I could not get a picture in your head of what I find in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia and this situation did not change it to read or tell me about this country. That “And then there is?” Fruit of my ignorance and curiosity were crucial to increase my desire to solve my question. Needed to see. Needed to examine the appearance of its buildings, its people, the sound of their language. Live it, not asking for more. One of the things that has set in motion the human being was that, curiosity about the world around him.
We said goodbye to Bulgaria in Sofia bus station to head to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Coincidentally and although it was a small bus, there was a young Spanish passenger who had come here to spend the summer with her boyfriend, a native of Macedonia. He rode in the passenger seat. Another reason that moves the human being is love, is unclear.
They traveled with a hind leg to present it to the boy’s parents. I’m sure the gift triumphed. The couple was the trip fun note thanks to their talks in Spanish.
- You never told me you had cats at home!
Yes, I have three kittens.
‘But if I get allergies. You’ll have to choose, or cats or me!
-The decision is easy, took three years with cats and only one with you.
At the station we took leave of Skopje and the Macedonian Madrid fan of croquettes Spanish and went to check out to order a taxi to our hotel. Here we tried to cheat in a very original. Apart from wanting to charge us more, as usual, they intended to divide up to seven passengers in three large taxi and not two (of course, in the old Mercedes). They said they did not fit, since when there is space for seven people two cars?
A citizen passing by told us the murderous eyes of the taxi drivers did not appropriate, they just wanted us out rooms, and showed us the place where taxi drivers are asking for truth in another part of the station under a road bridge.
Thank you very much, Madam, these things are appreciated. On the way to the Art-Hostel asked us only € 1. The room we stayed had a psychedelic touch to the evening was nice to be in the garden next to a big lazy dog that looked like a bear rug.
It was 12 noon and the heat was unbearable. Actually the heat had accompanied us from Kiev and continue with us to Dubrovnik. As I said both in Helsinki and Münster, “Agnes, when you travel you bring with you the sun of Spain.” Yes, and multiplied by ten.
Within minutes of leaving the hotel we find the City Museum located in the old Skopje train station which displays a large clock stopped on its facade. From the day July 26, 1963, the clock stopped working at 5:17 am when the capital of Macedonia was half destroyed by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale. The clock on the old Skopje train station froze since maintaining the precise moment of the catastrophe that killed over 1000 people. So it became a memorial to this tragedy.
We continued walking towards the square Plostad Makedonija. A quirky Catholic church told us that Skopje was the birthplace of Mother Teresa, Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for his humanitarian actions (at the time the awards were granted to people who deserved it). Memorial House of Mother Teresa (Mother Teresa Memorial House) was built in 2009. In the first three weeks received more than 12000 visitors!
Beside this, in the post specified, you can see the palace Ristiḱ, a monumental building in the Plaza symbolic Macedonia (with the sign “СКОПСКО ‘at the top which means” Skopsko “, a popular local brand of beer). A handful of heterogeneous elements satisfied this part of town. Retro-futuristic buildings, blocks of brutalist architecture or communist or a modern museum of Greco-Roman style is supposed to house the archaeological remains are being found in various excavations throughout Macedonia.
They could also be seen here a stone bridge over the river Vadar that reminded me that can be seen in Zaragoza (both cities are twinned) and a few sculptures that do not fit well together.
Yet the area has its charm, especially when one can sit in one of its many terraces to enjoy your food or take a Skopso. And we did. We take a pint in a bar Cuban to start celebrating the birthday of Jarris, who always manages to meet years abroad (previous year’s met in Sarajevo). Not far away was the historic Turkish quarter, dominated by the mosques and populated mostly by Muslim Albanians.
Macedonia has a large ethnic diversity in its population. According to the 2002 census, the total national population of just over two million consisted of ethnic Slav Macedonians (64%), Albanians (25.2%), Turks (3.9%), Roma (2.7% ), Serbs (1.8%), and other groups as Vlachs, Bosniaks and Bulgarians (2.4). This is the reason why the French called the famous dessert of fruit “salad Macédoine”.
We ate a dish at the entrance of the bazaar. Several natural dishes with tomatoes, peppers, loaves of bread, onions, lamb and spicy seasonings to make your own kebabs. Take a stroll through this area and gossip in the food market, and if you’re male, try visiting one of the mosques.
We had two unsuccessful attempts to enter two of them. In the first we were told directly that he was denied entry. In the second there was a time to hesitate, not knowing if we could see the inside or not. In front of the temple was a square with benches, both were protected by a wall. We enter, and when they saw that the group had a woman (what can I do) we were expelled from the enclosure. I say that despite the heat, wearing long pants and covered shoulders wore, my appearance was adequate. I know I’ve complained several times about similar issues, understand that this is one of the few things that even I did not resist does not mean they can tolerate.
It was not long come up with something that gave me pause. Obviously I did not understand the conversation but the two Macedonians gesticulating so much I developed an interpretation of the scene. An old man invited us to visit not only the square but inside the temple. I imagine the man would be proud of both their religion and the architecture that goes with it and wanted the strangers from afar knew their world, knowing that it was a woman and several men with little respect to profess Islam. As we approached the door stood a young man wearing a while sitting on a bench. Started arguing with the old man, pointing from time to time and after a few minutes, the larger of the two threw in the towel. The man did what he could and I was saddened to think that the new generation that present a more radical in this regard. I hope it was an exception, but I fear I sin optimistic. Anyway not going to let this, Skopje were still wonders to see, like Kale or Skpoje medieval fortress, which is located on the highest point of the city overlooking the river Vardar.
Can you think of a better place to rest after a day walking?
That night we ate at the restaurant terrace of the huge main square. In the bathroom had a washing machine hands, that we did not know burricos of use. Many laughs at dinner and plans to return to Macedonia to take away the thorn had not visited Ohrid. You could tell because there were only two destinations on our route. And since we had a birthday in the group, we were not left without tasting the nightlife celebrate Skopje.
We had intended to go to a dive that was following the river towards the stadium, but along the way the songs of sirens drew us to another bar, the Marakana (Gradski Park bb). The sound was coming from a band who acted at that time. The singer’s voice got us all the creeps. It may well be she who will represent Macedonia in Eurovision and not Fruitis. The bar was on the second floor and had a few windows open, so people smoked and still remained ventilated. We intend to return early to find some cheap Ohrid hotels because the next day we had a very hard trip: reaching Montenegro and Albania through Kosovo. But at 1 € beers, good music and good cheer made us lose time orientation.
Macedonia, again to know you better.
