Beautiful Macedonia

It has been a long time since I've posted something new. Travelling took too much time and I was wondering that I could better write everything on my blog at home, at my own computer and directly accompanied by pictures.

Macedonia is a beautiful little country. Forgotten, ignored, unknown... These words are some examples of how many people would present their knowledge about this former southernmost Yugoslavic Republic. I would advise to explore Macedonia, because this country has everything packed in one little nation...And it deserves better.

Imagine a cultural mix of Macedonians, Albanians, Bulgarians, Turks and Roma in one area. The city of Skopje with its left shore of the River Vardar being like little Istanbul, and its right shore a living centre of art, old Yugoslav skyscrapers built after the earthquake of 1963, crazy traffic and the smell of gasoline, fresh mountain air, grilled meat and cigarette smoke pumping its way to your lungs...

Imagine markets all day long, offering a wide range from plastic Chinese toys to dried herbs, peppers, giant onions, even more varieties of giant fruits and vegetables than you can ever imagine, mountain honey by the litre and small vendors with nuts, Turkish delight, tea glasses,...name it!

Imagine stunning mountain views, unexplored and almost never visited mountain trails, forests, two big mountain lakes with the sight of the Inland sea in Jules Vernes' Journey to the centre of the earth. Yes, I am mentioning the lakes of Ohrid - Unesco world heritage - and Prespa.

Imagine hospitable Macedonians or Albanians inviting you to a Mosque or their house for lunch with the family, with the bottle of Rakija (Strong slivovica made from grapes) in front of you and the level of the liquid in it fastly moving towards the bottom, freshly baked fish, olives and bunches of grapes. Imagine an imam tapping on your shoulder because you look interested in his world, Islam but espacially in his mosque...

Even more than you can Imagine... Read on the coming days... I am going to do my utter best to offer you nice stories and pictures.


Regards,

Christophe