Macedonia Square is the largest square in the country, and I was right above it from the balcony of my hotel room. It’s the nexus of the old town in the north, on the other side of the river, and the considerably less attractive new town in the south. Much of the grand buildings here…

Spent sone time walking the bazaar, which is really a tangle of pedestrianized alleys filled with tourist shops, cafés, and jewellery shops, but still manages to look pleasant and quiet. At the western side is Skopje’s fortress, which is really just the original bastions and watch towers with a fantastic view of the city. The…

Macedonia is a religious country, churches are all over the place. Not the towering cathedrals of northern Europe but little ones dating back to the Byzantine empire, covered in frescoes and without pews. You want to pray, you do it standing up. This is St. Pantaleon south of Skopje, built in the 12th century. According…

The canyon is near Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, the country north of Greece. I really loved Albania a few years back, so I wanted to see some of the neighbors. Friendly people, a beautiful countryside, and filled with churches, monasteries, and also mosques. Matka canyon isn’t far from Skopje. They offer boat tours,…