Велес

Over the past two weeks, I have embarked on a few day trips to bigger cities in Macedonia.  Below I describe our night out in Veles (Велес).

On the first of November, a few of the Lozers visited Lozovo’s biggest sister-city, Veles, for pastramajlia.  According to the last census, Veles is the 6^th largest city in Macedonia, with the population of just over 40,000 people.  The city is located just west of Lozovo and is a 25-minute ride away by bus.  Veles is basically in the center of Macedonia and is split by the river Vardar.  There is a saying in Macedonia- all roads lead to Veles, which is pretty much true.  Most buses make a stop at the bus station in Veles, which is quite fortunate for those who live in Lozovo.  The Macedonian language was also standardized to the Veles dialect, since Veles is centrally located within the republic and is located on the river Vardar. (See here fore more brief info about Veles).

In my opinion, Veles is the most beautiful city in Macedonia (or at least, of the cities that I have visited so far).  Driving west toward the city, the buses wind along hills and through ravines until the city of Veles, with its buildings climbing along the hillsides, comes into sight.    The city is bifurcated by the river, with the pazar and bus stop on the east bank and the majority of the city on the west bank.  Several bridges traverse the river, allowing pedestrians to cross the roaring waters below as they enjoy the panorama of houses situated on the surrounding steeps.  Unfortunately, the Peace Corps did not market the city well to the rest of the volunteers.  During a medical session on “Environmental Concerns,” Veles ranked high for water and soil pollution despite the recent closure of its smelting and lead manufacturing plant. 

The Lozers have visited Veles often for practicum work throughout PST.  However, Veles hosted its own version of pastramajlia, rivaling the much larger version of the festival in Shtip (city located to the East of Lozovo).  Pastramajlia is a pizza-like dish, with buttery dough (in my opinion, lighter than pizza dough) topped with meat and eggs.  Pastramajlia from Veles traditionally contains sheep meat (hence “pastrма,” or пастрма, which is meat of sheep preserved in salt or oil).  However, during the festival in Veles, the meat is typically pork as the dish is mass-produced. 

When we visited Veles for the festival, the main street was closed to traffic and filled with tents offering pastermajlia and regional wine.  We met with two Veles locals and talked over a few drinks before strolling through the city and past the tents.  The park near the coffee bars is relatively new and gorgeous!  We were decided to wind through the old part of town, which is very residential and situated on the hill closest to the center.  At the top, we were able to enjoy a beautiful view over the entirety of the city.  At the festival, we were lucky to enjoy a set at the main stage, and the local Veles band, which also covered Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, were really entertaining.  We ended our night at a new bar, Tarantino, which we were able to get into early since one of our friends from Veles knew the bouncer.  Overall, it was nice to escape our small town and enjoy the night on our own in a bigger city.

Strolling the the old part of Veles

Pastramajlia

On the terrace of Tarantino