Macedonia in Summer - 2018

Skopje from above

Macedonia is a small and little-known state in Europe, certainly difficult to conceive as a holiday destination, but since the Balkans have already surprised us several times, we set off convinced that this time too we will find something that won't make us regret the choice. Trying to find comfort for my intuitions by leafing through the Lonely Planet, we find in its history useful references to increase our regard for the country. From Philip II and his son Alexander the Great derives the fame of the Macedonian people, who even came to extend their empire as far as India! Statues of the two commanders are prominently displayed in the centre of Skopje. Mother Teresa of Calcutta also carried her mission beyond the borders of the "former" great empire.

We arrive at 13:30 in Skopje and waste a lot of time finding the road that takes us up to our hotel, the Macedonian Village, a fantastic recreation of a typical Macedonian village (all exquisitely traditional, except for the fabulous nutella crepes served at the restaurant which we'll have in the evening!!). Opposite the village at the weekend there's paid parking until 16:00, then free; always free on weekdays; as soon as we arrive we leave the car in front of the resort entrance, and we're transported by golf car to our room; just time to admire the interiors of our accommodation too and, given the time, we have a quick lunch and then immediately head to the nearby park from which you take the cable car to reach the Millennium Cross.

The locals who frequent it spend their days in the park, we are only interested in reaching the top of the mountain before the bad weather arrives, as forewarned by the operators; we pay 100 denars each and in 5 minutes we're already under the cross; in reality the weather will stay clear and allow us to take some suggestive photos of the city of Skopje. Considering that the weather is clement, and the sun still high, we decide to go down into the city to scout ahead, to pinpoint the places to visit the next day, understand how to get around and where to park the car. At 17.30 we park in front of the fortress, well motivated to visit it before sunset. In reality we're disappointed by the devastation of the interiors, in contrast to the intact and majestic appearance of its surrounding walls, which can also be appreciated from below from the outside, from the city's main squares.

Sheepishly we leave the fortress and take a few steps on foot; we visit the nearby Mustafa Pasa Mosque and enjoy the peace of the site for a few minutes; we postpone the visit to the bazaar and considering that it's Sunday and there isn't much bustle on the streets, we decide to head by car towards the city centre and also visit the splendid Macedonian Orthodox Church, remarkable both for its modern exterior appearance and for its magnificent interior frescoes. Exhausted by the very long day we climb back up the outskirts of Skopje to reach our village. We relax by strolling in the surroundings and admiring a nearby church, then we have dinner and go to sleep.

Skopje

A day dedicated to Skopje. We have breakfast at the village at 8; we're alone and the waiters are still busy setting up the room. We take the opportunity to take some photos around. At 9 we're already in the car and we head over the hill towards the city; we consider it convenient to park for free in front of the fortress, and from here reach first the bazaar, then the centre of Skopje. The bazaar, unlike those visited around the world, in the early morning seems to still be asleep, and we'll have confirmation of this when in the afternoon we pass by again for a snack and find plenty of bustle. We have difficulty finding a place to have breakfast, but more easily we find souvenir shops and buy the inevitable magnets, an updated guidebook, some sweet almonds, and satisfy our tourist needs with a few euros.

We move towards the centre, convinced we'll have to face a very long day of exploration, but once we reach the first square we realise that 90% of the city's attractions are within sight, and already Macedonia Square with the imposing equestrian statue of Alexander the Great can be glimpsed; other statues within sight represent other important patriots; on the river the stone bridge makes a fine display, and from one bank the city museums are clearly visible, while on the opposite bank numerous restaurants are full of tourists. Only the Mother Teresa of Calcutta museum is not within sight, but it can be reached with a pleasant short walk. At 15:00 the rain forces us to quicken our pace, reach our car and retreat to the hotel.

In summary, the Macedonian capital is a city where it's easy to feel at ease, it imposes decidedly slow rhythms, easily visitable in a day, economically within everyone's reach; the majesty of its main square and the statue of Alexander the Macedonian is diminished by the small dimensions of the tiny context of the historic centre. I must definitively agree with the Lonely Planet in considering Ohrid as the main destination of a trip to Macedonia, relegating Skopje to second place. We spend the evening again at the village, dining on the usual delicious crepe...

