www.TravelsWithSheila.com What a day! Touring interesting Kratovo took hours, stops at a church, drive to Skopje and then tour for another couple of hours, it's no wonder everyone in the group was ready to fall off their feet. Skopje is is in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula, capital of the Republic of Macedonia and was once an important crossroad in the Ottoman Empire. We began touring at the 1500 year old Skopje Fortress, simply referred to as Kale, the Turkish word for fortress; guide Goran related information about the 1963 Earthquake that may not have been high in magnitude but still devastated families; and then worked our way through the old Turkish area. Lots to see. Lots to do in Macedonia.