Macedonia, Skopje- The City of Statues

I know you are probably thinking the same thing I was when Skopje came up on my fare finder last year. Where the heck is Skopje? I can assure you before moving to Europe I was unaware this little gem of a city existed or even the country for a matter of fact. Macedonia or FYROM as it’s usually referred to is tucked between Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Greece. It is a perfect starting point if you plan to see the Balkan’s as most of the car rental places allow you to cross borders without an issue.

 

I  was only in the country for a mere 36 hours. I know, not nearly enough time to soak it in a enjoy everything it had to offer, but the city of Skopje fit the bill. I stayed at Bushi Resort and Spa right at the edge of the Old Bazaar. This hotel was a steal and a great find with the spa being inclusive of the stay. The driver from the hotel collected me on arrival and whisked me into the city. While the city has nearly a million people, the city felt quiet and quaint.

 

I headed down into Old Town, which was just a short minute walk from the hotel. From here I found a square full of statues of leaders, conquers and musicians. The city is not as old as it looks as many of the buildings have been built recently due to the economic stimulus in the country and many buildings have been destroyed in earthquakes.  On the way into Old Town you can stop in to the Holocaust Museum and the National Theater. One of the most amazing and very unique things I found in Skopje is that they have built an area surrounding the House of Opera and Ballet with music playing from famous composers. I sat for about 20 minutes just enjoying the sounds of the music and peacefulness within this large city.

 

If you book in advance you can visit the home of Mother Teresa. It was closed the two days I was in town so I had to miss it on this trip. In order to get into the rest of Old Town you walk over the famous Stone Bridge. The river is being renovated right now so the views were not very good as there are backhoes, diggers and mounds of dirt along the river. They have built to ships along the river with restaurants and rooms on board. They looked really cool if you were staying with kids. Now the amount of statues that existed in this city was crazy. Everywhere you turned a statue was just around the corner. They were down the river, on the bridge, in the squares and intersections. They really provided uniqueness to the city. Looking through the building in Old Town is was so surprising to see many were just built as late as 2012, but the architecture is in line with Roman period.

 

I strolled back up to the hotel through Kale Fortress on top of the hill. It was a great viewpoint down into the Old Town. Since the hotel was very close to the Old Bazaar I had a look at some of the goods they had to offer. It seems many people come here to go wedding dress shopping as there was a lot of wedding dress boutiques located in the bazaar. One of the shops allowed me to have a look as some of the handmade lace gowns and they were just stunning.

After a ton of walking I went back to the resort to find an amazing spa right in the hotel. I was not expecting much due to it being in a hotel, but I was surprised by the hotels spa, which included a salt room, sauna, Turkish bath, Jacuzzi, heated loungers and large pool. 

Happy Traveling, 

Katrina