Day 3 (July 21, 2015): From perfect Lake Bled to Skopje's gaudy frenzy

It was an early Slovenian day for us: a 6am rise and in a cab at 7:45, trying to make an 8am bus we had booked to take us to Lake Bled.  Unfortunately, just as we were pulling into the bus station, our bus was pulling out! Necessity is the mother of all invention, as they say:  we luckily found an 8:30 train and quickly bought tickets.  Missing the bus turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the Slovenian Railways journey to Lake Bled was faster, more quiet, and far more exciting than the bus.

Slovenian Railways to Lake Bled

We loved the train journey!  And we can make that comparison honestly, as we bussed it back and all we can say is... UGH!!  

Passed through many Slovenian villages enroute. This is a typical rail station. 

Why were we so bent on seeing Lake Bled? With its emerald-green lake, picture-perfect church on a small island, a medieval castle clinging to a rocky cliff, and some of the highest peaks in the Julian Alps, make no wonder it's one of the most popular spots in Slovenia. The lake is 2km x 1.4km, and a beauty to behold from any vantage point, but especially from the castle. At 1000 years old and sporting towers, ramparts, moats, chapel and viewing terraces, it's a perfect castle!  

Picture-perfect Bled Island

The view from Bled Castle

Perched on a cliff for 1000 years: Bled Castle

These gondolas take people to the island. Alas, time didn't permit it for us. 

We took a taxi up to the castle, and had a fascinating chat with the driver enroute, who lived through the trauma of the war in Bosnia in the '90s.  After our visit, we hiked back down to the town. By 10:45 we were on the bus back to Ljubljana, arriving at noon, and cabbing it to the airport for our 2pm flight to the capital of Macedonia:  Skopje. 

Our Adria Airways Airbus 319 to Skopje was filled with a symphony of crying babies. 

On the flight down, I sat next to a dynamic woman who works for the EU in agriculture.  She provided excellent insight into Macedonia. As for Skopje, she described the current opulent building frenzy as "a cross between Disney and Vegas".  And she was right on the mark. Who's paying for all this seems to be a bit of a mystery. 

By 4pm we were checked into our Holiday Inn in the city centre trying to get up the nerve to launch ourselves into the 40C temperatures and start sightseeing. As we were about to venture out, we heard what we thought was a protest in the streets below. 25 police officers were killed here in Skopje in May, after violence between the Albanian minority and the Macedonians. Canada's Foreign Affairs has warned to avoid any sort of gathering in the streets here. Turns out, what we heard was about 100 men marching to tonight's big football game! So all was fine. 

With the day winding down, we went to Macedonian Square and walked along the river.  We had read about the Macedonians' infatuation with Alexander the Great, and about the massive construction campaign and erecting of more statues than one can find anywhere on earth.  You have to see it to believe it.  Hopefully the pics can provide a sense of what I'm talking about. 

The Macedonian Arch (look familiar?!)

A tiny sampling of the statutes littering Skopje. 

And the piece de resistance in Macedonia Square: Alexander the Great himself. 

The snazzy new cultural buildings 

The palace of Justice and yet another swanky statue-studded bridge. 

Unlike Slovenia, we see signs of considerable poverty here -- despite the ongoing opulent construction scheme. And the number of immigrants we had read about back home, swarming through Macedonia and Serbia towards Hungary, is certainly evident here.  

Dinner was in a great terrace cafe on the banks of the river, looking across at the stunning, if not gaudy, new Museum of Ethnography.  By 8pm, we were back at the hotel, exhausted from a long, hot but rewarding day.  Looking forward to jumping more fully into Macedonia in the morning.

Mother Teresa was born here in Macedonia. I leave you with this quote of wisdom from her, posted on the Macedonian Arch.