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Is this Europe’s most unusual capital city? Upon first impressions we were definitely a bit confused, but as the day went on our sentiments evolved and this place was slowly starting to grow on us.
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Skopje, North Macedonia
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well we may have discovered Europe’s most unusual Capital City Scopia North Macedonia you’ve probably never heard of it what is this place is this Europe’s kitschiest and strangest Capital it’s certainly very unusual Scopia is the capital and largest city of a tiny country in the Balkans called North Macedonia this part of Europe has changed hands many times it’s been ruled by many different Empires the Roman Empire the Ottoman Empire and even part of yugoslavia’s socialist State it’s got architecture that quite frankly is all over the place so every corner you turn definitely expect to see something unexpected in 2014 the government gave Scopia a total neoclassical makeover from very Caesar’s pacy looking Greek statues to their very own arc to Triumph as tourists journeying through the Balkans we felt like you only need a full day to really get a good feel of this place and the north Macedonian people people and how they live and go about their everyday lives most of the attractions are within walking distance from each other Macedonia square with a 72t Monument of Alexander the Great the old Bazaar which also happens to be the largest Bazaar in the Balkans the memorial House of Mother Teresa kale Fortress the highest point of the city to even the Bohemian Street next to Scopia City Park it’s all there within a few steps of each other we made it to Macedonia and let me show you look at our little balcony here we are staying in and you’re currently looking at Scopia AKA scope YY it looks like scope J but it’s actually scope y we are making our way from Albania over now through Macedonia and then Bulgaria and Romania all the isas yeah we’re here for just like 36 hours a very short trip and we’re going to try to see as much as we can tomorrow we’re going to go on a Walkin tour we’re going to try some authentic Macedonian food hopefully find some good coffee and definitely check out the old bizaar here going on a walking tour this morning got Alexander the Great right here they’re Pride [Music] enjy I will tell you at the end of the tour about the alcohol pleas try Co the first this is [Music] a all right we’ve made it to the the bizaar you feeling bizar in the bizar some bizar in the bizar essentially this whole block this whole area is the bizaar there’s tons of shops clothing jewelry a lot of like little cafes and whatnot look at the color of them there Rose iced tea lemonade and they also make an elder flow one but we see everyone sitting outside of here with these bright red cups we had to try it’s actually really good like really really good we’re trying to find the street lounging though look at this they’re just sitting down these little tables you see a lot of like Turkish coffee and Turkish tea out here so there’s definitely that that ottoman influence you know and now we’re going to go see some bling bling yes where is the jewelry here wow no I love the color oh yeah and there’s the mosque so we learned on our tour that they’re basically gold obsessed out here in Macedonia and they basically gift gold for all the rights of Passage and stages of life where it’s like when you’re born your baby takes your first steps here some gold oh you had your first successful poop here’s some gold you graduated from first grade here’s some gold the whole point is that when they accumulate this gold throughout life it’s like a level of security for a rainy day in the event that you really needed money you would turn in that gold to help you out you know what else is gold finding an online classroom to learn a foreign language that’s convenient easy to sched and not intimidating if you’re wondering why I’m learning French it’s because of this guy Nathan’s a native French speaker I put extra but on myant he was actually born in Nathan’s whole family speaks French and I don’t want to be the odd one out one day we’re going to have kids and they will be multilingual and I want to be a part of that so it’s time for me to get to work and get my French on I’m definitely somebody who needs a lot of accountability and structure when it comes to language learning I took four years of French in high school and I forgot everything classic America so I was stoked when I saw Ling goa’s language Sprint challenge which is to take 30 lessons in 60 days and if you’re super hardcore you can do the super Sprint challenge which is 60 lessons in 60 days the classes are kept small to only three to five people the teachers are friendly and supportive and it’s gotten me up and running again on my journey to French fluency and the wild thing about doing the Sprint is if you can successfully complete all of those lessons in 60 days you get 50% cash back the next Sprint starts February 12th and we have a discount code for you if you want to start your 2024 off with a bang and then oh up here is even another part of the bizaar like maybe tiny markets yeah let’s go check this out hello hello hi he was cute wow this is a lot of people oh so juicy oh you got more peppers like Peppers Peppers Peppers Peppers Peppers everywhere everywhere you’ll be burping all day long dude wow look at the color of that ground up Peppers smells so good is this for YouTu yes for YouTube yes what’s your channel name what what what’s your channel name on World Travel can