Macedonia

Macedonia – Skopje – Vardar River – Stone Bridge_2006_P1110685

Macedonia – Skopje – old town – Mustapha Pasha Mosque_2006_P1110748

Macedonia – Skopje – new town – Macedonia Street (used to be Marshal Tito Street) – statue Mother Teresa_2006_P1110782

Macedonia – Ohrid – at Lake Ohrid – waterfront_2006_P1110583

Macedonia – Ohrid – at Lake Ohrid – St. Sophia Church_2006_P1110602

Macedonia – Ohrid – at Lake Ohrid – fortress_2006_P1110580

AMK-06 Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo trip
Date of travel: July 10 – July 24, 2006

ITINERARY:
At noon July 10 I fly from Prague, Czech Republic via Vienna in Austria to Tirana the capital of ALBANIA. The city was founded in 17th century by Turks. About 1.5 days I spend sightseeing the city with its numerous mosques, several museums and many street cafes. One day I made a daytrip by a local bus to the major Albanian harbor Durres. Its natural harbor has been used from the 7th century BC and there are remains from Roman times there, too. On July 13 I take a van to the east through the mountainous region of the country to Lake Ohrid spanning the Albanian-Macedonian border. A taxi drives me the last 3 km from town of Pogradec to the actual border crossing, which is except for both countries passport and customs offices in the middle of nowhere.

So now in MACEDONIAI walk with my heavy bag a couple of kilometers when an empty taxi picks me up and takes me about 30 km to a town Ohrid on the shore of the lake of the same name. This town has a long history and due to the beautiful lake it is a Macedonian tourist Mecca. It has an old fort on a mountain ridge above the lake, number of very old orthodox churches and even remains of a Roman amphitheater. I devote a day and half to its sightseeing. It is very appealing place. Then I take a bus to the Macedonian capital Skopje where I have two nights in a hotel. I give the city thorough look from its Kale Fort on the top, through the old city on the side of a hill, to its new parts past the Vardar River on the bottom. The old town is showing that the Turks had ruled here for 500 years and that one third of the Macedonian population are Moslems (Albanians) due to many minarets rising from the city. On July 17 I depart Skopje on a bus going north.
Read more