Skopje - Days 1-2

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Having visited the northern Balkan countries in June I decided to wrap up the remaining southern countries during my trip in August which is why I found myself in a hostel in Skopje. I bumped into 3 friendly Brits in my hostel and our paths would cross several times over the next few days. We teamed up with 2 Aussie girls and the six of us headed off to the old town for the first night of boozing for the trip. We ended up in a microbrewery drinking out of his huge container and listening to a local band singing eighties pop songs - Rick Astley is still not giving you up:-).

The next day I had a walk round the town centre and like many other Balkan cities is it undergoing a huge rebuilding phase, coincidentally all the new buildings that were going up were parliamentary and administrative buildings. The design of the buildings was truly awful, they seem to have plumped for a neo-classical design with Roman columns for a 21st century building! I was warned of a few pickpockets on the bridge but didn’t see any myself on my way to visit the old fortress that overlooks the town but was closed during the day!

I only stayed in Skopje for one night as I head off to to the popular tourist stop of Ohrid.

Boring Bits
Stayed at Shanti hostel - there is no public transport from airport so you can ask them to pick you up for 15Euro
Skopje to Ohrid - regular buses every 1-2 hours
St Patricks Irish bar - great veggie meals and of course a good pint.

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