.

I'm staying in Aleksandar's childhood home. Nineteen people used to live here. Vladimirovo has less than 500 people. There's a cafe/restaurant that's run by an ex professor. "I used to have 12 girlfriends. Now, I only have two," and these relationships are only online. "That doesn't count, man," I retorted. We're only 10 miles from Bulgaria, but the border is closed because of the coronavirus.

There's a former soccer player who's nicknamed Savić, after the Red Star Belgrade star. Savić has a small grocery store in nearby Berovo, and he also makes money by buying milk from local farmers to deliver to dairy companies. Delighted to have such an exotic visitor to his village, Savić said to me a couple times, "Thank you very much!" It's his one phrase in English.

Today in Berovo, a woman asked if she could take a photo with me, then she and her friend said, "Grazie! Ciao!"

Even before the coronavirus, there were almost no foreign tourists in this area.



.