Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)

I rolled into Skopje, the capital city of Macedonia (officially titled "Former Yugoslavian Republic Of Macedonia" or "FYROM"), a very nice little city.  The government here is statue crazy, they are literally everywhere.  In a four block section of downtown, there must have been over 30 statues.  I have never seen anything like it.  They often outnumber the pedestrians.  Most of the statues are normal or human size, but many of them are just enormous, look out of place, and are lit with changing colored lights.   I just can't imagine what the qualifications are to have a statue made of someone.  I did not read all the plaques, but I have to imagine there are statues of Skopje's first dentist or teacher of the year, only way to explain the need for that many of them.

While in Skopje, I ran into a motorcycle enthusiast and he gave me the full tour of the city and the surrounding countryside.  The area is just beautiful, leaves were turning, roads were rolling though nature, it was a great ride.  I was fortunate to have met him.  I would have never of found those places on my own.

One thing I will never get used to is how fast the local motorcycle guys ride at, and their aggressive use of "land sharing" or what people in the United States refer to as "that asshole who is passing between cars."  YouTube has a videos of lane sharers titled "idiots on motorcycles."  Spoiler alert, the segments usually end in a rather nasty crash.  One of which I saw in real life during my stay in Skopje.









Stage Distance: 153 mi (247 km)
Total Distance Traveled: 21,432 mi (34,440 km) 
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia