Short post today; instead of paragraphs of text, you’ll receive a visual tour of Skopje, Macedonia’s crazy construction sites, sculptures, and public buses that would make you think you’ve woken up in Wee Britain.
We arrived via overnight bus ride from Kotor, Montenegro, crossing through Kosovo on the way, and settled in for a four night stay to explore this mysterious (to us, at least) capital city of the Republic of Macedonia. (Or, as my Greek friends like to point out, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Google “FYROM” for the drama…)
Without further ado, behold Skopje:
Our apartment building…
Used booksellers along the riverfront walk peddle all sort of random titles; they’re smiling and happy to point out English titles (The Atkins Diet, etc.), though we suspected they weren’t too familiar with their stock.
Their massively devastating 1963 earthquake leveled 75% of the city’s buildings, and the whole place seems to be under (endless?) construction. Our landlord’s friend picked us up at the bus station and gave us a tour of town, explaining that most of their new public monuments are an odd fit and costly expense to a struggling city. The arch above, for example, sits at the entry to downtown, but the architecture looks strangely out of place.
Ted with Alexander the Great
Tweet if You Love Skopje Street Art
This duo from the city park summed up so much about Skopje in their smile and scowl, leading us to choose the shot for our “Blue” entry in the Capture the Colour contest…
An odd city. Haunting and curious. Gilded gold statues and concrete monstrosities. Green parks and old men…and red double-decker buses?
Strange or fascinating? Would you go for a visit?
This post is part of a series on our “Choose Your Own Adventure” travel through Eastern Europe: Croatia through Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, and Cyprus on to Lebanon. Otherwise known as “junior high geography songs come to life.”
6 Comments
Hmm…realized I know nothing about Macedonia! Well, since Tim wants to visit every European country I guess we will be visiting at some point. I’m interested to follow along and see what you were up to for 4 days there.
Alexander the Great was the only association I had with Macedonia ahead of our visit. Really great to now have memories of people and places to link to the country. I’d be interested to hear your guys’ take on Macedonia when you get the chance to visit.
[…] meals of whimsy in oddball settings on foreign soil. (Well, foreign asphalt on a side street in the concrete-jungle of Skopje, Macedonia.) Yes, we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to savor Michelin Star meals on our travels, […]
We finally caught with you ! We are quite interested about countries we plan to go through next spring ! Keep up with the discoveries !
Claude and Marie ( we crossed the Allantic together )
Claude and Marie! We miss you guys. And we miss Canasta. We haven’t found anyone else who knows how to play, and we’re starting to forget for lack of practice. So good to hear from you. It’ll be fun to hear about your 2013 adventures : )
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I
in finding this matter to be really one thing that I think I might by no means understand.
It sort of feels too complicated and very huge for me.
I’m taking a look forward on your next put up, I’ll try
to get the hang of it!