Our third and the last destination was Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, where we stayed for 3 days.
Initially I was looking forward to being here the most as I was supposed to meet my friends Miho and Barbara, that I met during my first European Youth project in
Iasi, Romania
We arrived at night, but were still eager to explore something from the city. The triumphal arch was in close distance from our apartment. So it was a quick choice.
Next day in the morning we decided to go to one-day trip to mountain Vodno, a big mountain just next to Skopje with its amazing view of the city. The bus took us to the middle of the mountain and then we used the cableway. It was windy up there, but the nature and the view was more than worth it!
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| Double-deckers as a gift from the UK after the earthquake in 1963 |
The we were exploring the city centre. Many robust and majestic buildings near the Macedonia squere with its iconic statue of Alexander. We took part in free walking tour. Thus, we had an opportunity to explore the city and the main sightseeings with a local. Besides, that guide could speak a bit of Czech! What a nice surprise!
We went even in the Memorial house of Mother Teresa,
where she lived from 1910 to 1928.
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| Historical stone bridge |
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| Macedonia square |
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| Memorial house of Mother Teresa |
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| Local market |
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| The only shop for the elevators in the world :D |
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| Our free walking tour group...street dogs everywhere |
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| Burek |
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| Baklava |
Our free walking tour ended up the hill near the city center. It was actually the fortification of the city and the view from there was nice! We took few pics and recorded video, thanked and said good bye to our guide and went to the museum, where we wanted to get more info about the earthquake in 1963, when the majority of the city was completely destroyed. However, there was a big wave of solidarity shown from the world. Countries gave Skopje what they could (materials, personnel, goods, knowledge,...). Skopje named some of its streets after the states or capital cities as a thank-you!
In general, I am not big fan of museums, but this one was really nicely done for the visitors. Many period objects and rooms decorated to fit those times. Moreover, the guide could speak Czech! So he was guiding us throughout the whole museum and explaining us the time continuation of the events.
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| Mountain Vodno visible (left upper corner) |
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| The time the earthquake hit Skopje....the time stopped |
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| Our (czech-speaking) guide - could speak 6 languages btw |
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| A journey that Cyril and Methodius took to bring us the new language - Slavic Missionaires |
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| Slavic Missionaires |
And finally now, the reunion of me and my two friends from Skopje - Miho and Barbara. I have not seen them since the projects - 3 years.
We spent with Miho 1,5 days. He took us to a special place near Skopje. It is called Matka Canyon and it is one of the most popular outodoor destinations in Macedonia. There is also a Matka lake, which is by the way the oldest artificial lake in the country. Most importantly, there are more than 10 caves, clear river passing through the canyon and also several historic churches and monasteries. This place is besides other specifics famous for its biology. Wide variety of plants and animals found a home here. Around 20% of them are endemic and can be found only here!
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| Miho! |
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| With Miho and Barbara |
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| Of course, we could not leave without trying Rakija! |
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| The way to the canyon Matka |
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| Bye bye Skopje! |
