Skopje,, North Macedonia – – birthplace of Mother Teresa— July 27 – – 29, 2026

The 7 AM Kaleia bus from Sofia Bulgaria to Skopje North Macedonia costs about €25 for a five hour journey.

After arriving in Skopje, I walked about 20 minutes to the Mickitos Urban Hostel that was located in the Carsija area. This neighborhood dates back to the Ottoman era with twisting walkways, many shops along with a big public market. It reminded me of the Turkish markets that I had seen before, and many of the shops had a Turkish theme to them.

I enjoyed walking about sampling the lemonade to cool off on these hot days. Turkish coffee, and a bowl of lentil soup with bread was good for lunch. 

I toured the Tvrdina Kale Fortress with its rampart walls and towers high above the city.  It dates back to the Byzantine era and the later Ottoman era, and has recently been used as the backdrop for the popular series “Game of Thrones“.

On the way down from the Fortress, I stopped by the Mustafa Pasha Mosque that was built in 1492. It was beautiful both inside and out.

I continued down to the center of town, crossing the Stone Bridge with its guardian lions, passed by a giant statue with Alexander, the Great on horseback, dominating the scene.

I then made my way to the Memorial House of Mother Theresa. She was born in Skopje, and returned several times during her career spent mostly with the poor in India.

There were pictures of her with the Nobel peace prize official, and with several country leaders in including president  Reagan and Queen Elizabeth.

Across the street was a large Christian church that even had a minaret like those found at Islam mosques.

I was struck by the stark contrast between the woman of peace, Mother Theresa, and the Alexander, the Great statue.

Crossing back over the river, I enjoyed spending a couple hours at the Archeological  Museum.

Following that, I walked a short distance to the Holocaust Museum. The museum covered the history of Jewish settlement in Macedonia. 

The assorted pictures are of the over 8,000 Macedonian Jews, who were sent to the Treblinka death camp, and below is the scroll that is inscribed by those names that were killed by the Nazis.

It also described a lot of detail the deportation 1492 of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, primarily Spain that included this map that shows the dispersion of these Jews, primarily Sephardic Jews

The displays then then focused on how 8,000 Macedonian Jews were sent to the Treblinka death camp to be gassed to death.There were less than 200 that survived the war. 

It also told of other Jews, who either left before the deportation date, were hidden by rescuers that were not Jewish, or joined the resistance to fight against the Nazis and their associates.

It was a pretty unsettling experience for me. 

I then returned to the hostel for a welcome shower after encountering a 90° day, and after that, I returned to a restaurant in the Carsija area for a dinner of a fresh salad along with shish kebabs and three glasses of refreshing lemonade.

In the morning, I walked about 20 minutes to the Skopje Bus Station where I had a meat and cheese pastry, coffee, latte, and lemonade before boarding the bus.

This minibus was overbooked with two people standing for two hours on our way through the border between North Macedonia and Kosovo to Pristina, Kosovo.  I was jammed up next to a nice fellow that looked like a Bulgarian wrestler covered with tattoos and a skin head.

When we arrived at the Pristina, Kosovo Bus Station, we were glad to be out of those cramped quarters.