We arrive in Skopje, Macedonia by bus at 6:00 in the morning. Two days before, I had never heard of Skopje and definitely didn’t know how to pronounce it (it’s Scope-yuh, by the way).

How did we decide to go to Skopje? Very scientifically really. We looked at a bus schedule, and chose the city based on the simple criteria of where we could get without spending 24 hours on a bus.

Skopje, here we come!

Our Worst Bus Ride So Far (complaining ahead)

The bus ride is rough. It was an overnight bus that left Kotor at 6 pm. We’ve taken more buses in the last four months than in our entire life, combined. We’ve developed a little rating system and have identified a few things that make or break a bus trip like this:

Number of Stops

It’s nearly impossible to stay asleep when the bus makes frequent stops, even if you don’t need the break.

This bus ride stops for smoke breaks, no apparent reason, or border crossings about once every hour. In total, we cross borders three times: Montenegro–Albania–Kosovo–Macedonia.

Reclining Seats

.When a seat reclines comfortably, it’s a total game changer for the bus ride. Bonus points if there is a footrest.

This bus had very little space between seats, which results in the seat in front of you quite literally reclined into your lap. No footrest.

Route

This one has to do mostly with motion sickness. Stephen doesn’t typically suffer from this, but it gets to me often enough that I will usually take a dramamine if the ride is more than 8 hours (it makes me super drowsy) or if it’s a really windy route through mountains.

You guessed it! Mountains all the way.

Temperature

It’s a million times better if the driver errors on the side of too cold with this one. We always board the bus with a sweater or a jacket in the hopes that it actually will be too cold. Too hot makes my motion sickness considerably worse.

How can I describe the general atmosphere of this bus. The blowing heaters did a great job of circulating the lingering cigarette smoke around the entire bus, so there was absolutely no escape. Breathing was difficult, so forget about sleeping.

We Arrive in One (Very Grumpy) Piece

Okay, okay, you get it. It was a terrible journey. Also we arrive two hours late. We lumber off the bus and I look at Stephen and I tell him – we’re getting a cab. No way I’m walking right now. Screw the 30 minutes or less rule. Because I like to write stories, here’s a brief non-fiction account of our first 10 minutes in Skopje:

My vision starts to blur and I will my to stay open. It’s 6 am and we’re in a cab driving through the nearly empty streets of Skopje, Macedonia. Our AirBNB is located on the pedestrian street near the city center. About a week before, T-Mobile labeled us “extreme roamers” and shut off our data, so I only have screenshots to reference directions. I’m sleep deprived, grumpy, and I’m pretty sure we’ve been going in circles. There’s also no meter running.

This is getting ridiculous. We approach a major intersection and we can’t be more than three or four blocks away. I look at Stephen and can tell he’s fed up too.

“Can you stop here? We’ll walk,” Stephen tells the driver. He glances back at us and pulls over. He hops out and rounds the car to the trunk.

“Don’t let him over charge us. According to Google it should be less than 5 US dollars but I’m not exactly sure how much that is in Kuna, less than 500,” I whisper to Stephen. (Kuna is what we started calling all foreign money. It’s what it’s called in Croatia and for some reason, it stuck). When I know we’ll be taking a cab from the airport, train, or bus station, I always do a quick Google search on what a standard fare should be. Stephen nods confidently and exits the cab. 

“How much?”

“1000”

1000! No Stephen, that’s way way too much. I push myself across the seat and hop out. “No, 1000? Are you sure?”

“Yes. 1000”

We’re over it. Stephen hands him the money and we start walking in the direction of our place. I bring up the currency conversion app on my phone and convert 1000 Macedonian Denar to USDs. $18.43. Damn it. 

We knew it could only go uphill from here!

Macedonia: First impressions and a brief history

We sleep most of our first day to recover, and book a free walking tour for the next morning. 

We stay in a fantastic location in Skopje, in a nice apartment that overlooks the pedestrian street that connects the old train station to the Old City. Just steps from our apartment is the Memorial House of Mother Teresa. This was a nice surprise for me, as I didn’t know that Mother Teresa was born in Skopje. She left to become a nun at 18 years old, when she moved to live in an abbey in Ireland, and finally to India. After leaving Skopje, she returned just three times in her lifetime.

