Skopje - the final leg of our trip to Macedonia

Statues!
Statues everywhere!
It's the first thing that strikes you about Macedonia's capital - from the 22-meter high 'Warrior on a Horse' to modern bridges sporting dozens of 'em.
174 kilometres and a 3½ hour bus journey brought us to the Republic of Macedonia's capital city and the final destination of this trip.
Skopje is an interesting and slightly surreal city.  The controversial Skopje 2014 plan saw the building of many of those statues, plus new bridges and grand buildings.  Much of the original architecture was destroyed in a devastating 1963 earthquake and the project aimed to recreate lost neoclassical buildings.  It's a little bit 'Las Vegas' though, especially standing next to the mock galleons moored on the Vardar river bank.

With a craft brewery, we were looking forward to a change from Skopsko and Zlaten Dab lagers.
And we weren't disappointed when we found ourselves at Kolektiv (Macedonia Square) within a short time of arriving.   This is a good bar on the central Square, owned by Temov, the cities microbrewery.  It looked great inside, but everyone was out on the terrace in the hot weather.  Admittedly it was much pricier than other places we'd been, but with some tasty food and beer, I felt it was worth it.  There were around 11 taps, serving up craft lager, IPA's, Stout and Fruit beers. 

Next stop was the Temov Brewery tap itself, Pivnica Star Grad, ( ul. Gradište 1, Stara Skopska Čaršija) located close to the citadel on the north side of the river.  In essence it's an elaborate shed, perched atop a hill, with the brewing kit visible to the one side. Outside there is a shaded terrace area with a small fountain in the middle.  
I wanted this - I expected this - to be my favourite bar of the trip, but it kinda let me down. Service left a lot to be desired and I can't quite get my head around why there were less beers at the brewery tap than they had down the hill at their own outlet, Kolektiv.
On the plus-side I did have my only stout of the trip here, the 4.5% Pistol Stout (many menu's had dark beers on them, but whenever we asked for them they were out of stock for the summer months).


Next stop was the obligatory visit to an Irish pub: St Patrick (Kej 13-ti Noemvri 8).  We didn't go out our way to go there, but as we walked along the riverside restaurants looking for somewhere to eat and watch the World Cup football this jumped out as the best option.  In the outdoor covered terrace they had a giant screen where we bagged the last unreserved table and had a hearty platter of good value food.  We stayed on to sink several Lasko Pivo's whilst watching Belgium beat Brazil in what turned out to be one of the competitions best games.

Much of the next day was spent climbing Mount Vodno for some wonderful views of the city and surrounding countryside.  Getting up and being atop this elevated spot was, for me, the best bit of my visit to Skopje and a thoroughly enjoyable morning.
Being veggie, I miss out on much traditional fare, but at lunch we managed to track down 
tavče gravče - Macedonian style baked beans.

I like my baked beans.

So it was a treat to have these alongside several other platters, dining at a restaurant by the riverside.  The beans were great, but the 'baked potatoes', that I was expecting to be a good rustic spud, were definitely McCains wedges. 

After a revisit to Kolektiv for a tasty double-IPA, we walked westwards from the centre to Kino Karposh (Radnjanska), roughly 20 minutes from the heart of the city.  This is a nice spot, with a chilled outdoor terrace and a bar, whilst the inside is characterful.   Here I picked a SuperNova from Serbian craft brewery Kabinet.  It was the most expensive beer of the trip - this worked out at about £3.50 - but it really hit the spot as a top-notch, strong, tasty pale ale.


We just had time for yet a bit more Skopsko in a bistro in the centre, before readying ourselves for the next days crack-of-dawn flight home.
Macedonia: it's been great.  It may not have been the kind of beer and bar madness that occurs on a trip to, say, Belgium or Germany, but we've had a couple of quality ales, visited some nice bars, seen some great places and taken home some good memories.
Nazdravye!