In the footsteps of Alexander the Great

The thing I love most about my job, is that I get to go to those places that I would vote "least likely to get to in my lifetime".  This held true as I embarked on a trip to another one of the countries that made up the former Yugoslavia.  My destination?  Skopje, Macedonia.   Now, there is some despute of the name, as Greece takes issue with "Macedonia", claiming that it refers to an area of northern Greece.  So, the current official name of the area (at least until the name dispute gets worked out) is the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia or FYROM.   As this is a bit of a mouth-full, for the purposes of my blog, we will stick with Macedonia.

Arriving to Skopje was easy enough, with a short (and by short, I mean 10 min) layover in Zagreb, Croatia.  Surrounded by snow-capped peaks as we sped through the valley into town, I was impressed with the landscape.  The roads quickly turned from highway to narrow, dirt, single-lane road as we entered the city (or at least this is the way our taxi chose to go), and I started to wonder exactly where I was.

First impressions go a long way, and with somewhat cryptic directions from the front desk, my collegue and I set out to find the town center and some local cuisine.  We failed on both attempts.  After 45 mins of wandering, we found a very non-descript and grafitti covered mall and a food court.  Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed, but we did find a grocery store and set about putting together our own tasting of the local product....in this case, the great wines we had heard so much about!  (and yes, they were quite good!)

Luckily, our second day shattered the inital ideas of the city, as our hosts took us for a late lunch in the actual city center.  Beautifully situated along the banks of the Varder River, spanned by the Stone Bridge, a relic of the Ottoman Empire.  Across the Stone Bridge, was Old Town, which housed the Skopje Fortress, the remains of a Roman Aquaduct, and a Turkish Bazaar.  We were not able to check out this area of the city, although if I am ever to return, its on my list.

After lunch, we took a stroll along the pedestrian street of the city, which housed many hotels, bars, and a vitality that we missed the day before.   Along this route, we came upon the birthsite (and subsequent memorial house) of Mother Teresa.  Quite a nice surprise!

My time in Skopje was short, and while it is obvious that there is much to do to revive this city, I enjoyed having my initial impression wronged.  And who knows, maybe I will get the oppurtunity to return and see what else the city has to offer.