The bus trip from Pristina to Skopje was easy and took us through a valley where a loan from the world bank had meant that a dual highway bridge snakes its way down the valley towards the border with North Macedonia where it abruptly stops and becomes a single highway for the last 30 mins to Skopje.
Having enjoyed Ohrid so much we were both excited about spending a few nights in Skopje and there were plenty of museums to enjoy so on our first morning we eagerly set off in the near freezing temperatures to explore. Unfortunately on arrival at our first port of call we found the museum to be shut for a national holiday and therefore all museums would be shut so we had to change our plan.
Our decision was to just have a walk around the city which we had heard was quite unusual. The reason for this was a devastating earthquake that struck the city in 1963 causing a huge amount of damage. Over 1000 people died in the quake and countless more injured. Most buildings were destroyed or left unsafe and so almost 200,000 people were left without a home after just 20 seconds of carnage.
The aftermath of the quake resulted in a period of intense building and it had to be done in the cheapest and most effective way. This has resulted in an abundance of communist style square apartment blocks that while efficient do little to inspire. To combat this ex prime minister Gruevski began project “Skopje 2014” to revitalise the city centre. The result is something that could almost be out of Las Vegas. There are huge buildings made to look almost Roman in design and large walkways for people to enjoy ambling around the city. I have to admit I thought it a little strange but quite nice. It was only later that we read that prime minister Gruevski is currently in Hungary avoiding corruption charges and the whole project is riddled with rumours of sub standard building quality.
As we continued our walk we ended up in the old bazaar area of Skopje where we were able to wander around the narrow streets lined with all kinds of shops and restaurants. Luckily these were open and we got to enjoy a delicious lunch of kofta sandwiches. Our stroll after lunch took us further into the old town where we came across a market and spent some time wandering around looking at all the fantastic food produce for sale and even though the rest of the city was quiet for the national holiday there was still plenty of hustle and bustle here.
Dotted around the bazaar were around ten mosques and this being a Friday it meant the most popular day for attending. It had been said to us before that while a majority of the population identify as Muslim most Macedonians don’t tend to attend prayers multiple times a day but do make an effort to attend Friday midday. This meant that while we were wandering around the old town we could hear the call to prayer booming out around us and groups of men were making their way towards the mosques with their prayer mats under their arms. It was quite a cool experience for us to be amongst. The mosques weren’t big enough for everyone to fit inside so the streets outside were lined with men on their knees praying. Unfortunately we didn’t feel it appropriate to take photos of people praying so memories are all we will have.
On our second day we decided to go in the free walking tour and set off to meet the guide at the main square. This being off season we weren’t sure whether there was even going to be a tour due to a lack of tourists so were pleased when we arrived to find our tour guide Zoran surrounded by half a dozen people keen to learn more about Skopje. This number soon swelled to 30 and we were quite an eclectic bunch ranging from all sorts of countries from all over the world.
Walking tours are never a waste of time in my opinion but as with everything their quality often varies greatly and Zoran’s tour of Skopje was easily one of the best we have ever been on. It was an honest impromptu round of applause that he was given at the end!!
His first task was to take us through the history of North Macedonia and I feel that like all the countries in the Balkans there was initial influence by Ottomans and Romans the Macedonians also enjoyed a rivalry with the Greeks followed by two world wars intermingled with the creation and domination of Yugoslavia. I forgot the Austrian Hungarian influence, the Cold War battle resulting in America and the Soviet Union building things in return for alliances and I am sure China must have featured somewhere too!! Needless to say confusing.
Zoran was an ex teacher though and with the help of a very good diagram took us through all the various ruling countries that have been in power in Macedonia before it gained its independence in 1991 and we felt slightly less confused. I think though that we are going to have to visit every Balkan country individually to understand what has happened in this region in the past!! (Or an afternoon on Wikipedia!)
While there are obviously similar themes within the area it is King Philip II and his son Alexander the Great that give Macedonians the greatest sense of importance in the world for in around 300BC the Macedonian empire was one of the largest empires in history stretching all the way to India. So just to add a bit more confusion into the area the Macedonian people feel they can lay claim to an area far larger than just North Macedonia and an ongoing feud with Greece will probably never end.
Zoran was though a very proud Macedonian and while acknowledging problems within the country came across as very optimistic as to the future of the place particularly in regard to their hopes to join the EU and progress with their modernisation. He would have been old enough to remember life before the split from Yugoslavia and remarked that a lot of the older generation look back on those communist days quite fondly. Yet he was very proud to declare that of all the Balkan countries during the split from communism North Macedonia was alone in achieving it without a fight and only a vote.
We left the tour with a great understanding of the city and the country as well as a bunch of recommendations of museums to visit and restaurants to eat at. So we did and ending up having a fantastic time exploring the city.
I would like to come back to Skopje in the warmer months. There would be many reasons for this but one main reason would be that the restaurants would be a lot more enjoyable. The reason for this is the smoking culture and while I understand there is a degree of hypocrisy in what I am writing it really is disgusting to walk into an enclosed restaurant where 95% of the clientele are smoking and the smoke hangs in the air. We have had many experiences of walking into places and walking straight out to try and find one with a segregated non smoking area. (I feel not everyone here has thought through the implications of joining the EU). Still in the summer we would be outside and I feel it should be more enjoyable because the food is divine!!
The other main noticeable factor of visiting North Macedonia is how friendly and welcoming everyone has been. We have felt not only safe walking around but feel so well received by the majority of the locals that it has been truly a wonderful end to our brief but fantastic tour of Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. It has been an area of the world I have wanted to visit for a long while and it certainly has been worth it and will definitely make our (long) list of places to come back to and explore further! T
Having been on the go for 7 months we are both still loving life but are also looking forward to our next stop which is to be St Anton Austria where we will hopefully get some snow and will definitely enjoy unpacking and staying in an apartment for a while!!