Day 19 - Wednesday 22 May - Skopje

Wednesday 22 May, Skopje

So we went to the bus station, and got bus cards on our 3rd attempt, so we got into town the easy way.  We were early, and I was beginning to doubt again when the guide showed up with his blue umbrella, and off we went, with a German girl joining after 15 minutes.

Skopje is a city of statues, over 100 of them, and we passed many as we went along.  The biggest and best was called 'Equestrian Warrior', because the Greeks claim Alexander the Great as well as the name Macedonia.  It has been years going through international courts, with the Greeks thinking that little Macedonia, pop 2.5mill, may invade and claim the Greek state of Macedonia.  But they settled this year, the Republic of Northern Macedonia took a side step, and in doing so got priority entry into Europe and NATO.  So now the statue can be called by its name, though there is an addendum that Alex is a Hellenic Macedonian (because he was born in the Greek bit, but the Macedonians are fine with that.)

 Another Arch to add to our collection.

 I don't remember what this one was about, but Vasko said that a while ago he had an Australian lady who said she had counted all the figures (this one would have totalled 7) and got to nearly 200.

Macedonia's history is different from the other countries we have visited, being more connected with the western Balkans of the former Yugoslavia, and of course Greece.  So we learned about its ancient and more recent history as we walked for 3 1/2 hours through the newer city (rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1963) and the old city.

 This chef was twirling puff pastry to make 'burek', a cheese filled breakfast fast food.

 

A devastating  earthquake struck on 26 July 1963, and 80% of the city was ruined.  This was the railway station, that has not been rebuilt.

 

Some folk dancers

We crossed the C15 Stone Bridge to the older part of the city

  ..  past the childhood of Alexander with his mother Olympia, and his dad Philip in the background ..

 ..  and into the bazaar, but different streets that we went to yesterday.

We then climbed to the top of C6 Kale Fortress, built on the site of ancient civilisations, and there the group disbanded.  We took some photos,  ...

 

 ..  then went to the Church of the Ascension, which  has only a few icons, but lots of intricate wood carving instead.

And then went for lunch at an al-fresco cafe in the old town bazaar. The guide had suggested that baked beans were traditional, so we had a bowl of them on the edge of the table, with a serving spoon. We were about half way through our meal, when a guy walking past stopped at our table, ate 3 spoonfuls of beans, muttered something and moved on. We couldn't believe it, and neither could the couple at the next table. We wondered whether it was a local custom, but it blew the waiter's mind as well when we told him.

 Looking stunned.

So we kept on, through the Holocaust memorial which had lots of writing, with photos and videos, but there was so much we only skimmed through the last bit.
Then we got back across the bridge (not earthquake destructed) to Mother Teresa's memorial, which is built on the site of the church where she was baptised (earthquake destructed) and around the corner from her birthplace.

She is Macedonia's treasure, although of Albanian parents, and despite living in the country for only 18 years.  She did return 4 times though, and the Pope came earlier this year, so the vast minority (less than 5%) who are RC are happy.
 By then we'd had enough, so came home.