September 4th - Skopje to Bitola

 Back down south again to the previous capital of North Macedonia, the city of Bitola. 

Another nature trip this afternoon as we took off for a hike up to the local ski-fields, fortunately sans snow!  Although not the best weather there were some beautiful views through and across the woodlands and mountains, it was a great hike. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 1st/ 2nd - Oslo to Bodø

Image
  May 1st Norwegian ‘Labour Day’ today and if all shops, museums, and other tourist sites being closed weren’t going to stop us going out, the weather certainly did!  It was tipping it down.  We actually ended up spending most of the day in our hotel, after checking out, as this evening we were catching the overnight train to Trondheim and didn’t want to spend all day carrying around our backpacks in the soaking rain.  May 2nd Travel Day After a not so bad night in the sleeper from Oslo to Trondheim we changed trains and headed off up to Bodø.   The weather forecast had been for cloudy and rain for all towns on the way north so what a pleasant surprise when for most of the time (well at least until we reached the ‘Arctic Circle’) we had sunshine and blue skies.  Even with iffy weather though the views and scenery on the way up would’ve still been spectacular!  On the journey there’s a real mix of mountains, lakes, and rivers, it’s just fantastic, ...
Read more

May 4th - Hurtigruten (Tromsø)

Image
  Although we haven’t been on-board for long we both feel like we’re getting into life on the high seas with ease!   In-between mealtimes there are lectures to attend, there seems like there’s going to be a least one major stop per day (2-4 hours enabling either excursions or a decent wander around town), and then there’s the viewing deck and part-time bar, which is a great spot for taking in the lovely views, in addition to possible other activities! 🍷😊 .   Todays major stop was Tromsø, Norway’s biggest city north of the Arctic Circle and with a population of about 75,000. We were looking forward to wandering around town for a while to catch the local sights.  However, within minutes of landing the clouds appeared and it started dumping snow on us.  Our walk quickly became a run and we took refuge in the local, rather appropriately named, ‘Polar Museum’.  Not the best museum we’ve ever been in, there were too many dioramas and not enough information in ...
Read more

September 1st - Lake Ohrid

Image
  Out on a boat trip on Lake Ohrid this morning to visit some of the sights along the coastline.   Straddling the border between Albania and North Macedonia and with a surface area of 138 2 miles (358 2  kms), larger than the island of Malta, the lake itself is enormous.   It also happens to be one of Europe’s deepest with a maximum depth of around 300 metres.   First visit for the day was for a swim just off the shore at Villa Biljana, a complex of villas formerly owned by ex-president and dictator Josip Tito.  Due to the security (the buildings and beach are now owned by the government) landing was a no no which is a shame as a beach-side elevator apparently takes you right into the middle of the villa.  Our next stop was to the Church of St John at Kaneo, a Macedonian Orthodox Church dedicated to John of Patmos, author of ‘Revelations’ (and apparently the same person as John the Apostle!).  Built in the 14th century, this little picturesque...
Read more