A short walk down the pedestrian street lies the massive, recently renovated city center. This huge square and the surrounding area is part of what is called Skopje 2014. The purpose of this project is to revive the area around the Vadar River, which serves as the natural boundary between the New City and the Old City. Tourism is a big part of it, but it’s also to reclaim and exhibit the history of Macedonia as it struggles to keep it’s identity amidst its conflict with Greece over the name of the country (more about that later).

Massive monuments, ornate fountains, and statues of poets and priests make up a huge, paved square that is surrounded by European-style buildings that aren’t more than 5 years old. Does it look cool? Sure! Does it feel kitschy? A little.

In addition to monuments, Skopje has several museums that have also received a facelift, including the Archeological Museum of FYROM (seen in the photo above), the Museum of Macedonian Struggle and the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of Macedonia.

The Old Bazaar

The Old Bazaar was a really cool part of Skopje with tons of history. Now that they’ve finished the revival of the Skopje 2014 project, I really hope they focus some energy on the Old Bazaar. 

The Old Bazaar in Skopje was a major stop on the trade route from Constantinople to Rome that dates back to the 12th century. The Old Bazaar is bordered by the Vadar River on one side and the Skopje Fortress on the other. It’s connected to the New City by a bridge called Stone Bridge. The evidence of the Ottoman rule of Macedonia remains in the forms of Ottoman style architecture, Turkish bath houses and mosques. You can still find many restaurants and shops that line the ancient streets. 

During one of our nights, we stumbled up on the inaugural international light festival called Skopje Art Light District. By following a series of red lights throughout the Old Bazaar, we stumbled across some multi-faceted light shows and art exhibitions. I think there were 15-20 in total. Here are a few we were able to capture – this is one of the time we really really regretted that we decided to leave our DSLR in Kansas City when we visited in August.

Anthony Takes Us to a Kafana

On our first day there, I get a Facebook message from my friend Marguerite that includes four people she knows that live in Macedonia. Anthony lives in Skopje and is a cousin of her cousin. We’re excited when he offers to take us out for an evening. These types of outings are undoubtedly the highlights of our trip.

He takes us to what’s called a kafana. This traditional Macedonian restaurant combines food, drink, and music and is a significant part of the Macedonian culture. This particular kafana is called Skopski Merak and is located in a neighborhood that is buzzing with cafes, coffee shops, bars. We follow Anthony as he navigates the cobblestone streets and weaves through laughing crowds of people.

Anthony made a reservation and we’re seated right away. The place is packed and the atmosphere is social and jovial. Large groups of people laugh, sing, and every so often, stand on the tables. Men in traditional dress with accordions and guitars peruse the tables and tap or strum music to the guests. 

Anthony orders food for the table to share, along with pre-dinner rakija (Macedonian brandy) and plenty of wine. We talk for hours while the music continue and the wine flows. We ask Anthony questions about Macedonian history, including the current drama with Greece. In an nutshell, Greece has been fighting Macedonia for years regarding the name of the country. Greece argues that current Republic of Macedonia should be called Republic of Northern Macedonia, because there are regions of Greece also called Macedonia. I guess this is just the current saga of the two countries, which have struggled for centuries to get along.

We finally wrap up but decide, hell no, we’re not ready to go home yet (that’s what a Kafana does to you)! So we go out to a western-themed bar called Saloon and have a few more drinks. Did we NEED to go out? NO. Was the hangover worth it? Absolutely. Thanks Anthony for showing us such a great time!

Other Things We Did in Skopje

We spend the next day (or two) nursing our hangovers and exploring some of the other neighborhoods in the city. We spent some time at a few restaurants in the Debar Maalo neighborhood, near City Park. 

Overall, Skopje was a nice surprise, but of course the highlight was our night out at the kafana. Huge thanks to Anthony for his generous hospitality and wealth of knowledge he shared with us. We hope to cross paths again someday! For now, the Rempalas are off to Bulgaria.