Following my trip to Portugal for New Year's Eve in 2021, I began to plan my holidays for the first half of 2022. I love having trips to look forward to and as covid restrictions had eased slightly, I was excited to explore new countries and states that I hadn't been able to over the peak of the pandemic. Restrictions were still in place for most countries outside of Europe, and there were very few countries within Europe that neither my friend nor I had visited. Eventually we came across Kosovo and North Macedonia, and given that both capital cities were small and easy to access from the other, we booked this trip.
Despite these countries' fascinating histories and controversies, the majority of friends and colleagues had no idea where either country was and only one person that we knew had been previously (but their feedback was not inspiring). This made it exciting as we had no idea what to expect and could make our own judgements without external influence. We went for 4 days (during Storm Eunice in the UK, which constituted record gusts and left many homes without power) and despite it being mid-February, the temperatures were between 7-17°C and it was mostly sunny to our surprise!
Pristina, Kosovo
Pristina, aka Pristine or Prishtina, is the capital of Kosovo and was the first place we visited. On arrival, many kids were kitted out in the national colours (blue and yellow) and there were flags all over (predominantly Kosovo's, but also the United States' and Albania's), which came as a bit of a shock, but we soon learnt that it was in fact their Independence Day (great timing on our part!). Kosovo had been part of Serbia until 2008 so it is still a very young country, but it's a fascinating place and I'd strongly urge visiting.
We were staying off of 'Bill Clinton Boulevard' (there's another boulevard named after George Bush too) so our immediate impression of the city constituted a boulevard, statue, and shop dedicated to the Clintons. We made sure to explore the city and visit all of the main landmarks, and there were many aspects that shocked me about the city:
- Firstly, everything was insanely cheap - a brunch with poached eggs on avocado toast, pancakes, and two coffees totalled 8€, six beers cost 4€, and most impressively a dinner constituting bread, two starters, two mains (including a steak), and two beers cost a total of just €26.50! Being a native Londoner, I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw the prices throughout the city - it was heavenly.
- Secondly, although the Airbnb was beautiful (and cheap!), we were advised to keep our windows open despite it being the middle of Winter as the radiators were fixed and couldn't be controlled within the apartments (I got the idea that it was centrally managed as this was the case in Skopje as well) so we had to choose between being very hot or being inefficient and wasting resources. Similarly to in many parts of Greece, you also were not allowed to throw toilet paper down the toilet in Pristina which was hard to get used to.
- Lastly, the people surprised me - smoking in restaurants and cafés was customary (we saw the odd 12 year old smoking too), men would frequently socialise together in shisha bars (which was reminiscent of Turkey), and we got a lot of stares (mainly from men but also anytime we spoke English as tourism is not a major industry here and few locals speak English). There was also a fair amount of homelessness (and children begging) and stray dogs, and it was customary to get shoved or elbowed when walking through the crowded parts of the city.
We spent two days in Pristina, which was the perfect amount of time as it was enough to visit the main sights but not too long to the point of running out of things to do. That said, there was a lot that we wanted to see in Pristina and we were never bored.
After admiring the statue of Bill Clinton, we headed towards the international train station. I was expecting a majestic station like those situated in many major European cities, so when we came across a small, graffitied building that looked somewhat abandoned (see the right-hand picture above), we were hesitant. We'd been planning on taking a train to Skopje following our stint in Pristina, however the desk was closed and the station was empty, bar two young men. We looked at the notice board and found a printed timetable, but without being able to obtain a ticket didn't feel too confident in our endeavour. Luckily, we discovered later that there are regular buses into Skopje which are in fact quicker than the train, so we ended up opting for that.
My favourite monuments included the 'NEWBORN' sculpture in the city centre, which was always packed with people and features very cool artwork and Mother Teresa Cathedral, which was near our Airbnb and I found stunning. The city is small so it's very walkable, and the National Library is a must-see due to it's controversial design (see the central picture above) and I'd recommend a visit to the Kosovo museum, which was small but featured some interesting pieces.
Food-wise, I'd recommend 'Matisse' for brunch (we struggled to find brunch options however this place was very cheap and the food was delicious) and 'Liburnia' for local cuisine (it was here that two mains, two starters, beer and bread totalled under €27. 'Soma Book Station' was highly recommended to us too, however it was full when we attempted to dine there. I really enjoyed the local beer, which was very light (and often came with nuts like in Madeira), and everyone treated us extremely well, with one bartender offering us a round on the house, and another waiter inviting us to a house party that evening.
