“I can remain traveling in perpetual motion with considerable passion for a long, long time. But at the end of each journey, I feel my soul drifting, completely untethered with no further fuel.” – Old Sean
Eyes Welded Shut
Following a painfully complex ride from Belgrade, I finally arrived in Skopje, Macedonia early in the morning. Afterwards, I shuffled over to my hostel and fell asleep, continuously snoozing a full day away.
When I finally emerged, I found myself a bit disgruntled at my choice. Visiting Skopje is amazing, and I would’ve loved more waking hours within.
Prior to arriving in Macedonia, I committed minimal research. I was no longer actively working for my tourist company, so the country was pure-vacation, a place to settle down and polish my work. As a result, I didn’t have much background information.
I was expecting Macedonia to be an architectural combination of Greek and Communist-era block-buildings with a backdrop of shrubby mountains. But was I saw far, far exceeded that.
Skopje is, for lack of a better term, an artfully-inclined city, crafted with Classical ideals, legions of statues and marble structures.
First Impressions of Skopje
The downtown area of Skopje is filled with a higher concentration of regal statues than I’ve seen anywhere else in the world.
Horses gallop from shallow ponds, lions pounce from fountains, scholars of bronze and copper crest bridges, gods and goddesses lounge in the shadows of enormous domed buildings. Amidst it all, a chilling river races below, pleasantly forming sound in brief arcs over pale stones.
Essentially, Skopje is the city that eats its metaphorical veggies and goes to the metaphorical gym.
Best of all are the soldierly statues, oddly reminiscent of Greek Hoplites. These are found near various pillars, obviously harkening back to Alexander the Great, his legendary generals and his accomplished father Philip II of Macedon.
I love the Greek armor for the aesthetics. Somewhere down the historical line, these relatively short-in-stature warriors turned around and said, “Hey, let’s smack some abs and pecs on our bronze armor. That’ll scare those Persian bastards away.” And I love that they did that. Modern battle armor is missing out.
Continuing To Wander
Even the more humble parts of Skopje are excellent to visit.
The shopping streets and centers in the Old Town are bustling with crowds. Despite this, they remain fairly clean and exceptionally accommodating.
Best of all, they’re cheap, which means I scouted out areas to buy some new clothes. Currently, all of my outfits are so threadbare I’m worried about a strong wind causing tears.
Numerous stray dogs and cats congregate downtown in the early mornings with exceptional friendliness. Additionally, I’ve found the nearby Vinyl Café is a great place for beats and coffee, although it’s primarily a bar.
Elsewhere, the buildings are fairly low and spaced out, allowing an expansive sky to continuously pull white clouds overhead. The most dominating feature on the skyline is the Kale Fortress, a wide, pale ancient structure. To the best of my knowledge, it’s not crafted of superfood.
I spent the next few days tying up a couple of loose ends for and gradually discovering more about Skopje. It’s a great little city.
Onward to Ohrid
However, once I was done visiting Skopje, it was time to go into the countryside.
The capital of Macedonia isn’t my final destination. Instead, I’m giving myself a month in the lakeside tourism town of Ohrid.
For the next month, I’ll be living in perpetual solitude while I work on a couple of books and double check my work from the last four months.
My stay in Ohrid will have no real internet connection, no sugar, booze, hellhounds or phones.
It’s basically a self-imposed prison sentence somewhere extraordinarily pretty. I’m looking forward to it.
That’s about it. Until my exile is ended,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written September 27th, 2018
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Skog Å Kust Watertight Day Bag
Everyone should have a day bag. My favorite is the Skog Å Kust Watertight Bag. It’s easy to sling over my shoulders and lets me walk without fear of m devices getting damaged in the rain. Better yet, I can go swimming with electronics whenever I need to.
