Stephens Adventures: Macedonia

One of my buddies from my swedish class in Malmö is from Macedonia, so when he moved back I had a great excuse to visit. It was also a good chance to try to fly from Malmö airport for a change, instead of Copenhagen airport, since Wizz Air offers direct flights from Malmö to Skopje.

I had to renew my passport before I could go anywhere, and so I had planned 3 weeks of being in Malmö and Copenhagen prior to the trip. I managed to get my passport 3 days before I flew. Talk about a great way to break in my new passport, an exit stamp from Sweden!

One of the many specular buildings in downtown Skopje.

After arriving in Skopje, my buddy Dule, picked me up from the airport and took me into town. I had booked a hostel for the first two nights right in downtown Skopje.

Gate Macedonia, right next to my Hostel!

Skopje is a really interesting town, with quite a few really massive statues, and some "old" looking buildings that are actually quite new. After checking into the hostel I met a British guy to wander around with. We headed out to go look at all of the monuments and buildings. I think I can safely say that Skopje is the most unique town I have ever visited, both in terms of the architecture and the monuments. Only one block from a huge 25m statue, that looks suspiciously like Alexander the Great, is the same style architecture that you find all around the former eastern block.

Alexander the Great?

Up the hill through the old bazaars you will come across a centuries old church, and a castle. The castle was really nice to wander through, and offered an amazing view of the city.

The castle in the center of town.

After wandering around Skopje for the day and spending the next morning chatting with the staff in the hostel, Dule came back to Skopje to pick me up. We headed south to Bitola with a coffee stop in Prilep first. On the drive down we went through the mountains passes, and enjoyed the views. We enjoyed a couple more cups of coffee in town, and I tried a delicious baked cheese dish at Dule's cousin's restaurant.

That night was Dule's birthday, so he had a few friends over and afterwards we went out to the bar. The night life in Bitola was fantastic, and the drinks are really cheap (around 1 euro each) .

The lake front in Ohrid.

The Saturday after was a recovery day, so we all headed to Ohrid, a town on the edge of the lake. From here we enjoyed the fresh air and lovely views. Dule and I made the walk up the hills to see the ancient fortress as well as the amazing churches. From the top of the fortress the view was fantastic.

A church on the edge of the lake.

I was flying back Sunday, so me and Dule just stayed in Bitola. We walked around and enjoyed the coffee and the town before making the drive to the airport.

Fantastic trip and I can't recommend Macedonia enough. Just if you go, make sure you don't only stay in Skopje. There are too many other amazing towns to visit.

Some more pictures from around Macedonia: