EUROPE – PART 5

After we’d settled into our comfortable hotel in midtown Belgrade, the very friendly staff at the reception desk gave us a map and detailed instructions on what to see and where to eat. Although I was tired from the long drive from Sarajevo and the struggles of finding the car rental drop-off at Nicola Tesla Airport, we set out on foot for the old town which lies close to the mouth of the Sava River where it empties into the Danube. As with every other city we’ve visited on this European adventure, it’s a pedestrian-only zone. Hint! Hint! Charlottetown! The morning rain had stopped by the time we got there, and the place was abuzz with young people and Saturday shoppers.

Serbia has a population of 7 million and Belgrade is its largest city at 1.3 million. It ranks 67^th among the 192 countries listed by the International Monetary Fund in terms of GDP, slightly below Montenegro but significantly higher than Bosnia-Hercegovina. Its economy is growing at a steady pace and the country should be accepted for European Union membership by 2030 if it can keep peace within its borders and get over its obsession with regaining the lost territory of Kosovo. Serbia has a history of trying to gain control over areas where Serbs live, regardless of national borders, and eliminating all non-Serbs who happen to live there. It’s a dangerous obsession and one that will surely exclude them from membership in many of the desirable international “clubs”.

Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia, a country that existed from 1918 to 1992, first as a monarchy, then, from 1945 onwards, as a Communist state. Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia (now called North Macedonia) were the first of the former Yugoslav republics to declare their independence in 1991. Bosnia-Hercegovina followed in 1992. Serbia and Montenegro formed an alliance in 1992 but, in 2006, Montenegro became an independent nation. Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 2008 and, while it is not yet a member of the United Nations, it is recognized as a sovereign state by most European countries as well as Canada and the United States. C’est compliqué!

We walked, city map in hand, past several of Belgrade’s attractions on our first full day there on a beautiful sunny morning, beginning with the National Assembly and the Old Palace, residence of the Emperor in the days of the monarchy. The farther we walked, the better we liked this city. It has beautifully manicured parks, wide open spaces, and broad sidewalks. But whether using an old-fashioned map or Google Maps on my iPhone, the challenge was the same. Not only did I not understand the language, but the alphabet is Cyrillic and not Roman.

We saw the St. Sava Temple long before we reached it. It’s massive, and one of the biggest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. Unlike many religious buildings we’ve visited, this one is rather new, having been completed only in 2004. The interior is as beautiful as any we’ve seen.

From St. Sava, we wandered down toward the lower part of Belgrade in the direction of the Sava River. We soon picked up a stray dog, one of many in the city, who walked beside us for at least twenty minutes. We’re still not sure whether he was following us or whether we were following him. He finally gave up on us at the bus station. As is often the case, it’s the little things that make a day interesting.

The waterfront promenade is a relatively new addition to Belgrade and, as with others we’ve seen, it has become very popular. From there, we wandered up to the park that surrounds the Belgrade Fortress and booked a sunset river cruise. The pedestrian zone was packed with Sunday strollers, may of them young families out to take in the fresh air. The cruise itself was lovely. We started by sailing to the mouth of the Sava River, then turned into the Danube for a short distance before cruising up the Sava past New Belgrade, an impressive residential and commercial development begun in 1948 and dominated by the soon-to-be-completed Belgrade Tower seen in the photo below. The sun sets early here, at 4:15, so we got a nice view of the cityscape from the boat.

We liked almost everything about Belgrade, except what is shown in the middle of almost every table in every restaurant we visited. People smoke here. A lot!! And it takes some getting used to…

We took the early bus from Belgrade to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, the most southerly of the former Yugoslav republics. The country remained at peace during the wars of the 1990s and its only significant dispute in recent years has been with Greece over, of all things, its name. Greece considers that the name “Macedonia” should refer only to the northern part of its territory but, in 2019, it finally accepted that its neighbour to the north be called “The Republic of North Macedonia”. North Macedonia is a stable country politically and, although it contains two main ethnic groups, Macedonians (Eastern Orthodox Christian) and Albanians (Muslim), they seem to have found a way to live together in peace.

It was a long bus journey, but I was content to have someone else at the wheel. Even with Google Maps as a guide, getting in and out of cities in this part of the world can be quite a challenge. Drivers are impatient and aggressive, and streets are narrow and winding. We’d planned to use Skopje as a break in our trip, time to rest and, for me, to get some work done. Also, rather than attempt a long return train trip and an overnight stay overnight in Kosovo, we arranged a day trip there from Skopje.

Skopje has a population of about 600,000 and straddles the Vardar River. The 1963 earthquake destroyed 60% of the city and it was rebuilt in a modernist style. The new urban project, Skopje 2014, was adopted by the municipal authorities to give the city a more monumental and historical aspect, and to transform it into a proper national capital. Several neoclassical buildings destroyed in the 1963 earthquake were rebuilt, including the national theatre, and streets and squares were refurbished. Many other elements were also built, including fountains, statues, hotels, government buildings, and bridges.

