On Day 9, we started the drive northwards, exiting Kosovo via North Macedonia, and then on to Serbia. During our visit, there was political unrest in the northern part of Kosovo bordering Serbia, and thus, we took the chance to visit North Macedonia’s capital as well. Skopje was first mentioned by Ptolemy in 150 CE, naming it as the Roman city of Scupi. We checked out the city center with its river and historical statues and architecture. Then, we crossed the border to Serbia and visited the birthplace of Constantine the Great, Nis. The Roman emperor developed Nis from a small town into a large city. Nis was also the birthplace, and/or residence, of a few other Roman emperors. For the night, we settled in Velika Plana, a small Serbian town with a laidback atmosphere.

Here’s our entire route for the roadtrip, c/o Google Maps:

Before leaving Pristina, we had an amazing breakfast at Hotel Gorenje, on a dining venue overlooking the city. They even gave us free water bottles. We left the accommodation with this review: “Spacious room, nice view over the area from the window, free parking. There was a strange noise every 15 sec or so. Excellent breakfast!“

We absolutely loved that cream cheese, and fried bread with honey, jam or chocolate spread was super delicious! Then, we dived into the wonderful panoramic views from the bedroom’s balcony before checking out at around 8:40 am. There was a little traffic jam upon exiting Pristina (like many other capital cities), but the drive to North Macedonia went smoothly.

We reached the border at 9:30 am. Again, no significant queues to get into the country. But I noticed the change in the road quality. Many under roadworks, and some were even unpaved. It seemed very rural in the beginning of the trip. We also noticed a huge cross (or was it a telecom tower?) on top of a mountain.

North Macedonia has a long and interesting history. Its name was derived from the ancient Macedonians, from the greek word Makedonia. Other sources also presume that it was rooted in the description of the people inhabiting the area, who were “long, tall, high”, i.e., makros. According to wikipedia, the small Balkan country is predominantly Christians (60.4%). It has a population of aroung 1.8 million (2021 census). More about the history of North Macedonia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Macedonia.

As the trip was spontaneous, we didn’t have a special list of places to visit, or an itinerary. We drove to the city center, found a parking lot in a dark, tall parking building, and checked out the city center, starting from the theatre. I would recommend visiting Skopje, the capital, in September. There were few tourists, and some street dogs.

We crossed the bridge and walked along the river. The river Vardar flows through the city, and they also has artificial lakes built for leisure and dam construction to limit the floods caused by the river. I remember walking on tiled pathways in the city center – it felt like ancient Greece or Rome. Some people call Skopje as the city of kitsch due to its over decorated installations or quirky designs. Would you agree?

The city center has a massive square with a big fountain, graced by a statue of a Warrior on a Horse in the center. Big statues of emperors and other famous figures are scattered in the Macedonia Square.

It gave the impression that Macedonians really like intricate, ornate designs. We, then, walked towards the shopping street. I thought it was cool to see several stalls selling shoe laces.

Now, did you know that Mother Theresa was born in Skopje? We checked out her memorial house, and I bought some postcard souvenirs from the shop there. Walking behind tall Macedonians? They did seem tall.

After learning about the life of Mother Theresa, we started walking back to the parking lot. We crossed the stone bridge, satisfied that we got to experience this historical and timeless city even for only a few hours.

We left Skopje and reached the border to Serbia at 12 noon. There was a bit of a line, but we were allowed to pass through without much fuss. Serbia is my 35th visited country. It is a landlocked Balkan country with Orthodox Christianity as the main religion (86.6% in 2022). I was amazed by how clean the country was. People seemed discipline, and friendly. A gasoline staff even gave me some chocolate – it was very kind!

Our next stop was another ancient city – birthplace to Constantine the Great, amongst other emperors, and one of the popular destinations in Serbia. Nis is the third largest city in the country, and was named after the Nisava river which flows through it. We entered the city at around 2pm. We found a parking space on the street (well, we were a bit confused if we could park there or not), but a local said we could. The trees in the park was refreshing, not to mention a dancing fountain! It was very hot during our visit.

This is probably the point in the roadtrip when we really felt like, “oh, it’s still at the peak of summer here”. When we got to the hotel, Carl and I were comparing sun tans.

So, Nis. We explored the Fortress of Nis, built in the 18th century. There were museum, gift shops, and archeaological displays. There was also a mini garden with some farmy animals. Carl said that there was a castle there, but we didn’t find it.

It was possible to climb up the fortress and get a glimpse of the city. But it was too hot, so we were only there for a brief moment.

Constantine the Great was an important Roman emperor because he united the whole empire under one ruler, and he ended the persecution of Christians. Later emperors divided the empire again because it was too big to rule, though.

I wish we could see more of Serbia, but it was a very hot day. So we decided to retire early in Hotel Vir in Velika Plana, a small town and municipality in the middle of the country. We failed to find a restaurant that accept card payments (although it says on the posters that they accept card payments), so we had dinner in the hotel. It was delicious, thank goodness! Strange enough, we also saw a poster of what seemed to be missing people.

Nice view of roofs from the hotel room window. So, this was Day 9. Still so many interesting sights to write about from the roadtrip. 🙂 ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ON THIS BLOG ARE MINE. Cheers! 🙂 #spreadloveandpositivevibes