting around and luxuriating in the grass.

Тоше Проески /Toshe Proeski (1981-2007)

Today im not gonna have a regular post with postcards and all, even though it will be postal related in some sense...

Im making this post today in order to commemorate the death of Тоше Проески....which happened exactly one year ago, 16.10.2007...a day i dont think ill ever forget....
Some of you, esp. if you are outside Europe, had already had the chance to see him on a stamp i had put on your postcards or envelopes..the stamp to which for some reason you want to refer to as 'the guy with the dove'...apologies to those inside Europe, but its somewhat harder to combine this stamp with another one in order to post something to you...but if you really want this stamp, ill see what i can do about it next time i send you something...
It was one year ago, when after I woke up i turned the TV on and the first thing i saw was some performance of Toshe with some other musicians....which wouldnt have been so odd unless I actually noticed the words "In Memoriam" on the screen...this immediately gave me the creeps and made me wonder who had actually died...not in my wildest dreams I would have thought it is Toshe...to me, and to all of us, the guy was simply immortal...so, I switched to the Teletext to read the news, and that was when it hit me...it said "Toshe Proeski died in a car accident"..I switched all channels and everybody was either talking about it or had his music on, with the words scrolling through the screen, of what had happened...he was just 26 years old...
ive never been his fan..i never liked him...though I do admit he had some really good songs, and I never denied he has a terrific voice...but i never was a fan in the sense most of the people here were...and believe me, he had the greatest fan population ever...everyone loved him...it was in his nature I guess...he was kind and generous and sincere, and with all his fatih dedicated to God and his family...he was just sooo down to earth, unlike most of the popular people...even though i didnt like him, I admit he did deserve all the attention and popularity he had...not just in Macedonia, but oisde the country as well...
I would never be able to convey the atmosphere here during that and the following days...you could have simply felt the sadness and grief flowing through the air...not even when our former president died in a plane crash years before that, people grieved like this...
The city sqare here was full of people, young and old, litting candles, leaving flowers, messages, stuffed animals...people crying all the time...no one could have actually realized of what had happened...
They broadcasted the entire ceremony on TV as well...from the arrival of the coffin at the airport, to the burial itself...I would never forget the moment when the plane arrived at 11 pm at the airport, and they took out his coffin from there....one of the creepiest things i had ever witnessed...coz this was real...this wasnt a movie...this was something really happening and we all knew that inside that coffin is Toshe's body...we all knew he would never come back, even though we all still thought that its just a part of some bad dream, and that Toshe would come out of somewhere..we couldnt face it...coz it was Toshe..Toshe couldnt die...Toshe was everywhere around as...on Tv, in the papers, on the radio...it was inevitable a day to pass without hearing or reading something about Toshe..we felt like his constant presence is simply more than natural, and we were used to it, regardless how annoying it could have get...and now we had to push the stop button and make a drastic change of the reality....
it was when he died when it surfaced of how much he had actually done for the music scene here and the country in general...it was then when it surfaced how huge he really was in every sense, and why people loved him so much...it was then when  all of a sudden we started to appreciate many things regarding him....I really wonder why the hell do we realize what we have had once we actually lose that....even me...why did he have to die so I actually figure out the exact figure he represented....the shy teenage guy from Krusevo, who turned into the greatest Macedonian star ever...completely deserved...
I think that the media back then also contributed a lot to making things much more dramatic, as if they werent enough already....I personally, couldnt stop crying for days...I was surprised at my own reactions, that I grieve and cry for someone i never really cared for nor listened to...most of my friends went to his concerts....i never did...I just couldnt picture myself at a concert of his.. I still cant...if he was alive today, i still wouldnt go to his concert...but the difference is that today I much more appreciate all that he did, and grasped the depth of his music and the emotions he had put in things he did...should i say he did countless of thigns for charity? should i say he made hundreds of children smile just coz he personally went to visit them at a hospital or at their home coz they were sick? Yeah, it is a part of a propaganda, but he did it wholeheartidly, not just so they write in the papers next day about it...he was a real humanist...its such such a pity of what happened....i just cant believe it that a whole year had passed since then...time flies so fast...

