Balkan Shopping: Beverly Hills-Macedonia

Did you know that I can shop in Beverly Hills every single day if I wanted to? The prices are really reasonable too! Actually, it's a shopping center called Беверли Хилс and right here in the middle of Skopje.

Now being a California girl (Northern CA, that is) I am familiar with Beverly Hills, though I've never shopped there. I think the shop girls would send me packing like they did to "Pretty Woman"... but I digress. ;) Anyways, when I first moved here 6 years ago and needed to get my first cell-phone, Mark, my colleague (one of 5 Marks, btw) said, "No problem. I'll take you to Beverly Hills tomorrow."

He and his wife chuckled at the the blank, confused and admittedly way-jetlagged look on my face and patiently explained to me that it was the name of a shopping mall here... oh, and that shopping malls in general are much different than I'm used to. Just off the plane two days their explanation sort-of punctured the fog in my head and I was intrigued.

The "mall" was located in the middle of several apartment buidings. Being a country girl (so-to-speak) this was so new to me! Inside Beverly (the short-hand name used by locals) there are all types of shops imaginable: clothes, electronics, accessories, music, florist, shoes, mobile phone, computer, Apple Store (don't know if it's official, but I know a few Apple-lovers who drool over it.... I'm not one, though ;) ) and others. There are also several different coffee-bars in the inner courtyard of the upper floor--one of which is where I would occassionaly meet my language teacher for conversation practice. Additionally, there are pizza-shops, restaurants, a bank, a post office and a currency exchange place. Everything you could possibly imagine.

Six years on and it's not such a novelty for me anymore. It's become part of the pattern of daily life for me here in the Balkans. I don't actually shop there as it's in a different neighborhood from where I live, and each neighborhood around town has it's own shopping center. Can you guess how many shopping centers are "hidden" in the above picture??

Over the next few weeks I'll share some of the other centers as well as different types of shopping experiences to be found around town, ones that once seemed so very new and different to me, yet now I find to be quite normal. Just wait until I show you the Пластична Улица --also known as "Plastic Row!" Ha! Since this has become normal to me, you can just imagine how confused I get when I go back to the US. Seriously, you should have seen me the first time I saw the "self-check-out" line at the local grocery store! But that's a blog best saved for my next trip back across the pond. :)

Anyways, thanks for being a part of this journey with me. :)