Due Vagabondi: On to SKOPJE, capital of NORTH MACEDONIA

I'm breaking with tradition here and not posting a map of Macedonia and where we plan to go as it changed 100% from what we thought, sitting back in Mexico doing some planning. Perhaps I will get one done by the time we leave the country!

When we say we're going to Macedonia, friends and acquaintances go kind of blank. Its a tiny, land-locked country, formerly part of communist Yugoslavia. Macedonia gained its independence peacefully in 1991. Quite an accomplishment.

Anyway, you know the legend immortalized in the first photo collage of statues on the far right below ... Alexander the Great, son of King Phillip II of Macedonia, great warrior who created an empire that stretched from Europe to Asia and was known as the Kingdom of Macedonia.

Macedonia is also known because the Catholic Mission of Mother Theresa of Calcutta was founded here.

The Cyrillic alphabet and thus, Slavic literacy was founded by two brothers from Macedonia.

Skopje (SKOPE-yay) is the capital of Macedonia and our journey starts here. About 1/4 of all Macedonians live in Skopje. What a different, interesting, cool, unpredictable city ... and like the rest of Macedonia, such open, kind and welcoming people. Most people, by the way, speak very good English.

Visitors mostly comment on the architecture of Skopje, and not being an expert on that topic, let me just say that there are surprises around every corner when it comes to looking at buildings. One could wander for days just doing that. Others have written essays on it. There are many different styles all jammed in together, sometimes it's jarring to the senses ... and other times if you just squint, it all seems to blend together seamlessly.

A small sampling of various buildings:

And speaking of weird buildings, there are three "ships" along the waterfront. One appears permanently closed down and two are restaurants. I read somewhere that one was a hotel at one time. I checked them all closely and couldn't figure out which one:

Then there are the statues. From back 'home,' I thought perhaps of doing a study of the statues. Ha!! That would take weeks or maybe months. They are everywhere. From the grandiose over-the-top ones in the main city plaza (Skanderbeg Square) ...

... to the warm and engaging figures outside of the theatre

... to the ones that depict family separation that happened both with the Yugoslavian war and for the Jewish people who fled to here from other countries like Spain.

... to the merely whimsical

This entire bridge is lined with statues both sides:

We wonder if this is a statue at the Fortress is from the communist era:

Statues compete with monuments. Here are two of the biggies:

I guess I'm missing some subtleties here, but I think we kind of look just like the people of Macedonia. But even before we open our mouths to speak (a dead giveaway), the locals are saying "Hello, Welcome to Macedonia! Where are you from? Tell me, why did you decide to come here?" It seems we are a bit of an oddity. Paul wonders if his Hawaiian shirt is a hint.

And of course, we talk to the locals about our Grand Forks friend with Macedonian heritage who has enamoured us with his stories of visiting this country. When people learn we are from Canada, they seem very pleased. They like Canada...or what they've heard about it.

We are struggling even with some of the common greeting words in Macedonia, especially when they are written. I made up this little word sheet to see how you do. Write to us if you want the answers:

Right now we are in wine country ... and after sampling the local wares am feeling sufficiently relaxed that this post may not happen for a while ... "our week in Skopje". Bye the way, a bottle of delicious Pinot Noir from this region is equivalent to CAD 4.77

Immediately, we notice that there are street dogs in Skopje, not a lot, but they have a presence ... a calm, nice, dog presence. Not begging for food; some shy, others appreciating any pats or kind words that come their way. No dog fights. Although there is one bad boy who aggressively chases anyone on wheels at the main square. Then we see the yellow tags.

Skopje city has a project where street dogs are picked up, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, given a health check then a yellow tag is put on an ear. Periodically they are picked up and given health checks and treatments as needed. BUT, they are not fed. Locals seem to step up to the plate. We see only one that is obviously too thin. So, we buy a bag of dog food and carry it in our day pack every time we go downtown and give a handful to each yellow tagged dog we see and any dogs hanging with them who have not yet had the good fortune to be tagged.

Sadly, a non-profit has not grown along with the city initiative to try to find these dogs a forever home. Some seem to not care about humans (or trust them) too much, while others seem too long for their affection. Skopje does get winter, and I think that time must be hard on the dogs. There is no similar program for cats, although we see many fewer cats than dogs. While deficient in some ways, this program is so much superior to anything we have encountered in our travels so far, even by much wealthier cities than Skopje.

