Skopje, Macedonia: Ancient City of Modern Marvels

Macedonia. Birthplace of Alexander the Great. The gateway to some of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known. And when you cruise into Macedonia from Kosovo, this is the landscape that greets you:

A rugged landscape divided by plains carved up for farming thousands of years ago and rolling mountain passes. It's easy to see why the ancients from this land were of a rough and tumble sort. 

That said, when the bus actually pulls into Skopje, the capital city of Macedonia and a city that's been around in some form since around 4,000 B.C., there is no way you will be prepared for what you find. And what you will find is a city under dramatic changes. This was my initial impression as I walked the streets from the hostel to the Macedonia Square: "Everything under construction. Passed two new bridges that aren't even on the map yet. Huge buildings- Greece is nearly broke, where is all the money coming from??"

Well, as I later found out, the money is coming as a loan from the EU to monumentalize the city as part of the Skopje 2014 project. The estimates for the total cost of these projects range from 80 to 500 million euros, but based on what I've seen, I'd put the number much closer to 500 million if not higher. The base goal of the project is to "restore" the city in the wake of the 1963 earthquake that destroyed over 80% of Skopje. Evidently the means to do this have not been available until they were able to secure the loan from the EU, which happened in 2010.

Accordingly, nearly every "historic" looking building, statue, monument, or museum you will find in Skopje has been built in the past 3 years, with the goal to complete the entire project by the end of 2014. In total over 20 buildings and 40 monuments are planned. And they are building them aggressively- you can see statues springing up everywhere and cranes dominate the skyline. In addition, they are completely renovating the Skopje Fortress.

One of the few original elements is the Stone Bridge, a pedestrian footbridge ,which leads from the north side where you can locate the newly rebuilt National Theatre and the remains of the surviving Old Bazaar, to the Macedonia square.

In said square you will find the most monumental of all the constructed monuments: the Warrior on a Horse statue, or as commonly known and likely to be renamed: Alexander the Great.

In addition to all of the statues, monuments, and new buildings, they have completely revitalized many of the pedestrian thoroughfares- filing them with cafes, bars, restaurants, and... more monuments. It's probably worth perusing the set on flickr just to get a small idea of the scale of change Skopje is going through. But it's not all changes, there are some unique genuine sites worth seeing in the city. One of which, not too far of a walk from Macedonia Square is Saint Kliment Ohridski Orthodox Cathedral. 

I've never been inside an Orthodox cathedral before but it was open so I took off my hat and sunglasses and strolled in. Much like the city itself, I wasn't really prepared for what I found.

Notice anything interesting? No chairs! These guys stand during the entire ceremony, which according to some of the Orthodox Christians I've met can be upwards of two hours. But, the Orthodox religion isn't without a bit of corruption controversy much like Catholicism. Apparently if you donate enough to the church (or sometimes if you're feeble or infirm) they will provide you with a seat. Nothing like having enough money to afford to sit. After checking out the church I wandered a bit more around the city soaking in the construction before heading to the fortress.

The fortress itself was initially constructed in the 6th century but most of the current version likely dates to the rule of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the 11th century. Like the rest of the city, a large portion of the fortress was destroyed in the earthquake and reconstruction efforts are still underway. In fact, when I arrived at the entrance I was greeted with this sign:

How unfortunate. But in typical Mike Steele fashion, never to be initially dissuaded by a simple no, I attempted a patented maneuver I've used time and time again to get into places where I don't belong: (1) observe someone who seems like they know what they are doing- in this case some Macedonian tourists chatting with the security officer; (2) without saying a word move confidently into their midst; (3) when they are granted access, simply proceed as if you had been in their party from the beginning; and (4) if anyone says anything, ignore them pretending you don't hear them or you couldn't fathom why they would be protesting your actions.

You would be surprised at how often this works and some of the places and events I've worked my way into using this maneuver. And bam, it worked like a charm again. Just like magic. Inside you have the obligatory photo of me and the "skyline" of Skopje from as far as I could penetrate into the fortress without arousing attention.

Having taken in most of the main sites of the city, I made my way back over the stone bridge to the hostel. Along the way I stopped in to a cafe for a coffee and noticed something on the menu that struck me: grilled cheese. Intrigued, and at a very affordable 2 euro, I decided to give it a try. What came out was essentially a small block of pan-grilled feta cheese, haha! Not really what I was expecting but it was tasty none-the-less. I  also swung by the grocery store pointed out by the hostel only to discover perhaps the greatest grocery store in Europe. Certainly the best one I'd seen in ages- they had entire isle just devoted to feta cheese. What?!

The next day the hostel offered a free tour to Matka Canyon, split by the flowing of the Treska River. The big attraction is that you can either hike up along the canyons or take a boat up river where you will reach a series of caves. Since we were a group, we were obliged to take the boat. Since the water was warm but it had started raining, a low mist floated over the top of the water. It was a really awesome boat ride and had a bit of an Indiana Jones feel.

It takes about 20 minutes by boat to get up to one of the main caves. They have to fire up a generator to illuminate your path so you don't slip and go crashing down hundreds of feet into the canals below. Inside you can see numerous freshwater pools- part of channels that run through the rocks and supply the river with additional water.

Nearby the entrance to the river is the Matka Monastery built during the 14th century. The monastery is home to a series of pilgrimages throughout the region. Additionally, there are a number of other monasteries along the banks of the river and up in the hills above. I believe our guide said there were 6 or 7 and it would take 2 days to hike to them all. Also scattered across the hills are 20-some crosses which apparently takes several days to hike to.

After the canyon tour we caught the bus back into town and, famished, a few of us decided to get some grub at a place recommended by the hostel. Another excellent tip by Hostel Shanti- the food was both delicious and cheap. I went with one of the national dishes which is essentially a hamburger steak stuffed with cheese, grilled, and then topped with cheese. It comes with potatoes and vegis as a garnish. I think even my grandfather could get behind the food in the Balkans- meat & potatoes! I also got a Macedonian speciality  a fried pepper stuffed with seasonings and white cheese which you can see on the upper left.

That night Amy, a Kiwi friend from my room at the hostel, and I decided to check out the bar scene in the Old Bazaar  apparently the place to be on a Friday night. Neither of us were up for too big of a night which was fortunate because about half an hour in we got rained out. But we did get a nice look at the bars around the Old Bazaar before beating a hasty retreat.

We ended up heading back toward the hostel and popping into a local establishment for a quick beer before calling it a night. Since I ate lunch at an odd hour, I ended up staying up and working on the blog and ultimately cooking the mac n cheese Mike & Deana had given me so long ago in London. With a little tomato and hot dog it was the perfect end to an awesome Macedonian day. The next day I was due to catch a midday bus north to Nis in Serbia. One final act before I was to leave- having thoroughly tested out my new flippy floppies, it was time to say goodbye to my dear old friends from Lisbon. Good pals, you carried my feet through and over a lot of ground. You will be missed.

In all, Skopje and Macedonia was awesome. Great food, cheap everything, and really nice people. I'm not sure how I feel about the monumentalism of the city- perhaps more curious as to whether it will really attract the amount of tourists necessary to fiscally justify the expense. Only time will tell. At least for now, though, you have my hearty endorsement: Skopje, a great place to visit... in 2014.