After a late night, and no food – we have a slow start and head out into the rain ????️

So far it’s all looking a bit run down: the drivers are bloody mental and seem to ignore all lights, use the pavements and generally just crash into each other

We go through a run down shopping mall and finding nout to eat

But as all hope was looking lost… we get to Macedonia square – and wow, there is some amazing architecture here

Absolutely giant statues, huge columns, great bridges… we will explore later, right now we are dying of starvation and go into Soul Kitchen right on the river front with views of the bridges and grand buildings

Order everything on the menu as it’s alll sooooo cheap and looks yummy! Great cup of coffee too ☕️

Seemed a lot but we got through it all! Two coffees to go with of course

Use this food to power us on to explore in the rain, we go over The Bridge of Civilisations in Macedonia to reach the Archaeological Museum of Macedonia – might as well have a look with the weather being a bit poor

Seems there remains a lot of Roman influence and history here – lots of finds over the last 60+ years

Two floors filled with information and history – very lovely to see and appreciate their preservation

Off to find the Old Bazaar – not too busy being out of peak season but nice to stroll around, even in the rain

Head towards Skopje Kale Fortress! Walk around the park – even has a military gun knocking about – and we find we can’t get into today

We walk all the way round the walls, avoiding traffic that mounts the curb, with no luck so venture onwards

There’s Goce Delchev Bridge primed with lions each side, and filled with crazy cars, and the Liberators of Skopje Monument

After all this rain, our toes are soaked so we cave for a bar to sit, warm up and wet our whistles – Irish Pub Saint Patrick, which has a decent playlist

Over some drinks, we look into lots of information about North Macedonian history…

Not one, but two countries have previously blocked their application to enter the EU: Greece for the pettiness of a name (Macedonia) and Bulgaria for the difference in how history is told – “liberating N Macedonia from communist Tito” “they’re Bulgarians who were brainwashed and given a new language” (though they were then occupied by fascist Nazis during WWII)!

Getting hungry again, we get to Carpe Diem for some Asian-Macedonian fusion along with some recommended, local wine (Viognier, from Tikves sourced in Babuna)

Our tummies filled, we go off to do some laundry and have a chill night in the spanking apartment!