The Matka Lake within the Matka Canyon just outside of Skopje, Macedonia. (May 13, 2019)

The Matka Lake within the Matka Canyon just outside of Skopje, North Macedonia. (May 13, 2019)

The Monument to Fallen Heroes for Macedonia at the In Zena Borec Park in Skopje, Macedonia. (May 13, 2019)

The Monument to Fallen Heroes for Macedonia at the In Zena Borec Park in Skopje, North Macedonia, with the statue in the form of Prometheus as the torch bearer. Prometheus originally was naked, but after complaints by women’s organizations he was given some underwear.

A mammoth socialist leaders statue in Skopje, North Macedonia, commemorating the establishment of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) in 1944. (May 13, 2019)

A close-up of the mammoth socialist leaders statue in Skopje, North Macedonia, commemorating the establishment of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) in 1944. (May 13, 2019)

The Monument to Fallen Heroes for Macedonia at the In Zena Borec Park in Skopje, North Macedonia, with the statue in the form of Prometheus as the torch bearer. (May 13, 2019)

The statue of the founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, founded in 1893, can be seen at Zena Borec Park in Skopje, Macedonia. The group’s purpose was to obtain autonomy for Macedonia from the Ottoman empire. (May 13, 2019)

One of the main symbols of the many millions of dollars Skopje 2014 project is this triumphal arch, the Porta Macedonia, near Macedonia Square in Skopje, North Macedonia. The arch is meant to commemorate the long struggle for Macedonian independence. (May 13, 2019)

I arrived rather late in the evening on Saturday and didn’t pre-arrange pickup or taxi service from the airport. But I had no problem getting a cab. But when the cab driver drove up into this lot, which was empty, and these structures, which were all closed, I did have a slight panic moment…until he pulled up to the front door of the Hotel Centar, the building at the corner to the left of these buildings. Welcome to Skopje, North Macedonia! (May 12, 2019)