write it down I want to check it out okay some to I did not expect the call to prayer to be played here out of Muslim population here I think it’s I believe it’s only 20 or 30% though it’s not Albania is 60% but here it’s a lot less yeah these mines right here were built often like near hamam where people would gather near the market so it’s kind of like a place where like the community gets together sample okay this [Music] this we’re trying Macedonian food for the first time and we were told to go to a place that has a lot of locals and is not empty so we walked by and listened very carefully this place is full of locals we’re the only tourists and we ordered five or six different dishes ones that our tour guide recommended that we try it let’s do this dude all right so this is the quintessential Macedonian meal these are beef skewers with of course a pepper they use peppers in their Cuisine like crazy here we have Kebab we’ve had something similar to this in Serbia and they call it chapi Chi there here we have a sha salad this is cucumber are really fresh tomatoes Macedonia is known for their Tomatoes here some onion of course peppers and then this cheese this freshly grated cheese on top which I just tried a little Spoonful and it kind of reminds me of like Greek yogurt and cottage cheese combined this comes in like this little clay pot and it’s baked beans it’s got paprika onion tomato this is like a holy grail of their Cuisine this is called Ivar and this is made with peppers that they cook they peel and then they mush together into this beautiful dip that then they spread on top of bread that [Music] bounce dude the fat in that is unreal oh my God that’s super Fresh’s dying on the other side he’s so hungry well we may have discovered Europe’s most unusual cap little city it has a kind of a quirky not Disneyland feel but a little bit hey what in 1963 they had this crazy earthquake that essentially leveled 80% of the city so 80% of the City was destroyed and they had to rebuild it from scratch so that also is why the city sort of feels a lot of it feels newer I’ve been really surprised with scope sha because it’s very clean it feels like a really modern city like it feels like a normal European city and they have the the ottoman influence with the bizaar and there’s a lot of like definitely like Turkish things you find your bakova you find your Turkish ice cream man there’s a hamam it’s just a good blend of like people from all over and different religions you know the Orthodox is the main religion here foodwise that was also interesting cuz it’s almost a mix of like grease meets the other Yugoslavian Country Foods like we had these little those little skewers those little sausages that you have like chab chi chi like in Serbia that we had they have that here as well so it’s kind of an interesting blend that way wow this place is fancy oh my gosh yeah nice kitchen high top table eat there watch some TV here got a little balcony with the view of Scorpion o this one ain’t bad we’ll see how she feels damn you’re looking real fresh all right oh
27 Comments
It was part of Yugoslavia, both when Yugoslavia was a socialist state (after second world war) and when Yugoslavia was not a socialist state but a "capitalist" monarchy (before second world war)
this is not Skopje, this is just a street from a city of millions. Skopje is Vodno, Skopje is Nerezi and the Church of St. Panteleimon, where the direction of the Renaissance was born, and the first fresco by Nereski painters who inspired Gotto potice from Skopje. Skopje is Matka where there is Vrelo, the deepest cave and where there are endemic birds and animals, Skopje is Debar malo where you have old-town Macedonian music and traditional food. So unique and delicious, full of flavor and history. Skopje is Park and "Shkolka" where there are often open-air concerts, City mall and Diamond where young people go out and enjoy the nights and exchange love, because there is a famous song from here called Nema po ubavo devojce od Macedonian… so Macedonians are beautiful, people, very handsome and good-looking… they go to recreation in Vodno, Matka, Nerezi… they sing and drink in Debar Malo, shop in the largest mall in the Balkans, East Gate mall, which are also located in Skopje.. they have an old shopping center that leads a monument depicting the greatest king and bravest leader of all time, whose Macedonian ancestors are called Alexander the Great.
It is bizarre that we have mosques that sing loudly early in the morning and in the evening when people are having fun, something that is a mixed religion and a symbiosis of two cultures mixing in a country that speaks one of the 5 oldest languages in the world. I am also married to a Frenchman, I live in Paris, and when I come here I want to eat on Makedonija Street, which is a symbol of Skopje culture and signifies the spirit of Skopje's culture life and where the new church of Constantine and Elena was born as a new pearl in the city and hope. from there you go to Stara Zeleznica, which is a memorial to the devastating earthquake that hit Skopje in 1963, so became the city of Solidarity, and from there you continue to many beautiful settlements such as Kozle, ( beautiful houses).. Taftalidze ( beautiful houses) , Michurin, Karpos, Vlae, Gorce Petrov as well as Centar, Aerodrom, Lisice, Dracevo and so on… these are settlements where each has its own story and spirit and the city offers a lot… it's not just Skolje the Old Tsarsija, only those who go there want to buy jewelry or some materials to create clothes and similar things… never ending story ❤🎉😇
Come to Greece to see the real Μακεδονία!!
