The Yugosphere Part I

I left winter in Bulgaria to find Spring and sunshine in Macedonia (pronounced mah-keh-dough-nee-uh)! It was my first entry into former Yugoslavian territory and I definitely enjoyed the days I spent there. Skopje (pronounced scope-yeh), the capital, was a nice city, but perhaps not the most exciting in terms of sightseeing. What sticks out to me most is that I happened upon a free concert promoting diversity in the main square. Volunteers wore “Free Hugs” t-shirts and passed out balloons. (But from what I could see, I was one of the most “diverse” members of the audience*) 

Macedonia Square

Mother Teresa was born in Skopje; this is a chapel built at the site of her former home 

Mt. Vodno and the Millenium Cross – one of the biggest crosses in the world. It only cost about $2 to take the cable car up to the cross… pretty awesome especially when I compare it to the ~$30 I paid to see the Christo in Rio!

Ohrid is a small city about three hours away from Skopje; it is said to be the jewel in Macedonia’s crown and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city sits on the famous Lake Ohrid; the lake is very deep and I think I read that at the deepest point of the lake, the Eiffel Tower would dip just below the surface! There were a lot of centuries old churches and monasteries, and some of them were quite beautiful. 

Church of St. John at Kaneo

Tsar Samuil’s Fortress was perhaps my favorite part of the old town – it had a really amazing view over the city and the lake. 

The picture doesn't really show it, but it was almost as if you could see Spring blooming around you with these cherry blossom-like trees sprouting pretty pink flowers everywhere. The weather was pretty bad - rainy and cloudy when I was in town - but on the upside, it was low season and I had a hostel to myself!

A lot of the food in Macedonia was similar to Bulgarian food, the exception being tavche gravche – the national dish:

It’s basically a bean stew and I thought it was terrible! The one I had at least was very bland and just kind of made my stomach feel uncomfortable after eating it. I guess “national dish” doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll find something that tastes good :) They Do like to do bacon-wrapped chicken skewers that were amazing (!) and I also rediscovered stuffed peppers! 

Stuffed Peppers - Polneti Piperki (or Peretz Farshirovani in Russian)

My favorite thing to eat in Russia were the stuffed peppers and I was thrilled to see it on menus here. Unexpectedly, fast food consists largely of burgers and hot dogs, and the burgers I had were fantastic: Massive, delicious, and oddly stuffed with french fries and cabbage. 

This chicken burger was as big as my face!

I was also able to try homemade ajvar, a mix of spices and crushed bell peppers and eggplant that you can eat by itself or with bread/cheese; the hostel owner gave me some that her mother had made – it was really, really good!

Shkembe Chorba - Tripe Soup typical of Bulgaria and Macedonia

Albania: From Ohrid, I took a “private taxi” to Struga and a bus from Struga to Tirana, the capital of Albania. (While the hostel owner and I were waiting at the bus stop, a man pulled over and said “Struga?” He offered to take me for 50 MKD, but I only had 40 MKD because that is what the bus costs. The hostel owner gave me 10 MKD and I was on my way. Random. The man picked up other passengers, smoked the whole way, and drove terrifyingly fast, but I made it okay!) Albania is not part of the Yugosphere and barely worth a mention actually…. It’s not that it sucks, but the part I visited was very uninteresting and basically a waste of time. The weather was crappy, the city was gritty and unimpressive, and there weren’t even uniquely “Albanian” foods to try! Perhaps the most interesting thing about Tirana is the fact that they have a street named after George Bush because he visited in 2007 :)

Kosovo: I spent about 15 hours in Tirana before I was on a bus to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. I fought hard for a fair cab fare and ended up with a nice guy who told me America and Kosovo are buddy buddy. (He showed me his fingers locked together to signify the relationship). This was a nice start to Kosovo, but soon after, I hit one of my lowest points in my travels so far. I ended up with the WORST map ever and got very lost. I hate being lost. Not only did I have no idea where I was, but it was cold, rainy, and I didn’t care at all about the “sights to see” in Pristina (not that there were many anyway!). I was tired of the crappy weather and cities without much to see or do…. It felt stupid to be unhappy and wasting money in Eastern Europe when I could be home relaxing or otherwise enjoying life. I was so miserable that day that I even started googling flights home. Clearly my “crisis of (travel) faith” passed, and I am plunging forward as usual, but it was the first time I’ve ever truly considered going home.

One of the most interesting buildings in Kosovo: University of Kosovo Library

There really isn’t too much to see in Pristina, and in fact, the “thing to do,” is to have a macchiato and people watch. As one of the poorest countries in Europe, people don’t have a lot of money to spend so they spend their time being seen instead. This was fun to watch and a nice way to spend a Saturday morning – I don’t think I’ve ever had a macchiato before :) My favorite thing in Pristina was a goofy statue of Bill Clinton that sits on a boulevard named after the former president:

There are odd little homages to America with an “American Corner” in the university library and even a store called “American Beauty” selling (awful-looking) clothes. 

The one Kosovar food that I wanted to try that seemed unique was flia – an unhealthy layered pastry. It tasted like layers of pasta with oil and butter… it was interesting to say the least :)

People were very nice to me in Kosovo, even offering to help me if I stood puzzling over my incomprehensible map. Usually, I’d blame myself, and not the map, but locals were even confused as they stared at it and tried to rotate it into making sense. One security guard directed me to the center and told me it was a very long walk. I didn’t mind, but he ended up passing me by on his way home from work and he offered me a ride. I refused initially, but then got in the car. Ironically, he told me not to get into cars with strangers, and then he drove in traffic (out of his way) just to drop me off in the city center. Nice guy :)

Generally, people seem proud of the Republic of Kosovo and there’s a lot of graffiti that says simply “Kosova Republikë.” There aren’t many signs of the recent conflict apart from numerous postings throughout the city of people who were killed and the continued UN presence. I felt safe there. 

@ the UNMIK building; Definitely eerie to see all the UN vehicles around town...

I know I’ve only covered two of the seven countries in former Yugoslavian territory (and only one really if you side with Serbia in not recognizing Kosovo), but there’s more to come! Next stop, Montenegro!