Our Airbnb landlord has left us a map with some key spots marked on it. One is a neighbourhood called Debar Maalo (AKA: the Bohemian District) for food and drink. It's not far from where we are, so off we go. The vibe of this area is laid back: good music, tree-lined streets and people getting together. There are no statues and no odd buildings, so it seems like a different world.

We luck out and among the more expensive restaurants, we find a "kafona", or traditional restaurant. Here we have a (big) glass of wine for the equivalent of $1 Canadian. The famous Shopska salad is 80 denar when we paid 240 denar for it up at Matka Lake. The menu has authentic soups, stews and meat pies. Such a choice. We return to this area of Skopje.

Every day as we walk downtown on one of the main boulevards, we pass this beautiful domed church and one day finally walk in. This Church of St. Clement of Ohrid (Soborna Crkva) is a Macedonian Orthodox church consecrated in 1990 and is as beautiful inside as it is outside.

Crossing the 702 foot long Stone Bridge from Skanderbeg Square leads one to Skopje Old Town, better known as the Old Bazaar. This bridge, with its 12 arches has survived fires and earthquakes. During the Ottoman rule, many executions were done on this bridge.

Located on the banks of the Vadar River, the Old Bazaar has one of the oldest and largest markets in the Balkans (Bit Pazar). There are also many cultural and historical sites within its streets. It reminds us of the medinas of Morocco, but much smaller and more open. Many products are from Turkey. Numerous buildings are carrying on commerce that is in a state of decay, but there is currently a revitalization project here due to its fairly new cultural designation. Bargaining is the name of the game, and we do some shopping here.

We are stunned by the countless shops with gold jewellery on display and incredible women's gowns and wedding dresses decked with jewels. Who shops here?

Within the Old Bazaar is the Daut Pasha Hamam. Built in the 15th. century it has 15 rooms, each covered by a dome. The two largest domes were over the change rooms, while the 13 smaller domes covered individual bathing rooms. It now houses the National Art Gallery.

At the far northern edge of the Old Bazaar is Bit Bazaar.

The aroma of the Macedonia yellow peppers that the farmers sell is intoxicating.

Any fresh fruit or vegetable you want that grows locally, is here. Spices, nuts and dried fruit are in abundance.

There are also stalls with cheap gadgets and gizmos that look like they would last until you walked out of the market. We love wandering here.

Just outside of the Old Bazaar lies Kale Fortress on the highest hill in Skopje. Walking its walls gives great views of the Bazaar and of the city. History says that this land was first inhabited in prehistoric times. The fortress was built in the 11th. century.

Skopje wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Millennium Cross and to Matka Lake.

The Millennium Cross, standing at 66 meters in height on top of the highest point on Vodno Mountain is the tallest cross in the world and was erected in 2009 to mark the 2,000th. year anniversary of Christianity in Macedonia and the world. It was funded by the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the government and by donations from Macedonians all over the world. We see it from our front yard and it's pretty impressive when its LED lights come on at night. City bus #25 gets you to the base of the mountain and a long, steep gondola ride gets you to the top. There's not much to do up here, except enjoy the 360-degree views of Skopje. It's dark and stormy as we head up, brightens briefly and we get home just before the downpour, thunder and lightning.

Matka Lake and Canyon: City bus #60 will take you the 15 km from Skopje to the majestic Matka Canyon and the artificially formed Lake Matka, an area that has endemic plants, animals and birds as well as medieval churches, monasteries and the ruin of an ancient fortress.

Lake Matka is the oldest artificial lake in Macedonia and is 7 km long. There are ten caves in the canyon, including Cave Vrelo which may be the deepest underwater cave in the world. A 15-minute walk from where the bus lets you off and there are a coffee shop and eatery, then a few minutes past that are a couple of companies that offer boat rides on the Lake up to Cave Vrelo; kayak rentals and a place where young men jump off the rocks into the water.

We choose to hike up the canyon, along the water for a while. It's gorgeous. The rocks soar straight out of the water to the sky. Our path is narrow and an iron rope is fastened to the cliff for when you need a hand.

There's an expensive restaurant and in our line of sight from there is a monument to an 18-year-old young man who lost his life rock-climbing here.

