Blogs from Macedonia, Europe - page 7

Dinsdag 14/06/2016 – Pogradec Busexcursie naar Ohrid, Struga en klooster van Sveti Naum in Macedonië met MR-bus (Macedonia Republica) en gids. Alles langs het prachtige meer van Ohrid. Een uur om de 2 grensposten te passeren. Nochthans we zijn de enigen die er staan. ID's worden grondig gecontroleerd. Macedoniê is volgens de gids het armste land van Europa, maar het lijkt ons heel wat netter dan Albanië. Minder Moslims en dus overwegend Orthodox. Aan kerken en kloosters geen gebrek. Mooie winkelstraatjes en overvloed aan standjes met zilver en paarlen juwelen. Ook straatventers, schoenpoetsers. Eten krijg je hier ook weeral niet op. 6€ volledige menu wijn inbegrepen in een chique hotel. De beste capuccino ooit gedronken. Overal snelle bediening.... read more

Our journey from Serbia to Macedonia saw us travelling through several small towns, and across the border to Skopje, Macedonia's capital city. Border crossings have been managed with confidence by Rozle, and documents have been stamped and approved without difficulty. We enjoyed a lunch stop in the capital, Skopje, and had time to wander the streets and gaze in awe at the gigantic monuments which adorn this capital, rebuilding after an earthquake in 1963 caused significant damage. It is also determined to make its mark, as the city of super-hero monuments, much to the disgust of many residents, who constantly splatter them with paint, as silent protest for irresponsible government spending. Some of the monuments are grotesque, to say the least, but others, such as that celebrating the stages of a woman's life were touchingly beautiful. ... read more

Our flight home was in the late afternoon, so after a leisurely breakfast and packing our stuff for the journey home, we walked a short distance from our hotel to the museum of the Macedonian struggle. The Macedonian take on various historical events was really interesting, and the exhibits well explained by an English-speaking guide (who took just ourselves around) - there are numerous paintings and eerily lifelike wax figures that have really taken a lot of work to produce. After the museum, we took a quick walk to Sv Spas church to see the elaborate wood carvings - they were explained with good humour, which made the trip up the steps in the midday sun worthwhile (like most other things in Skopje, it'd been closed on Monday)! We ate lunch by the river, before catching ... read more

Today we went on a long walk... We left the hotel fairly early to set off for the bottom of the gondola at Mt Vodno, just outside Skopje. Having seen taxis everywhere yesterday, we thought it'd be easy to find one this morning, but it was a little harder than we thought. We found one in the end, but arrived to find that the gondola didn't open until 10am, and it was only just after 9. Not to be defeated, we decided to walk up to the summit instead. It turned out that this wasn't the greatest idea ever, as it was already quite warm and the path was relentlessly uphill... But we made it! At the top is a massive gold cross, with a swanky looking restaurant complex below it. Unfortunately, aside from a little ... read more

Today we went up into the mountains in Pelister National Park. We'd planned to walk up, but unfortunately there were limited number of guides available (it's a holiday for Orthodox Christians), and no easy way up to the trails without one, so we joined a jeep trip to the top instead. Definitely a lower effort way to climb a mountain! The road was built in WW1(when the area was on the front line), and hadn't aged well, but our driver expertedly picked as smooth a path as seemed to exist in a jeep that was still got strong with more than 300,000km on the clock! The views from the top are spectacular, including a good view of Lake Prespa which stretches across Greece, Albania and Macedonia. Open street map had good details of many of the ... read more