From Skopje to Ohrid

Wake up at dawn, we wait until 8 to have breakfast, then we leave the village to head south towards Bitola; the ultimate goal of our day is Ohrid, the city on the lake of the same name, where we have booked a hotel for 2 nights. After just one technical stop, at 11.30 we're in the vicinity of Bitola; given the ample margins of time compared to the tour we've set ourselves, it's possible for us to visit the nearby Heraclea Lyncestis.

We have difficulty finding the access road to the site, then we pay the 100 denar entry fee and find ourselves before a mini-Roman site, complete with everything, from the baths to 2 basilicas, an amphitheatre and an episcopal palace, ending with some splendid mosaics, but all in very small dimensions, practically the site is the size of a football pitch with the amphitheatre acting as stands!! Once the visit is over in a few minutes we're in Bitola; we park not without difficulty in the centre. Bitola's central square follows the example of the Macedonian capital, grouping mosques, baths, clock tower, equestrian statue within a space of not even 100 metres; frankly I'm disappointed by the town, which had fascinated me more from travel diaries and postcard photos found on the internet.

We also struggle with map in hand to find some sites of interest, especially the churches; the bazaar is not noteworthy, indeed not at all characteristic. Even the pedestrian street, full of shops, restaurants and self-service places, doesn't enthuse us. We have lunch at Luigi's fast food, Super Mario Bros' friend... then at 14:00 we set off for Ohrid. At 15.30 we're already at our hotel, Villa Bisera, on a hill with a splendid lake view, 10 minutes by car from the centre of Ohrid, 100 metres from an equipped beach (which is located at the junction between the lakeside and the little road climbing up towards the villa). The villa is truly remarkable, with 2 pools, one of which is an upper infinity pool, with a small wood behind it; in the common areas there's a terrace equipped with tables and chairs, a kitchen, gym equipment, a ping pong table...

the ideal place to relax after days of touring between Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia! We decide to relax for a couple of hours in the pool. At 18.30 we're already ready to reach the pearl of the Balkans, expectations are very high and we are immediately pleasantly struck by the city. We park the car in the upper part, just outside the entrance walls to the old city, a few metres from the theatre and the climb up to the fortress. The imposing and tall walls and the excellent state of conservation of the houses within are an excellent calling card, and put us in a good mood for the rest of the visit. We quickly tackle the climb that takes us to the fortress, to have time to visit it before closing; to our dismay we find the caretaker arguing with a Japanese girl, having brought forward the site's closing time.

Although disappointed, we understand that it's useless to insist, and so we head through the woods in search of the Monastery of Pantaleon, dedicated to Saint Clement. The imposing buildings that are about to surround the site represent an eyesore such as rarely seen around Europe; it's no use considering that the budding university hub will rise in honour of what was the most important and ancient Slavic university, established already in the Middle Ages, if not even earlier. Setting aside this digression, the Monastery of Saint Pantaleon at Palosnik alone is worth the trip to Ohrid; the building is so perfect and elegant, perfectly integrated into a setting unique in the world, that it leaves you speechless.

I repeat, what a shame it could be disfigured by the budding University! Continuing our exploration of Ohrid to reach St John at Kaneo we descend through a poorly signposted path in the wood, peeking every now and then at the sunset over the lake, until we arrive at a panoramic point, the point from which the best photos of the lake are taken. Ohrid is a UNESCO Heritage site, and deserves every recognition, including that of pearl of the Balkans; I confirm it too, who have visited all the Balkans far and wide with this latest trip to Macedonia; the view from above of San Giovanni Caneo, with the backdrop of Lake Ohrid, and on the left of the town of the same name, leaves you breathless. Photos galore, then we descend the steps to reach the church; the interiors are decidedly nothing special.

The sun has now set, we continue down towards the lakeside, and walk along little streets and walkways, between small beaches and restaurants, until we reach the centre. We're impressed by the exteriors of the Church of Saint Sophia, yet another beauty of Ohrid, and we decide that its interior should also be visited during the day (the choice will prove wrong the next day, the most appreciable part is the exterior structure). Tired, we choose a restaurant to eat a pizza; more than a choice, an obligation, considering that the prices of a dinner turn out to be western-city level, and our finances after a week of touring force us to be moderate!! Very tired, after dinner, at the thought of climbing back up to the car park; fortunately we find a convenient shortcut that in a few minutes gets us to the "Gorna Porta".

