Skopje, Macedonia
When you hear “Macedonia”, what comes to mind? Does it lead to thoughts of a run down community torn apart by the dissolution of Yugoslavia? If that’s the case, you’d be a lot further off than you’d think. While it’s true that there are parts of Macedonia that are very poor, the capital Skopje has completely transformed itself through a new governmental initiative called Skopje 2014.
Skopje 2014 is the most ambitious project the city has ever faced in its history. The plans call for a large number of new buildings (museums, government offices, etc.), bridges, infrastructural improvement, statues and historical nods to their past all in an effort to revitalize their core. The project has received an enormous amount of criticism for its lack of originality, being called “kitsch” by many since the city now consists of tasteless imitations of art and over-the-top monuments. The city is also criticized for the enormous bill the government has racked up for this project — a whopping €500 million— to basically turn Skopje into a theme park. But it’s for this very reason I believe Skopje is a must see.
The hostel we stayed at was very homey and we were greeted with 2-week-old puppies as soon as we entered! After converting Euros into the local currency Denar at a rate of 1:61, we hit up some local food, naturally. If Greece is the place to go for good food, Macedonia is the place to go for cheap food. Denars go a long way in Macedonia and you can get excellent meals for very little. Typical meals can be between €3–8; anything above that and it’s considered higher-class.
Macedonia Square (the place where lots of Project Skopje 2014’s money went to) is magnificent at night. The sight that will catch your eye first is the gigantic Alexander the Great fountain statue (called Warrior on a Horse). As a group, we found ourselves mesmerized by this structure, watching it change patterns and colours — even synchronizing itself to movie theme songs like “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones”. It’s the greatest fountain I’ve ever seen!
The Museum of Archaeology can be found across the river and is absolutely striking when lit up at night.
Located very closely and just as beautiful is the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle.
The city even has their own triumphal arch called called Porta Macedonia!
On the other side of the river is the old town where you can find a pleasant bar district. Here we drank some of their fine Skopsko beer as well as a few shots of Rakia; a very smooth but strong alcohol. These two drinks actually became favourites of ours especially since they’re both very good and cheap. Definitely try it if you visit! Many of the restaurants and bars here back their patios to the river and make for a peaceful walk home by nightfall.
The next day we took to Lake Matka to experience another side of Macedonia, this one bustling with nature. The water was so still that you could get a mirror image of the mountains and trees on the lake. As you walk along the pathway of Lake Matka, you’ll eventually reach a shop that rents boats and kayaks. Although the kayaks were small plastic boats, we couldn’t resist the idea of paddling on the lake so we hopped in and travelled for about an hour before making our way back.
On our way out of Lake Matka, we stopped by a restaurant with a surprising twist. This restaurant, despite its rather large size, appeared like a normal food establishment from the outside. But amazingly enough what we actually walked into was a restaurant cave. Yes, an entire side of the restaurant was exposed rock. You’d imagine such a place would be expensive, right? Not a chance! In fact the meals here were even cheaper than what we were used to in the city! The 4 of us loaded ourselves up on food to the point our stomachs bloated. Salad starters, 3 plates of food, desert, beer and coffee and we didn’t even break €20 per person… felt like a dream.
The following day we made the decision to travel up to Millennium Cross, which at 66 metres is one of the tallest crosses in the world. It sits atop of the highest point of Vodno mountain, which you can easily reach via a gondola that takes you to the top. Coming out of a local marketplace that morning, the taxi driver we got misunderstood what we were asking for and thought we wanted him to drive us all the way to the top of the mountain rather than to the gondola. That’s what you get when there’s a massive language barrier.
If the miscommunication had led to us paying for the whole way up, that wouldn’t have been so bad since between the four of us, fare was inexpensive. The trouble came from the fact that public vehicles were only allowed halfway up the mountain before the road was blocked off, completely distant from the gondola. Of course we didn’t know this when we got out of the cab, thinking we were relatively close to our destination. Now with no vehicle to continue up or return back down, we made the decision to walk the rest. There’s now two choices to make; 7 km up the winding asphalt road or 3 km if you take the trail. We puffed out our chests and knew we were hiking it.
This hike was not as bad as my experience climbing up a sand dune in Morocco, but it was exhausting nonetheless. The payoff once we reached the top was completely worth it though. All of that huffing and puffing led us to the peak of the mountain that overlooked the city and gave us a view directly under the cross.
More impressively though is the view that awaited us behind the statue on the other side of the mountain. The view at this altitude felt as if you were at the same level as the clouds brushing against the mountainsides of fellow peaks. Just breathtaking; there’s really nothing more I can say about it.
Being at the top, we did have the luxury of taking the gondola down and within seven minutes we arrived to the connecting bus that would drive the rest of the distance. What an epic way to wrap up our time in Macedonia!
Again, the attractions are all very new, being built within only the last few years and it leaves many to believe that the city doesn’t hold much history. What many tourists don’t realize is that most buildings of historical significance collapsed in the 1963 earthquake where 80% of the city was destroyed and left thousands of people dead or injured. Knowing this fact makes you realize that this current project is the first movement in 50 years to rebuild the culture that was lost at the time of that natural disaster. The new buildings and statues are an observable way to recreate the city’s past to propel it’s future. The city is rebuilding itself and giving Skopje a new identity — one that it has fought for ever since the country’s independence in 1991, and that’s commendable.
The reason people get so mad is because the city is changing at a drastic pace and at the expense of other social initiatives; a project of this scale would take a normal city decades to develop that would ease in relief programs. When all is said and done though, I believe Skopje will make up its money in tourism and hopefully this money gets distributed well to help all Macedonians as the country continues to grow. I’m confident that Skopje will be a destination to visit by 2015.
So yes, Skopje can be classified as superficial. Yes, Skopje can be classified as a copycat. Yes, Skopje can be classified as unoriginal. But also yes, Skopje should be ranked high on your list of places to visit because there’s so much fun, wonderment and variety here; far more than the average person would believe in this part of the world. A true diamond in the rough!
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This blog entry is part of the publication Robert Cekan Travels & was originally written on November 15, 2012
Robert Cekan is a young entrepreneur and proud Hamiltonian. He is the founder of the Hamilton discovery website True Resident, as well as Cekan Group, a property management group. He is also a Hamilton REALTOR® with Ambitious Realty Advisors Inc., Brokerage and an active blogger.
For all of Robert’s projects, please visit robertcekan.com
