Skopje, Macedonia

 It was cloudy and a bit snowy the morning we left from Ohrid toward Skopje.  Through the Macedonia countryside, we saw both churches and mosques.
Morning cloud viewing from my hotel balcony in Ohrid:

 A church on the hilltop in the distance:

We made a stop at Tetovo near the boarder of Kosovo to the north, to visit a mosque decorated with bright floral paintings:

 
Yes we removed our shoes and visited the inside:

 Man reading:

Continue on, we drove to Matka Canyon and had lunch in a local restaurant, trout is on the menu:

Amy and I hiked along the gorge while the others took a boat ride:

Finally we arrived Skopje in the evening.

Macedonia has always been a country struggled to gain its independence and identity.  Over the centuries, they have always been ruled by outsiders.  Even after they gained independence, they had to fight for their land, but still ended up as a land locked country.  They tried to claim Alexander is their heritage, but totally refused by Greece.  They love to claim Mother Terresa theirs, yet she identified herself as Albanian even though she was born in Skopje.

80% of the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1963.  With money from the international aid, Skopje has rebuilt considerably, with lots and lots and statues.  Still a sign of their struggle to claim identity with not too much success.  The recent voting under the pressure from Greece, Macedonia will change its name to Northern Macedonia.  They are even required to rewrite their history textbook to un-claim Alexander the great as part of their heritage.  Pretty sad!!

 The opera house:

 An old castle wall:

 A government building

 Huawei is here:

A statue of Alexander the great on his horse

 The Stone Bridge:

 The old town:

 Mother Terresa's museum:

 She was very short and frail:

 Inside the Mother Terresa Memorial:

Skopje was raining when we were there. So most of the time I spent in the museums.  It gave me a sad feeling for the people who had so much history, yet also have suffered so much for generations.

I headed back to US after Skopje.