Apple orchard
On the way to Bitola we stopped off at a family-run apple orchard called Spirit of Prespa, which also makes fruit liquors. The family were very welcoming, providing us with fresh juice, cakes and some of their potent fruit liquor, made from steeping rakija in sugar and berries for a month and then aging it. Drinks before lunchtime? Why not!
Berry liqueur – cheers!
Our next gourmet producer stop was at a beekeeper in Dihovo near Bitola who keeps hundreds of hives of bees. He showed us how the bees live in the commercial hives and compared it with the traditional hives, and we got to taste some honey products and try the bee therapy (breathing in air from the hives).
The family provided a gorgeous lunch with all the various appetisers and two mains, and even made some of the meatballs GF so I could try them!
Lunch
We stayed in a fabulous little hotel in Bitola – Hotel Teatar, because there was/is a theatre in the cellar. I was on the top floor in the middle of the attic, and my bathroom had a huge skylight window you could open to the skies. Very cool.
Our afternoon in Bitola was spent wandering along the streets with A pointing out occasional interesting buildings. We walked through the backstreets of the Turkish Markets without much purpose, and a few of the group were looking a bit tired, so we retired to a café on the pedestrian street to indulge in Macedonia’s favourite pastime: people watching.
The next morning, on our way out of Bitola we stopped past the fresh market to check out the fruit and veg selection before heading off to the Roman ruins at Stobi. They had some pretty fabulous mosaic floors there, which were great to see, but it was very hot and the sun was glaring – being a continuing dig site there wasn’t much in the way of trees.
Then it was on our way to wine! We met up with wine writer and judge Ivana and tasted wine at two wineries. The first was Naumčevi, a boutique winery at a suburban house, which started out as a hobby and now produces hundreds of thousands of litres a year! The wines were generally nice, but were overshadowed by the fruit liquor made for personal consumption rather than for selling, which was amazing!
We rolled our way to the second winery, Popova Kula, which was a lot bigger. We had “lunch” there, which ended up being more like early dinner, with a number of their wines, before waving goodbye to Ivana and heading boisterously to Skopje.
Popova winery
The group were staying at Hotel Tim’s, a somewhat run-down but comfortable hotel near the Zoo, just out of the centre of Skopje. The rooms were mixed, with M being given a room with a surprise basement, similar to her surprise “museum” room in Bitola! But they all had a fridge, a bed, a bathroom and aircon, so we were happy.
The hotel was near to Bohemian Street with a number of restaurants, so we went in search of dessert icecream once we’d settled in. Luckily the very last establishment on Bohemian Street was… a dessert café! Hooray for icecream.
Our day in Skopje began with a walk around the central square, redecorated a few years ago by a grandiose politician who had a penchant for statues. There are hundreds of them. There was one female statue we saw amongst all the men – a memorial of the mother of Alexander the Great. Hmm. At least there was one, I guess!
We walked through the Turkish Bazaar and had breakfast (the others had various pastries) and then headed off on the bus to Matka Canyon, a river that has become a hydro-electric dam. The lake is lovely, and many people go there to walk and boat around. A focal point is a limestone cave with stalactites and stalagmites, which was lovely and cold on a warm day.
Our lunch was a lovely picnic organised by A’s parents, who came to meet us with a huge spread of food. We had the usual meats and cheeses, plus dips and sauces and salads.
Musicians at our farewell dinner
On top of this delightful and filling meal, we had our farewell dinner that night to say goodbye to the tour group. A had booked us into a traditional restaurant where we supped on mushrooms, stuffed eggplant, dolmades, baked cheese, meatballs, slow-cooked meats, and more. A fitting end to the twelve days of feasting, and it was sad to do our final goodbyes as we had bonded well.
Two Weeks Away 