Wales Away in Disneyland?
Rhys Hartley
"Ah, Disneyland!" was not quite the response we expected when we told our hosts where we were off to on the morning of my first trip to Skopje…
We were in Priština, having driven 10 days straight, taking in the sights of a lot of the former Yugoslavia. Just a couple of hours separated us from the capital of the (at the time) rather long-windily-named Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia where we'd settle in to watch another dismal Welsh defeat in the Balkans.
"You'll see when you get there," the hostel worker assured us with a smirk, before we packed our battered Rover and headed off across a border that had only been erected some 20 years previously.
It was a grim drive on a partially-built highway that split a couple of impressive-looking mountain ranges. The only things of note were the strange roadsigns that appeared every so often featuring pictures of animals.
Animals? On road signs? My cousin pointed out that these were put up by NATO to help them navigate the roads better – and to avoid using Serbian or Albanian place names for fear of offending the other. She'd spent a year in Kosovo and assured us that remnants of the 90s wars were everywhere to be seen.
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North Macedonia, as it is now known, has one of the most recognisable flags in Europe. A huge sun splashes its rays to each corner illuminating everywhere it's flown with beautiful shades of red and yellow. It seemed appropriate, then, that the grey of Kosovo had turned into blistering sunshine as we approached Skopje.
After some confusion with our hotel booking, we parked the car for the next few days and decided to try and decipher for ourselves what our Kosovar host had meant.
A leisurely stroll into town along the banks of the Vardar River (after which the country's most successful football team takes its name) gave no clue until we hit the city centre. All of a sudden, identikit, concrete, socialist-era tower blocks gave way to massive shiny, white and gold buildings.
Dazzling faux-Greco constructions dominate the city's central area, with a triumphal arch, archeological museum and government buildings all following the same style. The city's famous Ottoman-era stone bridge – the former focal point of the city that even survived a devastating earthquake in 1963 – is dwarfed by its newer surroundings.
But it's not just the flashy buildings that hint at the 'Disneyland' nickname. A new bridge parallel to the old one has been erected with dozens of statues of Macedonian national heroes. A huge bronze statue dominates the main square too. Initially meant to be of Alexander the Great, it has now been renamed to simply 'Warrior on Horse'.
Across the stone bridge and there's a Greek warrior with his fist aloft on top of a perch surrounded by bare-breasted women, while other statues include Greek Emperors, Bulgarian freedom fighters, and Saints Cyril and Methodius, who are said to have been responsible for developing the precursor to the Cyrillic alphabet. They're joined by many more people hailing from the territory of present-day North Macedonia or who've had an impact on the country's culture and identity.
Decried by many as kitsch, the redesign of the city, known as the 'Skopje 2014' project, has certainly given the city a unique look. And with everything being fresh during that first visit in 2013, the resemblances to Disneyland were uncanny – Mickey Mouse aside!
In a country that consistently ranks among the poorest in Europe, it seemed distasteful, at best.
Since our visit in 2013, the ruling nationalist party behind the project has lost power and the scale of corruption involved in the building work has been revealed. The Prime Minister at the time, Nikola Gruevski, has since fled the country and received political asylum in Hungary from his friend, Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The centre-left party that replaced Gruevski's nationalists sought reconciliation with Greece and Bulgaria in order to assist with their accession to NATO, the EU and other trans-Atlantic organisations in the hope of boosting the ailing economy.
As Greece claims the name Macedonia for its own northern region, the country was forced to change its name. It also removed many symbols to Greek figures such as the 'Warrior on Horse', renamed the airport and biggest motorway in the country, along with the national stadium.
Formerly known as the Phillip the Second Stadium, it now bears the name of a Macedonian pop singer, Toše Proeski, who tragically died in a car accident aged just 26. I'm not sure any sports ground in the world has a similar title.
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Beyond the kitsch lies a charming old town. Across the stone bridge and beyond the man with the raised fist is the Albanian quarter. North Macedonia is home to a large population of ethnic Albanians, making up almost a third of the population.
Cobbled streets full of tea shops, cafes, jewellers and other shops selling all sorts of trinkets give way to a few Ottoman-era mosques – a world away from the bright colours on the riverfront.
On a recent visit, we made the mistake of going out for dinner before the sun went down during Ramadan. We ordered wine and food on a square outside a restaurant and were made to feel quite at home by the Albanian waiter, who was only too happy to converse with us in Serbian – the lingua franca across the former Yugoslavia.
As families started to gather around us to celebrate iftar, we ordered desserts. The waiter literally went out of his way to purchase some from the local sweet shop, as they were out of baklavas!
We're all too aware of the animosity between people of different ethnicities in the Balkans, and the same is often true in North Macedonia. Indeed, as recently as 2015, 18 people were killed in inter-ethnic violence in the north of the country. But there was no sign of any tension here. While it's quite obvious that there are separate parts of the town for the different ethnicities, everything seemed hunky dory with our waiter and the growing number of families around us.
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While driving through the countryside, it is clear which areas belong to which 'side'. Large monuments of the double-headed eagle grace the entrance to any Albanian-majority town or village, more often than not accompanied by black and red flags adorning the streets. However, in the cities, things seem a lot more calm.
Ohrid, a town on the namesake lake, is home to a Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish population. On the same visit during Ramadan, the apartment I stayed in was run by a family of Turks, and they kindly pointed out that we would notice on the main pedestrian street how the shops and restaurants changed from one ethnic group to the other. This was clearly noticeable at the top end of the street, where I could have sworn I'd been transported to Taksim Square in Istanbul thanks tot the number of tea shops and ice cream parlours! And again, there was no trouble to be seen.
The town is a haven for holiday-makers, with the lake's crystal-clear (if slightly chilly) waters enticing anglers for a dip at the height of summer. The old town and historic monasteries over the lake are protected by UNESCO, and there's a real buzz to the city, even out of season.
It was only on my third visit to the lake that I discovered the Sveti Neum monastery complex 30 kilometres towards the Albanian border. Boasting a beach, cafes, and beautiful Byzantine churches, it's a great spot to while away the afternoon and enjoy the stunning surroundings.
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With Roman remains and numerous vineyards sprawling across the centre of the country, there's plenty to explore in this often-neglected corner of the Balkans. But it wasn't always overlooked.
The town of Bitola in the south of the country was the ambassadorial capital of the Ottoman Empire, due to its location on a crossroads between Belgrade, Sofia, Istanbul and Athens. Colourful houses resembling 19th-century villas dominate the city's main street with a church and mosque towering over the square that opens up at one end.
Impressive monuments to the war dead from the Second World War adorn towns such as Kruševo, Prilep and Veles – the latter even gaining the prestigious honour of being named 'Titovo' (Tito's) Veles during the communist era, after the country's president.
Having gained independence in 1991 without a single bullet being fired (54 Macedonians did die fighting for the Yugoslav Army during the breakup of Yugoslavia), North Macedonia already stands out from the other former Yugoslav republics. And despite the recent political turmoil and ethnic tensions, there seems to be a concerted effort to keep the peace.
Whether you're just popping into 'Disneyland' for the match or you plan on touring the entire country formerly known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, you're in for a treat. See you there!