What this place gets right.

 

The City Park, about two blocks from us, is a gem. It runs for a few miles along the Vardar river and it is lined with bike paths, walking paths, and in spots you will see tennis courts or handball courts and exercise equipment. There's at least one place dedicated to skateboarding,  It  will be delightful in the spring when everything starts to bloom. There is a sketchy looking zoo there -not sure if it open - but you can hear some animal groaning inside. 

Toward the the western end of the park there is a giant indoor sports facility where I discovered a gorgeous pool -- 20 lanes, 25 meters with a "warm" pool adjacent to it.(not quite a hot tub but a large warm bath?) . The facility has several buildings and I'm not sure what sports are played there but the parking lot was full and kids were running around indoors and out. 

Closer to the city center there is a huge stadium, I assume for soccer, but we haven't seen much activity there. (I'm thinking of asking Bruce Springsteen  wants to stop here on his European tour this summer..

Well-marked bike paths run along all the major thoroughfares with plenty of space between bikers and pedestrians.  The major boulevards are lined with  
trees, bare now, but will be lovely when they bloom. 

There are sculptures here too, not the overblown statues of famous Macedonians that overwhelm the city center, but art work -- that is sadly often covered with graffitti.  There is graffitt everywhere you look, on privat buidings and public spaces. and I am trying to decide whether to embrace it as means of free expression or to frown upon it when it mars the artwork of another artist. I am going to ask my students to do some reporting and find folks who do graffitti  so that I can better understand their motivation.