WU Ball in Vienna

Train ride through Winter Wonderland

First travel of the year brought me to Vienna for the Ball of the WirtschaftsUniversität.
AIESEC Alumni Austria organized a program for us.

State Opera

We met Friday evening for dinner at Inigo in the first district and afterwards I stayed in the biggest room of a Motel One ever.

Motel One

Saturday morning we had 2h of dance training at Tanzschule Wagner - the instructor taught us 3 out of 6 parts of the Quadrille and the Viennese Waltz.

Tanzschule Wagner

We had lunch at the Griechenbeisl and of course I went for the world famous Viennese Schnitzel and it was delicious.

Wiener Schnitzel - Yummy

Beer window

It was a very windy and cold afternoon and I had hurt my ankle earlier in the week, so I skipped most of the guided tour. Instead I enjoyed a nice raspberry cake and a hot tea at Café Oberlaa.

Hofburg - where we danced later on

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready for the evening: hair, make-up and dress.

Hair style: done!

We are ready!

Finally after 8 pm we left for the Hofburg and the Ball. After nine, the student couples paraded in for the opening dance.

Parade

Made it to the Hofburg

Ball Room

We went to the Zeremoniensaal where our tables were reserved. Our band was playing all kinds of music to dance 💃 with. So we did Viennese Waltz, Slow Fox and many more.

Zeremoniensaal

After midnight, we went to the bigger ball room, waited and saw the artistic show - my feet took that part no well at all. Finally after half an hour, we could really enter the dance floor for the quadrille. We signed up and the master of ceremonies announced the different steps to take as a dry-run and then we did it with music. We did 4 different parts and the last time every round faster in kind of battle with the orchestra.

Dancing the Quadrille

We repeated this a bit later in our own room and wandered the place in search of good photo locations. And then took quite a bit to do them. We lasted until 4 o'clock when they started to get rid off us.

Heidi and I on the grand staircase 

The next morning or better to say lunch time, we met all survivors at Café Landtmann for brunch.

Matka Canyon

When you have seen everything in Skopje head out with Bus 60 from Transport Center (or any intermediate stop) to Matka Canyon. The bus ride takes 50 min and costs 40 MKD - make sure to o buy a multi rides card beforehand as the bus drivers do not sell tickets anymore. Information on lines, stops and schedule on JSP OTG App. 

I took the 8:45 from the city and at the last stop (Matka) I was one of the two remaining passengers. This solitude lasted for a long time. I followed the way uphill and passed the visitor center (closed on Mondays) and at the small parking lot turned left and then the way narrowed to allow only pedestrians. I continued on it to the top of the dam wall and there had the first glimpse at the Matka Lake. 10 min from the bus stop, there are a hotel, restaurant, toilets and boat rides at the lake. 

Ready for a boat trip?

Hotel & restaurant

St. Andrew Church (1389)

I followed the path for 6 km going up and down, turning to and away from the water and explore the Matka Canyon. Beware at some points the iron rail is broken and the path is not secured all the time. Be surefooted. 

Matka Lake

 After more than an hour walking with only passing another small group the natural quietness was broken by a boat engine and surely I saw from the high path a boat approaching with tourist. I thought the boat rides might not work in winter, but soon more followed. 20 min later I reached the dead-end of the path across from the Vrelo Underwater Cave. 

One of the boat drivers called out to me and asked if I wanted to see the cave. I then went back a bit and went down a steep slide (probably a small creek in summer) and there he picked me up and brought me to other river side. I climbed up to the cave and went inside with the other tourists. It was nicely lit and is the deepest in Europe. Every year, dive teams try to explore the underwater part. So far, none has reached the bottom. The last exploration went down to 900 m.

View from the dead-end to the Vrelo Cave

Vrelo Cave

Stalactit Pine Cone

I returned with the boat and thanked the nice boat drivers for the ride. 

Boat trip back

I made it back in time to the bus stop. In the meantime several tourist buses, taxi and private cars had arrived. I was already contemplating how to best hitch a ride with one of them as the public bus arrived 10 min late. So have faith. 

Skopje, Macedonia, at New Year

The last days of 2018, I spent in Skopje, Macedonia, thanks to my Miles & More free flight. Macedonia is a small country in the south of the Balkan and borders with Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia. 

I took a bus from the airport to the city center - the service does not run very often and I had to wait a bit for it. At the end, there were only two passengers on the way to Skopje. Here are the current timetables from airport to city center and return. 

     

My Hotel Solun was close two the final stop and I just had to cross a shopping mall and the Macedonian Square to reach it. On the square is a big statue "Warrior on a Horse". If you explore further you will find an endless numbers of statues around - small, big and gigantic: lions, horses, persons. There are two bridges nearby that showcase different figures of Macedonian importance throughout the millennia. 

Warrior on a Horse, Macedonian Square

bottom of the Philip II of Macedon Monument

St Cyril and St Methodius 

The Bridge of Civilizations in Macedonia 🇲🇰 

The Stonebridge leads across the Vardar river to the old part of the town with the Kale (fortress), newly built museums and memorials and the Old Turkish Bazaar.  

Kameni Most/ Stonebridge

in daylight

The fortress looks monumental from outside. Unfortunately, on the inside the best thing is the walkway of the defensive wall. It has a dead-end, so you have to return the same way. If you want you can join a guided tour that will tell you more about the archeological aspects - guides offer their services at the entrance.

fortress from the end of the bridge

from fortress to Mount Vodno

fortress wall

From the fortress you can walk down to the Mustafa Pasa mosque and further to the Old Turkish Bazaar. Here you can buy wedding and party gowns, shoes, jewelry and souvenirs housed in one and two storey buildings. In between are a bunch of restaurants shops. At the end, there is a more modern market with everyday items like socks, belts and smartphone covers.

Mustafa Pasa Moque (1492)

       

  Old Bazaar

Back to the river front is church St. Demetrius and the Museum of the Macedonian struggle. A guided tour leads you through the events from the mid 19th century till the independence in 1991. The museum and the paintings look much older than they are - both were commissioned only in the last 10 years and the museum opened its doors in 2011.

St. Demetrius Church

Museum of the Macedonian Struggle

ceiling of the museum

Venturing down one of the pedestrian streets from Macedonia Square will lead you to the memorial house of Mother Theresa. The nun was born in Skopje in 1910 and the house was built 10 years ago on the site of a former church in which Mother Theresa was baptized.

Memorial House of Mother Theresa

Most Macedonians are orthodox Christians, so their Christmas celebrations were still to come in January and so everyday Christmas markets, photo sessions with Santa Claus and concerts on the square were running its course. On New Year’s Eve the buildings along the riverbank were lit up in the Macedonian colors (red and yellow) and I celebrated with friends from Italy on a prime spot - restaurant and hotel ship Senigallia. Luckily we booked a table the night before and had a good view from there of the midnight fireworks.

Hotel &  Restaurant Ship Senigallia

Chris, Alberto & Diana

Archeological Museum of Macedonia

New Year's fireworks

The new year was greeted by sunshine and I took a last walk across the stonebridge before leaving to the airport.