The city of idols, destruction, immoral, paganism, but eh i guess its not only Skopje but everywhere which is tragic.
"Macedonian heroes" = Bulgarian/Greek heroes
"Macedonian food" = Bulgarian/Albanian food
"Macedonian language" = Bulgarian dialect with a few Serbian words.
Macedonia is 60% Bulgarian 30% Albanian 10% gypsy and everybody is 100% on the Serbian propaganda bandwagon. A made up meme state if there ever was one. If they read something outside of Macedonia they would come to their senses and act normal (like Moldova, Cyprus, etc) but they`re too thick headed to do that.
Alexander the great was Slavic.
Sorry greek brothers you have to accept that
They are descendants of alexander the great🇲🇰🇲🇰🇲🇰🇲🇰
This is not the statue of Alexander the Great , this is a monument to the ""Macedonian"" horse man
Ca c'est la Macédoine qu'on aime,pas ce truc en Grèce,fabriqué après la guerre.
Alexander the Great can't be their pride and joy since he was Greek and not North Macedonian.
I was there two years ago. I'm born in germany, but I speak Turkish and a little Albanian, it was really cool. The culture is similar to ours. I like seeing how two religions live together but have one culture.
..unusual capital city…."from very Caesars Palace Greek statues"….lol….did you see the plaques outside their monuments that say Alexander the Great and Philip are part of Greek history….Tsar Samuil part of Bulgarian history…..unusual is being kind…fake is more appropriate
Weres the Tito Sculpture 🦴
Such an interesting city and you guys still make a horrible crap video with all your cookie cutter boring travel vlog stuff.
Don't mock my country as the Disneyland of the Balkans. You come from a country full of Disney characters, including your president.. Macedonia has been around longer than any ohter in the Balkans and this includes its name. The unfortunate fact is it was and still is getting attacked by people like yourselves. An not to mention it past wars with so many western and eastern power backed nations contributing to the annexation of the country and its self determination.
So pack your bags uo and get out f my country if you want to mock it as a made up country made in the 1990's.
Unusual?! What's so unusual?!
Why the statues in Skopje are pinning the eyes of the tourists so much, like there are no monuments in the other world metropolis?!
I've seen many monuments in London, Paris,Rome, Berlin…but people don't emphases them as much as those in Skopje?!
The kich depends from the eyes of the viewers!
Those who have personal complexes against Macedonia, certainly will see everything like a kich. Typical for some neighbours of Macedonia. 😏
Was that an amazing unintentional pun at the end, when he said the Airbnb had "a little Balkan-y"?
The people who currently live in North Macedonia are approximately 2/3 Slavs, Bulgarians (their ancestors invading and conquering that land about 1.000 years AFTER the death of Alexander the Great) and 1/3 Albanians. Alexander himself – just like his father Philip – was a member of the ARGEAD royal dynasty, originating from the Peloponnesian city of ARGOS (hence the dynasty's name). Members of the Argead dynasty settled in Northern Greece, establishing the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia. From there they started the counter attack against the Persian Empire in the 4th century Before Christ. The Macedonians considered themselves direct descendants of Hercules, and participated in the ancient Olympic games (where only Greeks were allowed). The Greeks believed that Hercules himself had inaugurated the Olympic Games. Archaeologists discovered a sign in Macedonia written in ancient Greek, which translates as ‘to Hercules, our father’. Alexander's favourite hero was Achilles, and his favourite book was Homer's Iliad. He named his horse ‘Vukefalas’ which in Greek means ‘head of an ox’. Alexander’s private tutor was Aristotle (himself a pupil of Plato, who in turn was a student of Socrates). Macedonians=Greeks (not Slavs, Bulgarians)
I'm from North Macedonia 🇲🇰
Ill just Leave this here for the Bulgarskopians !
https://youtu.be/hgMm93eW5a4?si=hPeYOENNg9LezFVP 🇬🇷
😂😂😂
They dont put fat in kebapi..Why do u call MK Disneyland?
I have heard of it, because I live there❤
One day is def enough lmaooo here now & … 🥱
You should have gone to a Ohrid instead. It’s a lot more authentic.
Macedonia is not perfect but it's not Greek either.