in North Macedonia
I have to admit that this country was not on my ‘must visit’ list, but having decided to visit Albania before a return visit to the UK in July, it seemed to make sense to also visit the neighbouring countries. I’d heard that North Macedonia – or at least its capital, Skopje – was a strange, rather ‘fake’ place, and could quickly see why it provokes that response. Situated in an earthquake zone, large parts of it (apparently some 80% of the buildings) were destroyed in a huge earthquake in 1963. Some of the subsequent re-building was in the modernist, or ‘brutalist’ style, together with plenty of pre-fabricated apartment buildings erected hastily to house those made homeless by the earthquake. The picture above shows the brutalist Central Post Office and Telecommunications building. But then in 2010, the government launched ‘Skopje 2014’ – a big, expensive, and pretty controversial, project to add some grandeur to the city. Apparently, more than 120 buildings...