My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Today our bus to Prizren was scheduled to leave at 4pm. So we spent a good part of the day walking around Skopje and enjoying the sites. Skopje has a lot of statues both gigantic and lifesize.
We walked to the bus station and our bus left promptly at 4. Soon after leaving Skopje we crossed the border into Kosovo.
The bus ride took about three hours. In Prizren we walked to our hotel and then had a great dinner at the restaurant next door to the hotel.
Our hotel in Skopje was built in the river. It was built to look like a ship. We had breakfast this morning on the top floor.
Then we went out for a walk and explored a bit of central Skopje. It is very beautiful.
For dinner we went to Restaurant Old House. It is in a house that was built in 1836 and is supposed to be the oldest traditional house in Macedonia.
Our train to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia left today at 5:30 pm. This morning we went for a walk to check out the train station and the town.
This afternoon we read and relaxed in the tower of the hotel. About 4:30 we walked back to the train station.
By the time we got to Skopje it was dark. We took a taxi to our hotel and then had dinner at the restaurant.
Tomorrow I’m looking forward to exploring Skopje.
We are staying at Popova Kula Winery just outside of Demir Kapija. Last night we had a fascinating conversation with the owner of the winery. He came by our table as we were eating dinner and introduced himself. He has an MBA from an American university. We can’t remember which one.
Even though there is almost no one staying here right now he said that in the summer they are very busy. E75 a major European highway that runs from Gdańsk, Poland to Athens is visible from the winery windows. Poles and Serbians who want to vacation in Greece with their families will often spend the night here on their way south.
We had a great breakfast this morning and then did a winery tour.
A bit later we went for a walk to explore the area around the winery. The owner’s dogs led the way on our walk. They were out front until we met a group of other dogs. Then our companions kept us between them and the pack.
The tower in the winery is as great place to sit and enjoy the view
We had another great dinner in the restaurant. Our waiter knew the U.S. well. He had worked on cruise ships and visited a lot of American ports. we were the only people in the restaurant for most of dinner.
Today started the last phase of our trip. For the next month we will be traveling in North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Romania.
We almost always have breakfast included in our hotel stays but we didn’t in Thessaloniki because in big cities it is fun to find a bakery locally. This morning we found a wonderful one. They make their own croissants!
At 11 we checked out of our hotel and stored our bags. Next we planned to visit the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. On the way there I saw a shop selling silk shawls like one I have and love. I bought a new one for €10. The shop also had a lot of what looked like decorated sticks. I couldn’t figure out what they were. The shop owner explained that on Easter children carry decorated candles to church.
Finally we took a taxi to the train station and caught our bus. At the border the bus driver took all the passengers’ passports to be processed. We were the only ones who had to get off and be questioned. My theory was that that was because they couldn’t quite figure out where we had entered the E.U. (It was a few weeks ago in Africa where we entered the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco). Anyway we showed them our flight details to enter Greece and we were on our way.
We also bought Duke new sunglasses at H&M and then walked to the museum. It was an excellent Museum. All the exhibit explanations had English translations and it provided us with some much needed context for the Macedonian region of Greece that we have been traveling in.
Our bus was scheduled to leave at 3:30 so we found a place for coffee and then killed an hour or so in the lobby of the hotel.
Not far from the border we got off the bus and got a taxi to Winery Popova Kula in Demir Kapija where we are tonight.
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