Regarding the accident itself...I never believed it really was an accident...certain things of the jigsaw just DONT fall into place...many things were done rushed, many things took infinite amount of time to be investigated...many things they served us, just dont make sense...but it all doesnt matter now...he is gone...its pointless to be debating whether it was really an accident or a conspiracy or something else...that wont bring him back...

I wouldnt go into details about his life and all....if you want to, you can read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To%C5%A1e_Proeski

ill just post some of the songs i think are worth posting...i know you wont understand most of them, since they are in Macedonian or Serbian...but at least you can hear some Macedonian music and you can get to see and hear him...

R.I.P  Toshe!

this has got to be one of my favourite performances of his...this is actually a Macedonial old traditional song, which i had always loved...his perforamnce is just terrific....the song itself, i have always found it really sad, but beautiful...

Zajdi Zajdi, Jasno Sonce  (- Set down Set down clear Sun)



Cija si   (- Whose are you?)



Angel si ti ( - You are an angel)

from the Eurovision song contest...due to adjustments at all, the song there was performed under the name of "Life"..i never liked this performance, and I always CLAIM we should stop going to Eurovision...but i still think its approproate to post this today, regardless my opinion about it...




 Lejdi (- Lady)

this is the Serbian version...couldnt find the Macedonian one..yet, i always thought there is something powerful in this one..I love it




Aria

Toshe performing with Gianna Nannini....




Tajno Moja ( - Secret of mine)

Live version...ive always loved this one, i admit that



Soba za taga ( - A room for sadnees)

another live version...no official videos.....this is at his last concert in Skopje, 5th October...just 11 days before he died...




Igri Bez Granici ( - Games with no Boundaries)

this is the song which is giving me the creeps...its from his last songs....has the feeling of death, of a life wasted, as if he had known he was going to die soon...saying he is tired of life, with empty written pages, with constant failures...i cant help but shiver each time i listen to it




I could post more and more stuff...unfortunately i couldnt find some of my favourite stuff so i can share them with you...but in case you want to see and hear more, just go to YouTube and search for him....you will as well see videos from the accident, from the burial ceremony, from when the plane brought his coffin...im sorry, but I couldnt post those here....

Thank you for your attention at this post...this aint for me...its for Toshe...and for his life...the creidts of today;s post go to him, not me...

btw, i hate translating titles...but i did it, just so you get the context of the song and what is it about
 

Skopje, Macedonia

Today is Macedonia's Independence Day...its been 17 years since it has been proclaimed as an independent state from the Former Yugoslavia...17 years of going up and down and yet not being able to find its place...if you are asking me, im not one bit happy with where Macedonia is at the moment nor the current issues hanging around...there is always a hope for the better though, but sometimes the tunnel seems to be endless and you just cant get to see the light at the end of it...

However, i did want to do something in order to commemorate this day...i dont know the reason for the fireworks on the card, but i have to say it came in very handy for the occasion, coz it does signify some sort of celebration.
A Happy Independence Day to Macedonia...I hope things in the future will get better and lot of issues will be solved for good in OUR favour...if you are familiar with the current political issues and all, then probably you know what im talking about.

Long Live Macedonia!!!!

Ohrid, Macedonia

And the final card for today comes from my own Macedonia :)


A friend of mine went there for holidays and of course, i bugged her to send me a card (as i always annoy people when they go somewhere :P)
Believe it or not, the card took 6 days to arrive from Ohrid to Skopje.....the efficiency of the postal service is really amazing me sometimes!
Well, what i like is that i dont have this card in my collection, netiher ive seen it in the stores around here, so its a Bingo! :)

Свети Пантелејмон (St. Panteleimon in English) is a monastery in Ohrid, situated on Plaošnik. (just for the record, there are several monasteries here, names as St. Panteleimon).
This one here is attributed to Clement of Ohrid a disciple of St. Cyril and St. Methodius and is believed to be the first University in Europe. Archaeologists believe that the monastery was a place where the first students of the Glagolithic alphabet were taught.

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia