Saturday, May 26, 2018

Today my luggage and I arrived without incident in Skopje. Left Frankfurt at 9:30 AM and arrived to mid 80s and clear skies about 2 PM.

I don't know much about this part of the world other than it has been a cross roads and melting pot of religions and cultures.  I thought Macedonia was a territory of northern Greece. Although there is a territory of Macedonia in northeastern Greece, I am in the independent Republic of Macedonia and Skopje is the capital. (If you want a quick refresher on the 4000 years of Macedonian history, here is a quick link to Wikipedia.)

You got a peek at that ignorance yesterday when I put Ljubljana in Croatia. It is really the capital of an independent country,Slovenia, a part of the old Yugoslavia. It looks like it won't be too hard to expand my knowledge of this part of the world.

A few more quick facts for today and I'll get on with it.

-  Macedonia is one of the poorest countries in Europe. A side benefit is my 4 star hotel for $75 a night, and a great with salad, pasta, and 2 glasses of wine for $ 20
-  In 1963 Skopje had an earthquake that destroyed about 80% of the city. So it is in many ways a new city. 

Here are a few pictures from my walk around this afternoon.  You may notice it is The city is "well statued". To quote from an on line blog:  "If there’s one thing Skopje is famous for it is statues – they are everywhere – and they have inadvertently become a tourist attraction in themselves.  While traveling around the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as soon as you mention you’re going to Skopje, almost immediately someone will say “ahhh, the city of statues."  And I'll add that these are not small statues. Most of them are huge!!


 



There is a central castle and old town area. This is the wall (you can walk part of it and get some great views of the city.




 







It has a very multi-cultural feeling. As I walked by, it was clear there was an evening service at this mosque, and a few blocks away is an impressive Holocaust musem.







The Vardar River runs through the center of the city. I think they tried to emulate the Charles Bridge in Prague with their Bridge of the Civilizations, just built a few years ago.


















 And their is a great walk and restaurants along the edge ala the Seine in Paris.




A very 21st century city. Tomorrow we meet our guide and get in a few miles to road test the bikes.









I'll add this link to each blog - it is my google photos link of all my pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/SkSdN291blRX2lUA3