We arrived at out hotel in the centre of Skopje after dark on September 26th and on waking up the next morning it was all blue skies and sunshine despite the chilly air. It remained sunny all day but was quite noticeably cool although we did wear shorts and t-shirts so it wasn't too bad.
Skopje was very interesting with an old Turkish town on one side of the River Vardar and a new modern town on the other. The old town was very interesting with a variety of old buildings to keep us amused while the new town was brash and modern, filled with massive statues and fountains and very Las Vegas like.
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
We spent our first day exploring the city, visiting the Kale fortress, Mustafa Pasha Mosque and the Daud Pasha Amam Gallery while wandering around and we also visited the National Museum of Archaeology which was free due to it being International Tourism Day.
A few birds were seen while out and about - rook, hooded crow, jackdaw, swallow, pallid swift, kestrel, buzzard, white wagtail, tree sparrow, woodpigeon and house sparrow - and a few butterflies were seen too - white sp., blue sp., clouded yellow sp., red admiral and a Queen of Spain fritillary.
White Wagtail
Jackdaws (soemmerringii race)
Queen of Spain Fritillary
Queen of Spain Fritillary
Friday 28th September and we caught the bus out to Lake Matka just outside the city, a dammed river gorge creating a narrow ribbon lake with steep sides. It was very beautiful in the sunshine despite the continuing chilly air and we took a boat ride along the lake to the Vrelo caves while enjoying the stunning views. Birds and butterflies were noticeable and I saw spotted flycatcher, crag martin, jay, chaffinch, buzzard, sparrowhawk, kingfisher, little grebe, mallard, cormorant, grey wagtail and blackbird along with red admiral, white sp., blue sp., a great banded grayling, wall brown, skipper sp., copper sp., a swallowtail and hummingbird hawkmoths.
Lake Matka
Lake Matka
Vrelo Caves, Lake Matka
Great Banded Grayling
Blue Sp.
Wall
Swallowtail
Saturday 29th September saw us catching a bus again to the cable car station at the bottom of Mount Vodno for the trip to the top where a large metal cross has been controversially placed and which is lit up at night. The views from the top of the mountain were stunning if a little hazy in the chilly sunshine but the only birds seen were ravens, chaffinch, blackbird, a buzzard and jays. The usual butterflies were on view though with blues, whites, clouded yellows, walls and a swallowtail seen plus the usual hummingbird hawkmoths.
Mount Vodno
Mount Vodno
Mount Vodno
Mount Vodno
Clouded Yellow Sp.
Blue Sp.
Skopje had been very interesting and enjoyable but it was time to move on and so the next morning (Sunday 30th September) saw us heading back to Skopje airport to pick up a hire car for the next part of our holiday.
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