Spring, Where Have you Gone?: March 10, 2012

The city of Skopje expands far beyond the sides of this photo.  Last weekend we were able to get a bird's eye view of the city to see how far it spreads beyond the small path that we normally travel.  Dan and I, limited by weather, have been traversing the same paths over and over.  We had no idea that there was so much of Skopje beyond the City Center where we live.

Last weekend it was in the 50s; we climbed up (walked) Mount Vodno behind our apartment.  We walked all the way up--about a 2700 foot change in elevation.  There is a gondola at the 1/2 way point to the top, but we kept walking.  It was pretty hard slogging as there is still quite a bit of snow above the cable car.  After all that work, we took the gondola down and took a taxi home.   The entire outing took us about 4-1/2 hours.

View of the Sar Mountains (the highest in the Balkans)

Before we got to the half-way point on our hike up, a dog attached himself to us.  He led us along the trail.  We kept trying to figure out how to lose our hiking dog, but once we got to the cable car point, that was his guiding limit.  He found someone else and returned down the mountain.

Hiking Dog

The Millennium Cross is at the top of Mount Vodno.  It was a great day to be at the top.  The view was spectacular.

Wild Crocus

In the lower half of the hike we found tiny little wild crocus emerging between the patches of snow.  It made me feel that Spring was truly on its way.






On Tuesday evening we went to a Chocolate Auction to benefit a charity for visually impaired children.  The entire event was in Macedonian so we were mostly lost, but it did give me a chance to practice my numbers.  We bid on and won a huge chocolate creation and a weekend for two at a hotel in Kruchevo.

Kruchevo is located in southwestern Macedonia.  It is highest village in the Balkans so we need to wait for warmer weather before we visit.  In the meantime, we have a lot of chocolate to consume.  The whole structure is chocolate.  The wine bottle is there for scale.

Views from our Apartment

As the week progressed it became grayer and grayer and Spring disappeared.  Wednesday we woke to snow turning to fog.

 Thursday it snowed all day.







The continued forecast for Skopje is gray, gray, gray overlaid with rain, snow, sleet....