Sunday, March 20, 2011

Introduction to Macedonia

Here is an introduction for those of you who don't know that much about Macedonia.

Macedonia is a small country in the Balkans with about 2,2 million inhabitants. The capitol is Skopje. Macedonia is a republic and the current president is Georgi Ivanov. The currency is called Denar but you can easily use Euros in the shops. The official language is Macedonian and in some parts Albanian. The population is a mix of Macedonians ca.65 %, Albanians 25 %, Turks 4 % and other such as Vlachs, Romany and Serbs. The Macedonians are mostly Macedonian Orthodox and the Albanians and Turks are Muslim. The country has a long history dated back about 4000 years. The country as it is today broke free from Yugoslavia in 1991 and was the only Yugoslavian republic that didn't go to war.

The country is a member of the UN and is a European Union candidate. It has had its disputes with its neighbor Greece over the years, regarding its right to use the name Macedonia and regarding Alexander the Great whom the Greeks call their own, but the Macedonians call theirs. I don't want to get in to politics in this blog and won't comment anything regarding this. I just want people to get to know about the beautiful country that I love. Macedonia has two main airports one in Skopje and one in Ohrid.

The Cyrillic alphabet was founded in Macedonia by St. Kiril and St. Metodij and is still used today. Mother Theresa was born and raised in Skopje and a statue and a museum has been raised to her honor in the Capitol. Macedonia has a lot of historic sites and old churches and monasteries especially in the city of Ohrid, which is guarded by UNESCO.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

New Blog

Im going on a trip to Macedonia, the pearl of the Balkans and one of my favorite places on earth. I will be staying there for about 5 months and I will document it with mostly photographs from my everyday life and adventures over there.

Im arriving at Alexander the Great airport in Skopje, and starting my trip from there. I've been to Macedonia many times and I love the country. This time I have a lot more time to explore all the beauties it has. I hope you look forward to reading my stories and seeing my pictures and in that way learning about the beautiful country.

Explore the beauties of Macedonia with me!