There are 8 of us who were on the city bus up and now at the end of the day, 8 of us who want to get the 15 km back to Skopje. There are some very happy taxi drivers at the bus waiting place. Our #60 bus has been in a crash and it's not known if the one last bus of the day will run or not. All of us a bit suspicious, two from the group get the taxi drivers to take them to the site of the crash ... all is confirmed. Four per taxi and a good deal back to town, even though we each paid for a return bus ticket. Ah well.

Day Trip from Skopje to Kratovo:

We head to Kratovo, a small town located in the crater of an extinguished volcano by bus from Skopje because we want to see the Stone Dolls of Kuklica. A bit more research and Kratovo sounds like a great place to explore too. Its described as a "living museum" and/or the "town of towers and bridges".

Kratovo has so much history, so many myths and legends surrounding it, that it's beyond the scope of this blog to delve into it.

We arrive and the weekly market is in full swing. The streets are packed with shoppers who all seem like one big happy family. The fruit and vegetable stalls are brimming with fresh produce. Its a lively place and it spills into the cafes where people sit and chat on this social day. Even the fire truck is out:

Kratovo once had 12 towers, all connected by an underground network of tunnels, now there are 6, and just a portion of one tunnel remains.

The most well-known tower is the Clock Tower, as it has now been turned into a museum and people love the balcony with its sweeping views of the town. Folks think the clock is missing from the tower, but it's the bell that is missing. When it was 3 o'clock, the bell was rung 3 times and so on.

The other towers are named too. They carry the name of the last family who owned them.

Other towers:

We are lucky today to be let into the tunnel under the Restaurant Aleksandrija. It's through a door and into the rabbit hole Alice. Watch your step! To our immediate left is a well about six feet deep and full of water. Then it's through a stone tunnel that one can't really imagine being built by hand through all this rock and into a room that may have been used for storage. The rest of this tunnel has been blocked off.

Five bridges bring the two sides of Kratovo together that are split by a chasm. Here are 4 of them. The bridge with the red railing (Radin Bridge) kept its original pillars when it was renovated. There is a terrible myth about this bridge that goes something like this: The first bridge collapsed, so to break the spell the workers were told that the first of their wives to bring a lunch the next day would have to be killed and her body put into the pillars of the bridge. When the wife of a young worker came with his lunch she begged for them to spare her life and take only one of her breasts for the bridge as she was the mother of a young infant who was still breastfeeding. A more gentle telling of the myth says that the men found a way to take only her shadow to incorporate into the construction.

Kratovo has a little, medieval orthodox church in the centre of town. The frescoes are original.

Kratovo was once a wealthy town with silver and gold mines so there are many fine old houses here, that are unfortunately falling to ruin:

As we leave Kratovo we say goodbye to Saint George of Kratovo (AKA: The Holy Martyr, George of Kratovo). George was an 18 year old Serbian from Kratovo, a silversmith and devout Christian. The Turks demanded that he convert to Islam, he refused so they tortured, then burned him at the stake.

The Stone Dolls of Kuklica are a collection of 120 stone pillars formed through a natural erosion process over the past 100,000 years. Stones on the bottom are a softer tuffa type stone while the ones on top may be 30 million years old.

The origins of the stones are surrounded by legends which are always more interesting than the science that formed them. There are at least three legends and they are easily found on the Internet. In short, the most common one is about a young man who could not decide which of two women to marry, so he arranges to marry both on the same day. While he is marrying one in the morning, his other fiance decides to go to the church to see who else is getting married on her wedding day. When she sees her betrothed marrying another, she utters a curse that turns all (priest, bride, groom, wedding party and guests) to stone.

Gazing at these rock formations, one can indeed see human characteristics in them and even identify expressions on some. It's like the game of children, but seeing pictures in rocks instead of clouds...and it works.

The first collage is the wedding party (bride, groom, best man, maid of honour and priest), while the second is of the guests. Both collages are close-ups, then of far away camera angles:

Kratovo is a beautiful little city and well worth the one-hour bus trip from Skopje.

We really enjoyed Skopje and can see ourselves returning for a visit.

Next, we are off to the wine region of Kavadarci and the biggest winery in the country (x2 days), Bitola x3 days, then our last 11 days is in Struga on Lake Ohrid. Its short bus rides from one to the other (1-2 hours).

Random Photos, Skopje: