Skopje

We had been told in advance that there is not all that much to see in Skopje, and that is definitely the case. When we ate dinner Saturday night at a crowded restaurant on Ploshtad Macedonia, the central square of the city, it seemed lively, as there was a loud, open air concert nearby. But when we returned to walk around Sunday morning, the streets were quite deserted.

We enjoyed the many statues on the sidewalks.

Skopje's big claim to fame, besides being the capital of Macedonia, is that it is the birth place of Mother Teresa. There was a special church dedicated to her, and a few statues. We liked this one the best:

Shoe shine?

The symbol of the city of Skopje is its historic Stone Bridge, over the Vardar River. It really wasn't too impressive on the cold and dreary morning.

Looking back at Skopje from the bridge, you can see the Macedonian flag at half past due to the Lake Orhid tragedy, the empty Ploshtad Macedonia square, and in the distance, the huge cross on Mt. Vodno.

On the far side of the bridge is the old town, and its Turkish Bazaar. The streets were empty and the shops closed. This was strange to us, as it was a Sunday morning and we had assumed that the Muslim section would be busy.

It was getting cold and the service at the restaurant where we wanted to warm up with cappuccinos was very slow. We went back to the hotel to pack up and head home.