Blogs from Skopje, Macedonia, Europe - page 2

It’s our final day, so after a shower (shower gel of the day is rosemary and thyme – I smell like I’ve been marinated) we set off on one last motorway trip and one last border crossing (with 4 sets of tolls) to complete our Balkan circuit. We stop on the way out of Nis at Bubanj Hill, site of the retaliatory slaughter of thousands of Yugoslavs by the Nazis. There is a memorial park there now with 3 giant fist sculptures sitting on the hillside. The thing I dislike most about Serbia is the rubbish. When something is finished with, it is immediately discarded in the street, out of the car window etc. There are an empty Fanta can and a crisp packet dumped in the middle of the war memorial. We continue our journey. ... read more

Fog in Dubai delayed our flight by more than an hour so we didn't land in Skopje till 1pm, after that all ran smoothly we picked up our Skoda and followed our hostess through the city which contained an extraordinary number of statues to a restaurant located in an old monastery in the Matka Canyon. Matka means "womb" in Macedonian, the canyon is located west of central Skopje, and covers roughly 5,000 hectares, it is home to several medieval monasteries. The Matka Lake within the Matka Canyon is the oldest artificial lake in the country. The food was really good, the Macedonians has some fantastic cuisine and good beers. It started to drizzle as we followed the path down to the car park and getting quite dark by 430pm. We followed our hosts for the next ... read more

Rano menim plany, povodne som chcel ist na bus 10/50 ale kedze som vcera skoro zalomil a dnes aj skoro vstal idem na 9/30. Majitel ma uz caka. Vcera mal problemy s francuzskou rodinou, stratili kluce od izby, tak sa hral na zamocnika. K telefonu mi dava este synatora, podakovanie, poprianie vsetkeho dobreho atd. Rychlo krokom smerujem na bus stanicu. V okienku, ktore sluzi zaroven aj ako vstup k nastupistiam kupujem listok do skopje, na tabuli je vypisany odchod 9/30, bus ide nakoniec 9/50. S jednou pauzou prichadzame do skopje. Ubytko som tentoraz zvolil inde, co bola chyba. url=https://www.tripadvisor.sk/Hotel_Review-g295110-d7087552-Reviews-The_Comfy_Hostel-Skopje_Skopje_Region.htmlThe Comfy Hostel sa nachadza dalej od mesta, vo vacsom kopci. Tieto veci by az tak nevadili ale po prijati mensi sok, kupelka spinava, na 6.dorme mega teplo, lo... read more

Okolo 5/30 ma budi prvy clovek co opusta izbu, o hodinu dalsi. Veru moc som toho nenaspal. Nasledovala horuca sprcha, bohuhzial moc to tam neako neodtekalo, tak hned spraveny v sprchovom kute mini bazen. Z jedneho spolunoclaznika sa vyklul guide z albanska.O hodinku zacina sprevadzat turistov z holandska Musi to byt faj biznis ked sa sem trepe az z Albanska. Inak toto ubytko je dobre ojebavacske, najskor som si ho rezervoval za cca 10€, potom cena klesla na 8,5€ + free ranajky, samozrejme ,ze som rezervaciu zmenil. Albanec co tu je se mnu na izbe plati 9,5€ Na ranajky nabieham do pekarne, kupujem rozok, bol som v tom,ze bude plneny, no prdlajs. Bus stanica najdena v pohodicke, do odchodu busu este neakych 45.min. Na info centre zistene,ze listok sa kupuje u sofera. Panko mi ale na ... read more

The Kale Fortress had loomed over us, since our arrival in Skopje. A visit to the Fortress was pencilled in for Sunday morning. It opened early – 0700 hours. We had what transpired to be our final breakfast at the hotel and climbed the hill from the Old Town. It was a surprisingly short walk and opened up a whole new world of drinking possibilities from those investigated to date. Who would have thought it? The First Microbrewery in Macedonia perched at the top of the hill. We made a note to return later. We walked across the grass beyond and up the hill to the main entrance. The Fortress is For Visitors proclaimed a very home-made looking sign. It actually said “Open” for Visitors, but that wasn’t immediately obvious. A mysterious large black Mercedes with ... read more