Pastrmalija killed the fresh air

Krushevo! The city with the cleanest of fresh air. Its freshness comes over you like a shock after having been in Skopje for a longer time. Walking around in this beautiful little town, that seems to have fallen straight from heaven on the top of a mountain, one gets the impression that living in such a place allows you to live at least 10 years longer. However, there seem to be two downsides to this:

1. Hay fever does not seem to work well in smoggy, foggy and dirty places like Skopje. There's not a lot of sneezing involved in the capitol. At least not from pollen and other stuff produced by greens. Once you sneeze in Skopje, you immediately know it's from the exhausts, the blowing dust and just... well, Skopje. Walking around in the fresh mountain air, where pollen have green light to fly around and get reproduced, is a disaster for the eyes and nose if you have hay fever. It feels like the allergy is playing 'catching up' after having been put on hold for so long. Giving in to the allergy's victory seemed like a wise thing to do after 3 hours of resistance. Having to do that (giving in rather than resist) is a not-done thing in Krushevo where the uprise against the Ottoman Empire in 1903 was done with reasonable amount of success. As a result of that uprise the Republic of Krushevo enjoyed a full 10 days excistence. The motto "Freedom or Death" became something to live by after the re-occupation of the Ottomans. But at the end of the day, all there was to worry about was just a hay fever attack on eyes and nose. Atchoo!
   
2. When coming from Skopje, whatever you do in Krusheve, one moment or the other you have to leave the place and get back to Skopje. The fresh air makes you hungry. Half way back home you come across a town called Veles, famed for its 'pastrmalija' (the Macedonian pizza). You order one thinking that you can deal with it. The smallest seem appropriate. You get about a half square meter of pizza on your plate. And pastrmalija Veles style is lardy. Super tasty, but lardy. Finishing half of that makes you worry about your health. Food that tasty and that heavy cannot make you very old. The worrying part grows when you realize that because of the heavy industry based in Veles, the town is also known as the most polluted place in Macedonia.
   

All the benefits you so gloriously built one when you're in Krushevo become obsolete. At least they did for me.

Today's photos

	A bit further up the road, near the Krushevo Lake, some serious lumbering result in horses carrying heavy burdens.
	The heroes of the national uprise on the day of St. Illija (Illija Den -> Illinden -> Ilija's Day) in 1903 received a monument high on the mountain in Krushevo. All name tags have the shape of old fashioned cherry wood canons.
	Arguably THE most well known monument in Macedonia - Monument of the Illinden Uprising. More about the uprise: in 1903 the freedom fighters in Krushevo succeeded in over-powering the Ottomans, resulting in the declaration of the Republic of Krushevo. Ten days after this declaration the Ottomans crushed the dreams of this young republic and took over again.
	Inside the monument. Detail: the door has the shape of an 'M', standing for, indeed, Macedonia.
	Enjoying the great views over the mountains and the lake.
	Collecting herbs (thyme) on 1.300 metres high. The thyme is used for making tea. Using it as a seasoning for meats is not yet wide spread.