Despite not knowing what to expect initially, I really enjoyed Pristina and had a great time in this small, art-filled city.
Skopje, North Macedonia
*There is a lot of controversy about the name of this country, however I do not have a stance on the matter as I am currently not well-enough informed . The purpose of this post is simply to share my experience in Skopje and my recommendations.*
Despite Skopje being a much bigger city than Pristina, we actually knew no one who had been before and it was very different to its neighbouring Kosovo. We took the bus from Pristina to Skopje and as we disembarked, we were immediately offered a taxi ride to the airport which was amusing. As we headed from the bus station towards the city centre (where our Airbnb was located), we saw a horse and cart and it definitely felt like we were outside of (our version of) Europe, reminding me greatly of Turkey. That said, as soon as we ventured towards the city centre, the buildings became much more reminiscent of various European cities with its Baroque architecture and abundance of statues (due to 'Skopje 2014' - a project implemented by a former Prime Minister). Something that I definitely wasn't expecting was the mountainous backdrop, which was astounding and reminded me of Sofia, Bulgaria and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco (I also wasn't expecting the abundance of London buses).
In North Macedonia, the signs are all in an adaption of Cyrillic script, the currency is the Macedonian Denar, and the official languages are Macedonian and Albanian. In contrast to Kosovo's 95%, only 25% of the population is ethnically Albanian, but Albanian flags can still be found widely. Tourists are a lot more common here too, though prices are still very cheap (with two beers, two starters and two mains coming out at about €18 in my favourite restaurant).
There is plenty to see in Skopje and free walking tours are offered daily at 10am and 5pm. I love Baroque architecture, so despite the controversial project I found many buildings in the city beautiful, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Office, however my favourite landmark was 'The Eye Bridge' (located adjacent to the more popular 'Stone Bridge' and featuring an array of statues of nationals) as seen in the left-hand picture above. The main landmark in this city is the statue of Alexander the Great on the main Square, however I felt that there were definitely more impressive areas with nicer backdrops.
The Old Bazaar and the Fortress each offer a bit of history, whilst the inside of the Church of St. Clement of Ohrid boasts stunning artwork and all three landmarks are well worth the visit. We actually visited the Orthodox Church en route to a well-regarded restaurant, Skopski Merak, where we could try the local cuisine, including cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers, and a pepper spread (and of course the local Skopsko beer) for about €18. Following this, we visited the City Park, which was packed with families and friends (and an insane number of Golden Retrievers), chilling on the grass and eating mini pancakes. The other restaurant I'd recommend in the city is the Austrian Palace, which is located near the Old Bazaar and seemed to be a very popular hang-out spot for locals, offering cocktails and food (note: the portions are massive) at cheap prices.
We considered visiting the nearby Matka Canyon on our last day in the city, however it was forecast to be cloudy (it ended up being sunny and 17°C...) and we didn't want to go just for the sake of it, but it seems incredible and is probably worth a visit if you're in the city! The Millennium Cross is also a major landmark that is essentially a massive cross on the top of a nearby mountain which you can visit via a cable car, however it wasn't a priority on our lists and we managed to see it from our apartment.
One sight that I wouldn't necessarily recommend is the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle - we had been fascinated by Macedonia's history and wanted to inform ourselves further about the country, expecting narratives and descriptions of the local history. Instead, we were greeted with infinite wax models of various historical figures (including one being hanged) and very graphic artwork of people being tortured or in battle. Although it was definitely eye-opening, it mainly featured very visual representations of history and I felt that the narrative was lacking, with the exhibition ending very abruptly without a sense of current times.
Another thing to note is that brunch doesn't seem to be a big concept here and many places, despite officially opening at 8am, in actuality only opened at 10am; however around the main square there are plenty of additional monuments to see whilst you wait, including the Porta Macedonia (similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris) and the Memorial House of Mother Teresa nearby.
Despite the odd drawback, both of these cities were a lot of fun and the locals were very kind to us (both Airbnb hosts allowed us to check in early and were extremely helpful) and the cities had a lot to offer, including delicious food, cheap beer, and fascinating histories and I'd recommend a visit to each of them!
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