Skopje - 21st October

We start with some more Burek for breakfast.  We have had it in each of the countries we have visited so far, but the best has to be the Macedonian ones.  In fact we are already coming to the conclusion that the food quality and value here may be the best we have had so far.

After more photos of more statues around town, we are going to visit the one big monument in Skopje that we didn’t really get to see yesterday, the Millennium Cross.  This is a massive cross on a mountain overlooking Skopje, at 66m high, the biggest in the world.  There are two ways to get there from the city centre, a bus and then a cable car, or walk.  We choose the latter way.

The mountain is over 1000m high, and coming from the city centre at 260m high, it is quite a hike, yet it is perfectly doable inside 2 ½ hours.  There can’t be as many as good hikes directly from the city centre, as most of it is through a forest on the side of the mountain.  The views over the city are great as we go up, and when we get to the top the views over the mountains beyond the city are also spectacular.  However there is a bit of a haze from smog which means that picture taking is a bit hard.  We have a well-earned beer at the foot of the cross, and then we go down again, this time by the cable car and bus.  We also have a well-earned ice cream after we get off the bus.

In the evening we go back to the main square in search of a locally recommended kebab shop (by the nice guy who runs the hostel).  However we are treated to a great sound, light and fountain show at the Alexander the Great statue.  The lights and water are in time with various pieces of classical music.  It’s quite impressive, as are the kebabs.  However we get a Macedonian chilli with them which is far too hot to eat, making jalapeños seem like ordinary peppers.  And after that we hit a cake shop, again based on a recommendation from our host.  If it sounds like we are enjoying our food in Macedonia, the answer is that we are, it is very good, and very cheap.