We began our four-day visit by walking through Macedonia Square. It features a massive statue of the national hero, Alexander the Great, another man on a horse responsible for much death and destruction. Everywhere you look, there are statues. They might or might not have been important people. It’s hard to tell since all the inscriptions are in Cyrillic! 

The city center is quite compact, and everything is within easy walking distance. There seems to be a nice photo wherever you look. Skopje is the capital city of a developing nation. Some things they’ve done to heighten the city’s profile have worked and others are, well, let’s just say, works in progress. Wander away from the highlights and you soon come across dark alleyways, garbage, and traffic chaos. But it’s not fair to judge a place that’s only been at peace for thirty years, and it’s clear from all the new construction that investors and developers believe there’s a bright future here.

The bazaar is across the river from the main square and is typical of what you see in predominately Muslim communities. It’s much nicer than many we’ve seen. The fortress that overlooks the city is rather neglected; a nice place to walk around, but not much to see.

Our next stop was the Mother Teresa Memorial House located very close to our hotel. She was born in Skopje in 1910 and lived here until she entered a convent at the age of eighteen. The memorial house is built on the site of the former Catholic church where she was baptized and contains cultural exhibits and a photo gallery. Critics have called it a “tactless and tasteless homage to Mother Teresa”. That may be a little harsh and I can understand why some may find the place a bit kitschy. But the fact remains that Mother Teresa is a significant and recognizable figure and one that Skopje has every right to be proud of. Not every city can claim to be the birthplace of a Nobel Peace Prize winner and she certainly is a worthy contrast to all the macho men on horses who carry swords meant to kill people.

Kosovo lies to the north of North Macedonia and is recognized as a sovereign state by 102 of the 193 members of the United Nations. Its population is about 1.8 million and its capital city, Pristina, is home to some 200,000 inhabitants. Most of the population identifies as ethnic Albanian (Muslim) and this helps explain why Kosovo broke away from Serbia (Orthodox Christian) in 2008.

Our Visit Macedonia guide, Sofija, and driver, Stefan, picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 sharp. We crossed the border into Kosovo and drove to our first stop, the Gracanica Monastery in the town of the same name, a Serbian enclave near Pristina. The monastery was built in 1321 and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. It contains some of the finest frescos we’ve seen but, since we weren’t allowed to take photos inside, I’ve copied one from the web. Remember that the frescoes are 700 years old!

From Gracanica, it was a short drive to Pristina where we parked and walked around the city center, starting with a view of the National Library, as unusual a building as I’ve seen in my travels, built in 1982 during the Communist régime of Yugoslavia. The roof is made of 99 domes of different sizes and the entire structure is covered in what can only be described as a metal fish net. As with other unusual buildings, you either love it or hate it.

The new part of Pristina is rather dull architecturally, consisting of a few new government buildings and many of the ugly multi-storey concrete residential blocks typical of the Eastern European Communist era. But the pedestrian zone has a nice café-culture style to it. The second photo shows Mother Teresa Boulevard with the tall National Assembly building in the top left.

From Pristina, we drove to Prizren, Kosovo’s second-largest city. Along the way, we drove past impressive residential and commercial developments. When I asked where the cash was coming from, the answer was that Kosovo is an easy place to launder dirty money, and a quick internet search seems to support that explanation. I suppose when you’re a developing country, dirty money is better than no money at all!

The old part of Prizren is very charming. What city isn’t with a river running through its center! We had lunch there and spent a couple of hours just wandering around and people watching. Our guide and driver were both excellent and did two things right: Sofija didn’t spend every minute we were together trying to fill our heads with facts we’ll never remember and, in each place we visited, we were given ample time to wander on our own.

Kosovo turned out to be a pleasant surprise. We’d expected to see a poor country, struggling to come into its own after a messy separation from Serbia and a nasty civil war between the majority Kosovars (Muslim) and their Serbian (Orthodox) neighbours. The visit proved to us yet again that the only way to get to know a country is to go there and draw your own conclusions. And we can’t say enough good things about Stefan and Sofija. Because we visited near the end of the tourist season, we were their only guests and so were treated to a private tour. What a day!

On our last day in Skopje, we rented a car and headed out early into the countryside, looking for the Matka Canyon Trail. The canyon, flooded by a hydroelectric dam, looks more like a fjord. The trail leads from the parking lot to the reservoir above the dam where you can take a boat ride or simply follow the path. It’s rough in places but offers lovely views of the artificial lake and the surrounding mountains, and a good trail walk is a great way to start the day.

From Matka, we drove through several villages in the hills above the city until we arrived at the church and monastery of St. Panteleimon, the patron saint of physicians. The church was built in 1164, making it more than a century and a half older than the Gracanica Monastery in Kosovo. Since the door was open, we walked in and admired the interior structure, including the well-preserved frescoes. No one was there to tell us not to take photos, so we did and the view of the city from the terrace below the church was magnificent.

We had hoped to make it to the Millenium Cross at the top of Mount Vodno but the road and gondola were closed, probably because of high winds. We really enjoyed our visit to Skopje, a relaxing four days that gave us time to recharge our batteries and for me to get some work done and get a haircut. Tomorrow, we’ll take the bus to Ohrid, a city on the lake of the same name that lies three hours to the west.