2024 Balkans Overland Adventure, Skopje, North Macedonia...

This morning, we packed up and left Tirana for North Macedonia…I had more sleep and felt a bit better today. We traveled north east through Albania towards the North Macedonian border. It took a bit longer today for border clearance to leave Albania and enter North Macedonia. On our drive we passed the Ohrid Bay and through Mavrovo National Park…lovely scenery through the mountains.  After a 5.5-hour drive, we arrived in Skopje just in time for our walking tour…bid farewell to our outstanding driver/ guide Gesi…we will miss him! Our Skopje tour guide Suzanna met us at our hotel. We are staying at the Alexander Square Hotel with a statue of Bulgarian/Macedonian Revolutionary Hristo Uzunov in the square. We started our tour by walking to see the statue and museum dedicated to Mother Teresa.  Mother Theresa is a Macedonian hero, of Albanian descent but born in Skopje in 1910. Next, we walked to the Old Railway Station, now the City Museum…the station was severely damaged in the 1963 earthquake and the clocks time remains at 5:17 am the exact time the earthquake hit. We left the station and went to see the Parliament Buildings located directly across the street from the City Park. Our next surprise was seeing the Arc de Triomphe at the entrance to Macedonian Square. At the heart of Skopje, the Macedonian Square is a focal point adorned with grand statues, fountains, and historical monuments. Back in 2014, multiple monuments were scattered around the city. In Macedonian Square, you can probably spot around twenty monuments…the colossal statue of Alexander the Great on horseback towers over the square and neoclassical architecture surrounds the square. The statue of Alexander the Great was commissioned to celebrate Macedonia’s 20th year of independence. The Archaeological Museum and the Fountain of the Mothers of Macedonia are notable attractions in this central hub as well. Next, we went to Skopje’s Stone Bridge, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks and serves as the gateway to the Old Bazaar. We crossed the Skopje Eye Bridge for a better look at the Stone Bridge and the wooden pirate looking ships in the middle of the small Vardar River. One of ships is a 15 room a hotel and the other two are not operational. Walking toward the Stone Bridge, it leads to the Old Bazaar Market at the northern end of the bridge, just past the public square and Monument of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Skopje Old Bazaar dates back to the 12th century, making it the oldest marketplace in the Balkans and one of the original trading hubs in Europe. Skopje’s Old Bazaar is the second largest bazaar in the Balkans after Istanbul. Did some souvenir shopping and stopped for a drink. We meandered the maze of narrow alleyways and streets until we came upon the Turkish Baths and the Mustafa Pasha Mosque. This Ottoman-era Mosque built in 1492. We could see the Kale fortress overlooking the city and dating back to the 6th century. Returning to the Alexander Square we stopped for our dinner and made it back to the hotel before the rain started. It was a good tour and the weather was beautiful, a warm 81 degrees today. We certainly did not know what to expect of Macedonia…We were pleasantly surprised and impressed with the mix of architecture, the multitude of statues and monuments…at every there was something new.  It did not disappoint! Another wonderful day in the Balkans.