A short note about Bitola and Skopje

As promised here is my short note about our one day in Bitola and couple of days in Skopje, containing never before seen details of Jade actually finding Roman ruins interesting.

As I have mentioned before, compared to Albania, everything seems really easy in Macedonia. On our last day in Ochrid, we woke up, packed, had breakfast and got a taxi to the bus station. We bought a ticket to Bitola and said goodbye to Nick, who was going to Skopje directly, and got on a bus that just happened to be there and on time (just like the bus timetable had said it would be). Bitola isn't very far from Ochrid and so we were only on the bus for just over an hour before we could get off and settle down in our lovely private room with its own ensuite - sad how little things like a clean bathroom become so exciting after you have put up with other people's hair on the floor for four weeks.

Bitola is really a bit of a nothing town. It's located on a plateau and so the drive there was full of winding climbs, followed by long straights through flat areas of farm land and orchards... all very quaint and pretty. The original town (Heraclea) was a prosperous trade center (founded by Philip II of Macedon, Alex the Great's dad), which later became even more prosperous because it sat right on the via Ignatius - the Roman road linking Italy and Greece (essentially the road that joined the western and eastern halves of the empire) - so you can imagine there was a lot of trade (and consequently duty and tariffs). It continued to be important during the Byzantine period because it had a lot of religious influence, and then, under the Ottomans, the town became a trade center again, with a large artisan population. So, in short, I wanted to stop for a day in Bitola to see the Roman ruins that they are still excavating... secretly knowing that, due to the general lack of health and safety, I would be able to climb over the ruins and, hopefully, in the diggings!

So, as well as some ruins and a nice guest house to stay in, Bitola has a pretty and relaxed town center, which Jade and I, (becoming less inclined to look at churches, mosques and museums as the days pass), decided to go for a wander around. The first thing we noted (or were reminded of) was how bad the Lonely Planet maps are - we followed the map and ended up at the far end of the center (and then got lost on the way home too). There is a pedestrian area that leads down to the 'river' (aka. rubbish filled riverbed and small creek) - there are lots of nice cafes and, again due to general lethargy, we spent a while people watching over a glass of red wine. We also had a wander around the old bizarre area, which used to have over 3000 artisan stalls and now plays home everything from shops selling shrines to wedding dresses. Jade and I did decide to look inside one church, (where I had to put on a wrap-around skirt); the main draw card here was some amazing ceiling frescoes and a really detailed altar screen but, if we're honesty, we were both more taken with the huge chandeliers and both secretly fancied one in our houses one day... or maybe that was just me and my delusions of grandeur.

We did go to the supermarket and get some snacks, which proved our downfall later in the evening. Our private room had about 80 channels so when we got home (at about five), we each got into bed, turned on the TV and watched 'Fox Crime' until ten thirty, while eating ALL our snacks... which inevitably made both of us feel a little ill.

Because everything seems so much easier in Macedonia, we decided to be daring the next day and try to go to the ruins in the morning and then catch the bus to Skopje in the afternoon. (This is not the start of a paragraph on all the things that went wrong because that was our plan and it actually worked without any hitches - amazing!) Heraclea was a large provincial center during the Roman Empire but, because of where the modern buildings are, there is only so much that can be excavated. We spent the morning climbing over the ruins and looking at some really well preserved mosaics. Again, I turned into Teacher Rose and had fun explaining about the baths and hypocausts, courts and basilicas to Jade - who said that, usually she would finds all the Roman stuff really boring but, because I explained it so well, she really liked it and that I should be a tour guide - thanks, Jade!!!

Then it was back on the bus and to Skopje, (a bus journey I slept through most of - the lack of proper nutrition has hit me well and truly now and I am really tired a lot of the time...and sometimes a little snappy, which can raise the level of tension somewhat between two such stubborn taureans!) Skopje isn't a very pretty city but it has a nice feel about it, although this may be partly due to the fact that a lot of the population are currently on holiday at Ochrid and on the Adriatic Coast. There was a major earthquake here in 1963 and many of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian buildings had to be flattened... result: a lot of gray, communist style apartments and civic buildings. The clock at the old train station (which is now the city museum) stopped at the moment the earthquake struck... hmmmmm, 'Back-to-the-future' anyone? There is a really nice central pedestrian area (again), with cafe filled streets radiating out from a central square next to the old Turkish bridge. Across the river is the old town, or the Turkish quarter.

Our sightseeing in Skopje has been limited to wandering. We spent most of yesterday morning in the old town, looking in the shops and markets. There are a lot of mosques in this part of the city and it was really cool to hear the call to midday prayer, as we were coming down from the town fortress, as it echoed from all parts of the old town. We did go into one church; a monastery on the hill below the fortress, which had to be built underground because of an Ottoman law that a church building could not be higher than a mosque. One of the Macedonia freedom fighters is buried in the courtyard and, inside the monastery church, there was an amazing altar screen, carved with flowers, leaves and birds which boarder carvings of bible stories and amazing painted icons. (Pretty cool... and I managed to get some sneaking photos in before a woman came to explain it all to us.) Apart from the church and wandering the old town, we went to see the Mother Theresa memorial... and then went to the shops. (Not a word! I got some really nice shoes.)

Today, we went to Lake Matka, which is 30 mins outside of Skopje and was created by the building a hydro-station in a narrow canyon. The canyon, itself, is pretty amazing with craggy rock-faces rising almost straight up out of the water in some parts and, in other parts, beautiful, lush bush coming right to the water... according to the wildlife signs there are a lot of protected bird species in the area, including 4 breeds of vulture! We had lunch in a cafe, which was on a terrace which overhung the water, and then we went for a boat trip up the canyon to see a cave. The guide was telling us that there have recently been a number of underwater cave systems discovered in the area including one, that they were diving when we were there, which may be the largest in Europe. After that we sat around for a bit waiting for our taxi driver to take us back to the hostel.

Hmmmm... I seem to recall using the work 'short' at the start of this! Anyway, we are catching a midnight bus to Sofia tonight and to be quite honest, although we are both still really enjoying seeing new things and being away, I, at least, am really ready to come home. I think in the end it has really come down to the food situation - I did do a lot of research before I left but there isn't much you can do if the traditional food that you found out about isn't served anywhere. I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to the decision I made to go vegan but it has been really hard (and boring!) especially when I've really wanted an ice cream and all you can order off the menu is a tomato and cucumber salad... maybe next year I'll choose my holiday destination based solely on the local food!

I'll write one more little snippet, either from Sofia on Tuesday morning or from London - I think a little sum up may be in order.

Rose x