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Other entries in Skopje

FYROM

Skopje, Wednesday, April 9

So what does FYROM stand for? This is the offical name of Macedonia. When Macadonia was crreated peacefully in 1991 it was not allowed to be called Macedonia as Greece claims ownership of that name and does not want another country to claim. Such confusion might allow that country to lay claim to the Aegean Macedonia which is part of Greece as per a treaty with Turkey in 1913 after the Balkan War. So FYROM stands for the "Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia". Greece continues to have issues with Macedonia, more recently with its flag which Macedonia had to change as a per-condition to becoming a candidate for EU membership.

The day started with a twist. The night before at 10 PM I had boarded a bus going to Pristina, the capital of the world's newest country (earlier in 2008 it was recognized by the EU and the US as a separate country from Serbia) or Kosovo. When I got to Pristina at 4:30 in the morning it was dark, raining, and I had slept poorly as the bus driver had the heat way up so he could smoke and have his window open. Plus I had to go through passport control to get out of Serbia and again to get into Kosovo which woke me up at 3:00 AM. One look outside and I knew this was a bad plan. Fortunately, there was a bus going to Skopje leaving at 5:30 AM. My initial plan was to tour Pristina and catch a bus to Skopje around noon. The only event of record in Pristina was that I lost my passport in my sleepy stupor. But before I knew it was missing, the stewart of the bus came running up to me with my passport. What a blessing, found before you know it is lost. God and Lorna continue to look after me, PTL.

Skopje is the capital of Macedonia, with a population of about 500,000. It has the traditional layout similar to most of the other cities I visited in Eastern Europe. A main square, some neat churches, street cafes everywhere, memorable, photogenic bridge and a few historical ruins. If it sounds like I am getting a bit jaded and that is not so, but I am less easily impressed. The uniqueness of Skopje is the Stone Bridge and the very pronounced side-by-sideness of a Muslim and Eastern Orthodox part of the city. Plus a twisted attempt by the communists to de-religion the city.

I am staying in the middle of the Muslim part of the city. As I walked out of the hotel (with shared washroom, a first but materially cheaper than having your own) at 8 AM, the smells in the air were so refreshing. Your senses tell you you are somewhere different. There are at least seven mosques or minarets near the hotel. I like the feel of the Muslim quarters of cities; they have such character for a Westerner. A local walked me to the Stone Bridge which crosses the Vardar River (not the Danube for a change). Walked thru the Eastern Orthodox part of Skopje with its sidewalk cafes and had coffee, bacon and eggs at a Best Western. Checked out McDonalds but they serve hamburgers for breakfast, not hash browns and egg McMuffins. Even I have constraints on one of my favourite eating out experiences.

Went into a few Eastern Orthodox churches, they continue to not have chairs so that must be standard. The murals have a curious difference from Catholic art which makes them interesting. You see many women rush in, light candles and walk out. Other than myself, I have see no men in them. There is a profound seriousness in the visits by the women; religion is far from dead here, at least for the better half.

The communists tried to get rid of religion as they considered it the "opiate of the people" to quote Karl (or was it Groucho) Marx. So what they did was build a post office that looks like a modern Mosque or Eastern Orthodox church. See photo.

As I had time and I urgently wanted to catch a bus to Sofia the following morning at 8:30 AM, I practised the walk. Ended up in entirely the wrong part of town, going absolutely the wrong direction. Reason I am doing this is that taxis or cars do not go into the inner part of the Muslim (Carsija) part of the city, which is charming but alarming if you need to be somewhere or find your hotel. The taxi in the morning just dropped me off at a corner, pointed into Carsija as he had no idea where the hotel was and left as he could not go in. Will just have to get up that much earlier tomorrow morning and find a cab.

Photos / videos of "FYROM":