Wednesday, September 16
Today we took a drive to the most famous tourist destination in Skopje, namely, the Matka Canyon. Located only 10 miles from downtown Skopje although it's still a 45 minute drive through the winding local roads. Eventually the road narrows and we strive to park in any spot big enough for our car to fit. We were reminded that N. Macedonia has virtually no laws or rules regarding driving or parking and so far we have not seen any police. Parking in a spot overlooking the canyon below, we began the one kilometer walk to a 95 foot tall dam built in 1938. After climbing the stairs to the top of the dam, we immediately saw the reason it is a favorite tourist sight. Behind the dam is a narrow lake with towering mountains on either side. Rather than walk the 5-7 kilometer trail up the side of the lake, we opted to take a 15 person boat ride. Crystal clear and deep water and the steep mountain walls diving into the lake made every turn another photo op. After the boat trip we went to the restaurant having over the water, had some lunch and then made the return trip to our accommodations. At our evening meal, the waiter suggested we visit a Macedonian Village tomorrow.
We had a delicious meal at the Monastery of Shopska salad and Chicken/Mozzarella. Both were really good. The salad consisted of very little arugula, cucumber and tomatoes. The cheese was very mild.
We also discovered hot chocolate with cream and blueberry juice.
At night we have an amazing dinner at the Italian Restaurant on our lower level of spaghetti and pork medallion. We were able to get to know the waiter as we have eaten there several time. The bread was amazing and he asked the baker to allow me to watch him bake the bread. I'm going to try it when I get home with my pizza oven.
Thursday, September 17
After entering the Macedonian Village name into our google map, we were off. After 30 minutes of intense city traffic, we were directed up a mountain and the quiet of suburban villages. After another 15 minutes the GPS said we were "there," however, we seemed to be nowhere. Parking the car we saw some men under a tree near an old church. We approached them and found out the GPS had sent us to the "modern" church (only 150 years old) for the village. One of the men took us on a tour of the church and explained how they were restoring the church and its icons. Then supplied with a new address, we were off again. Five kilometers of winding upward roads brought us to a reconstructed Macedonian Village and the oldest Orthodox church of Macedonia. A cup of coffee and pastry and the conversation of the 16 year old waitress renewed us for a tour of this village. We bought a few items and toured the old church. Then we retraced our route and returned to our accommodations. An interesting fact is that our rental car is a 5 speed manual transmission yet almost the entire trip was in 2nd gear.
Today we decided to just stay put and relax. We love our little apartment and after sleeping in and a nice breakfast on the bottom level, we have just been sitting around planning our next move.
Last night we were able to track down a small gem store where they cut the Macedonian Ruby. He is going to make me something and/or we might pick something up in Ohrid. He was an interesting man, and explained all about how the gem was found and how it came about to be classified as a new gem.
So after an Italian meal later tonight we will sign off for the day. Tomorrow we plan to go to Matka Canyon and see the Millennial Cross.
On the 14th we did a detailed walking tour of Skopie. We used Viator to purchase a self guided tour with our phone that explained the history and many of the sites. It put into perspective some of the statutes we saw on Sunday.
Macedonia has a complex history. If you are interested, you can find some information on youtube.com. But what is interesting is that in 1963 there was an earthquake that destroyed most of the eastern city which was rebuilt. It was part of the communist block until 1991 when they became an independent country, yet it did not have a recognized name.
Initially, they called themselves "Macedonia" however, Greece refused to accept it since Greece has a major region called Macedonia. It was 2018 when they all finally agreed to the name North Macedonia.
In 2014, they did a major rebuild of the city center of Skopje. The focal point is a massive statute of Alexander the Great on one side of the river and his father Phillip of Macedon on the other. Every bridge and building has lesser statutes, with Mother Teresa in the center of the walking bridge since she was born a few blocks from city center.
Today, Skopje and the country are a mixture of peoples and religions. Major Orthodox churches and mosques dot the city. The Old City and bazaar feel very Turkish and muslim while across the river, the new city center feels very European.
It's smaller than it look like in the pictures but very nice. Total price for 7 days is $394.00 It's on the 30th floor overlooking the city. Since we are here for 7 days, there was no rush to get up and about so we enjoyed relaxing and sleeping. There is a small mall and the bottom floor with a few restaurants and a grocery store, So we had a delicious pizza and greek salad last night and picked up some groceries.
Around noon on the 13th we ventured out and drove to the center city and walked around. I like walking around on a Sunday because the crowds are low, although it was still hard to find a place to park. Only the restaurants and tourists bazaar was open so I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow.
Did you know - Mother Teresa was born here. We hope to go to her museum tomorrow.
Another joy of the first 5 days of our vacation was that we were able to attend a family wedding. My sister's grandson who had graduated from the Air Force Academy last May was also getting married this weekend. It was such a joy to be able to not only attend the wedding, but spend time with my two sisters and some of their family.
The wedding was wonderful, but, because they did not allow any pictures to be taken we do not have any documentation. One of the funniest things was that when they asked for the rings, the groomsmen acted like they could not find them. Then the pastor said "don't worry, I have a guy"; and they started to play the song from 007 and the ring barrier came down the isle with a small case and dark glasses and brought it to the pastor; so cute.
We are now waiting to fly back to Phoenix for a quick stop over before we head off to Macedonia on Friday.
One hiccup - My dad had an issue over the weekend and we are putting him into hospice when my sisters get back to MI. SO . . . every thing will depend on how he does.
Our first exposure to the Air Force Academy was "WOW! From sitting in the stands overlooking a sea of blue and white shirts to the Wings of Blue parachuting into the arena with the American Flag to the F-16 flying over and the cadets marching onto the field brought immense pride to to be an American.
An especially proud moment for us was to see our granddaughter in her dress blues so proudly representing the USA. She has already survived some of the hardest weeks of basic training and will now settle into college courses which she is looking forward to. I'm guessing this will not be our last trip to Colorado Springs.
