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| Memorial House for Mother Teresa, honoring her accomplishments. She was born in Skopje to Albanian parents when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire. |
We are sorry that our initial impression of Skopje was negative, citing it as "sketchy and third-world". We couldn't help but feel this way when our first welcome was the scary and rundown train terminal and getting accosted by taxi drivers while we were still disoriented as we got out into an industrial looking part of town.
When we returned from Lake Ohrid, our second visit to Skopje was a much nicer welcome, partly because we knew what to expect and the bus terminal is much more conducive to travelers. We don't know about the safety of the city outside of the city center where we stayed, but it looked fine to us. We would walk the streets of Skopje at night over most major American cities any day.
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| Bus ticket back from Ohrid to Skopje. |
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| Macedonian countryside |
We also had an opportunity to explore the center of town, discovering it to be full of future opportunities with lots of new construction going on, new business opportunities with a huge T Mobile headquarters being built, and a lively cafe and bar scene. We think Skopje has lots of potential and will be all grown-up in the next 5-10 years.
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| Old Stone Bridge |
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| Monument to Alexander the Great in city square. Quite a large monument, not in proportion to its surroundings. Fountain and light show to music goes on around the monument at night. |
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| Museum of Macedonian Struggle. Beautiful paintings depicting key historical events in the struggle, as well as a gorgeous stained glass domed ceiling inside. No photographs for the actual museum displays, containing lots of wax figures, artifacts, and historical actors/actresses ad part of the guided tour. Highly recommend visiting this nicely done museum. |
Most of all, the people in Macedonia have been extremely friendly and outgoing. The younger ones do not hesitate to carry on a conversation in English, and they are curious about where we are from, etc.
If you ever find yourself in the Balkans, consider Skopje as a good layover. Everything is in walking distance, cheap lodging, food, and drink with a little history in a friendly environment. What more does a backpacker need?
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| T Mobile has a large presence in Macedonia! New building being built in Skopje. |
