Skopje, Macedonia

Recovering Macedonian national identity from history - a necessary prerequisite to statehood - is like extracting a metal from ore. 

Sure, it is there, clearly visible in rich cultural veins that run through the civilisational bedrock of the Balkans, glinting in the sunshine. But it never really existed in purified, unsullied form - or hasn’t done so for millennia - and extrication necessarily destroys the structures within which it is suspended. 

Its instantiation in a modern state is beset by wickedly hard problems. These problems are common across the Balkan peninsula but, I think, nowhere more concentrated.

In the Balkans there are no friends just common interests and alliances of convenience …a complex web of limited cooperation within a general atmosphere of enmity. Groups A and B coordinate action against C on one issue, while Groups A and C work together in their conflict with B on another issue, as Groups B and C fight as one against A on yet another.

Conflicts exist over recognition of Macedonian statehood, legitimacy, ascension to NATO, the EU, and the Eurozone, even its name and the name of the capital Skopje. Macedonians have made a lot of compromises and I feel for them.

The utter levelling of old town Skopje by earthquake in 1963 hasn’t helped. Major new constructions are a sickly mix of 18th and 19th century European architecture, more like homage than expression of style. It lacks integrity and feels like it’s trying too hard to prove something.

Similarly, the grandiosity of the 22m statue of Alexander the Great astride a rearing horse, sword held aloft, leaves me cold. It imitates classical realism except for the horses genitals which, like on a Ken doll, are muted in deference to modern, puritanical sensibility.

That compromise, the castration and penectomy of the great bronze horse, says it all really.

To survive and thrive Macedonia needs to be in the EU. I hope its neighbours allow that to happen fast and it finds its self-confidence.

Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia has very old bones. 

They are proudly (and pleasingly) exposed and incorporated within new development works throughout the city. An amphitheater not much smaller than the Coliseum forms the foundation and lower floors of a luxury hotel. It is stunning.

There are many cultural layers here. The modern - Bulgaria’s major cultural institutions, restaurants, cafes and bars - sits within and atop a mix of Roman, early Christian, Byzantine, Orthodox, and Ottoman structures, along with the usual suspects of belle-époque elegance.

At the time of the Roman and Byzantine empires, the city was called Serdica, the capital of Dacia. Constantine called it his Rome. Justinian was very fond of it too. 

There isn’t much fine dining in Bulgaria. But Sofia is one of those places where you’re rewarded by talking to your waiter to find good local dishes and wine.

Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule by a Christian coalition led by Alexander II of Russia. This is commemorated in a number of stunning monuments and buildings, most notably Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

Bulgarian people are very friendly and welcoming. Well incorporated within Europe now, but not subject to the ills of mass tourism, they like showing their country to visitors.

Chisinau, Moldova

Chisinau, pronounced kish-in-or with emphasis on the first syllable, is the least visited capital in Europe.

It should be visited a lot more.

Like Rome, Chisinau is built on 7 hills. A bronze Capitoline Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus stands before the National History Museum.

Pushkin was exiled here for his liberal views by Czar Alexander I 1820 - 1823, during which time he wrote The Prisoner of the Caucasus and The Fountain of Bakhchisaray. He is commemorated by a bust in the Central Park, a full statue having been unaffordable.

While the infographic at the airport is a little disconcerting - depicting cutthroat razors, axes and baseball bats as things that can’t be taken on a plane - the idea that Moldova is dangerous is incorrect.

It is quiet, modest and beautiful. I walked the streets and city parks in the day and night without harassment.

Lying north of the Carpathians, Moldova has no mountains but is very hilly. This, its famously rich black soil and moderate climate make it an exceptional agricultural producer.

Its wines are an absolute treat. Varietals and methods are yet to be fully homogenised and hopefully won’t be. It is home to the world’s largest cellar at Mileștii Mici, a 200km tunnel, about half of which is used. Cellar doors can be found throughout the capital. 

I had one of the best steak and bottle of red meals I’ve ever had here. 

If you love wine, bucolic settings and history Moldova is an absolute must. 

Bucharest, Romania

In Bucharest you can stand on a street corner and appreciate the utter jumbled jostling mess and glory of 500 years of European architecture.

Go to the Piata Revolutiei, for example, and turn on the spot to see an old Orthodox Church, neoclassical, art nouveau and art deco villas, brutalist socialist era boxes for workers, grand Soviet megalomania, and the sharp triangular glass edges of a modern office block.

Speaking of churches, the one pictured still does exorcisms.

Interesting time to be in Romania with the rerun of Presidential elections after the November ballot was cancelled amid evidence of Russian meddling.

Speaking French (or, I imagine, Italian) makes it easier to get around.

If you love sweets they are great bakers here. I highly recommend Casa Capsa, temptingly located opposite my hotel.

The old town is brimming with English and Irish pubs attracting bucks and hens parties on public holiday weekends. I like to think of this as an initial phase of post-Soviet socioeconomic terraforming.

A more sophisticated vibe can be found in Fabrica south of the centre, where factories have been repurposed as galleries, bars, and studios, and around the Romanian Atheneum to the north.

Bucharest was known as Little Paris between the wars. With the overthrow of Ceausescu it picked up that mantle again.

Some old fogeys reminisce about the police state. Like other former eastern bloc countries, I can’t see them subsuming their freedom and creativity under Putin’s culturally stunted, albeit economically resurgent, Russia.