Bitola to Veles to Skopje

Catching up time...Bitola provided a nice hostel and pleasant town.

Before leaving Bitola we enjoyed visiting Roman ruins at Heraclea.  Amazing to me is what's just piled around...

 

We went to the Jewish cemetery in search of family headstones for Al and Mo, but it was closed and in disrepair. 

Maybe it will be restored...

We rode past a large marble quarry, over a lightly (0 cars) used pass, where we encountered snow on the ground, and found our first campsite that felt wild.

Turns out it really is wild as I scared 3 wolves on the ride down the next morning! Apparently Macedonia has the biggest wolf population in Europe. 

Found our first, and only goats and sheep, in Macedonia on this road.  Given the presence of wolves, the sheepdogs are bigger than elsewhere. 

Storks nesting in villages is something I've wanted to see for a long time. 

We made our way to Veles, where I expected to see a vibrant center with a pedestrian zone and old bazaar like in the other recent Albanian and Macedonian cities.  Those we didn't find, but we were able to traverse the land my uncle's family farmed until the 1930s.

From there we rode toward Skopje and camped in sight of the city.  It's been the coldest of the trip this week, but we've avoided getting soaked.

Our standard picnic lunch includes bread, cheese, a garlic or pepper spread, tomatoes and cucumbers, hot peppers, dates, olives and delicious local honey.