In 15 minutes by car we reach the hotel, very very tired, but satisfied with the beautiful and intense day spent.

Ohrid and its lake

Lake Ohrid is not just Ohrid. The guy at the reception of Villa Bisera, probably the manager, had already tried on our arrival to entice us to book a tour, in particular a boat transfer towards San Naum, and from here with a smaller boat in the direction of the spring which he explained to us was fantastic, crystal clear.... pumping up the tour in such a way as to absolutely dissuade me from booking it. Reason for my diffidence? Because what was being so highly praised to me was not "rated" by bloggers and travellers on every available space on the internet? So we decide early in the morning to certainly visit the Monastery of Saint Naum, but to travel with our own car and to assess with our own eyes on site whether to reach the spring (but spring of what??? 50 metres from the sea...). It takes us 40 minutes along a panoramic road to reach St.

Naum from our hotel; we find convenient parking and relax with a short walk along the lakeside, afterwards there are equipped small beaches on one side of the main avenue, and stalls selling souvenirs on the opposite side. We reach the small lake from which the boats would be taken to go up the spring, the water is truly crystal clear, and invites even a dip, but we desist because of the freezing temperature; we see very few tourists interested, and we meet some Italo-Macedonians who don't even mention the much-praised (by our hotelier) boat trip; we skip this stop, we just stroll for a few minutes along the small lake, in search of something interesting, which yes we find, but on land and not in the water: a splendid little church at whose entrance some peacocks are strutting...

We climb up towards the Orthodox Monastery dedicated to Saint Naum, founded in 905, and we're struck once again by the typical Macedonian architecture, and in particular of Lake Ohrid; the site is decidedly an oasis of peace. Calmly we take the return route, walk back along the lakeside and wet our feet; what a shame not to have our swimsuits!! In the car we set the gps to Ohrid, but along the road we're struck first by the panorama, and then by numerous cars parked at a particular point a short distance from a characteristic church; even the organisation and the cost of the parking make us understand that this is a site of notable interest, even if not indicated in any of the travel diaries we've read; we'll discover in a few minutes, following the crowd, that the destination of the pilgrimage is not the church, but the nearby and spectacular pebble beach...

postcard photos, Maldives-like landscape!! Satisfied also by this short excursion we're back on the road; we make a brief pause to see the Maritime Museum from above, then at 13:00 we arrive in Ohrid. We park again near the high walls and the entrance gate of the old city; we take a quick look at the Amphitheatre, which is located just in front of the entrance, then we climb towards the Fortress, the former Castle of Tsar Samuel. The site itself has nothing interesting inside, but the excellent condition of the walls, their height and majesty, and the exceptional view of Lake Ohrid certainly make it appreciable.

From the walls we spot a church worthy of a visit, moreover a short distance away, signposted in our guides, and certainly with a fine viewpoint; in a few minutes we find ourselves at the entrance of the Church of Saint Clement, today the Gallery of Icons, where for 100 denars we admire some remarkable frescoes, before dedicating ourselves to 10 minutes of landscape photography.... Not satiated, neither with culture and beauty, nor with food of which we've not yet seen even a trace, we descend towards the Church of Saint Sophia. After the brief visit to the bare interiors we decide to continue the walk along the lakeside from where it had been interrupted the previous evening, until we reach the shopping streets.

Tired from the marathon, we decide not to linger among the shops, preferring to return to the hotel to spend some time in the pool; we reach Villa Bisera at 17:00, after 8 hours of touring!! We spend the last hours in Ohrid resting, dining at a place near the Villa, lazing in the room in the evening, planning the weekend movements towards the Albanian coast.

bye bye Macedonia

At dawn we bid farewell to Lake Ohrid with the promise to stop before the Albanian border (preferably in Struga) and spend the last denars on a good coffee; having passed the outskirts of the small town and finding no place that entices us to stop, we decide to postpone the stop; alas, in a few minutes we'll find ourselves at the border, and without even the chance to spend our coins in the vending machines at customs.