June 18, 2024

 Where the heck did those 10 days go?!  Yikes!  I am so far behind I must be almost first again.  LOL….hows that for a positive spin on procrastination?

After we left Pristine we headed into North Macedonia.  Skopje, the capital city, would be our first stop.  Hard to know exactly what to say about skopje, North Macedonia. It’s simultaneously unbelievably overwhelmingly gorgeous and kind of sketchy shabby if you look just barely past the surface. We’ve kind of come to the conclusion that the city (or maybe even the country as this is the capital city) might be kind of broke as it appears that no maintenance has been done for a long time (like maybe years). So many broken bits (benches, stairs, planters, paving stones, signage, parks, gardens, etc) are in dire need of attention and everything looks like it’s been completely neglected but at the same time you have to love it here. The grandeur of the squares, the statues, the pillars and columns, and the buildings……it’s all so crazy impressive!

We’d read about Skopje before we arrived and I kind of thought I had an idea what to expect. I was wrong. I couldn’t imagine this place until I’d seen it for myself. Are we glad we came to Skopje?  Absolutely!  Do we think you should come here?  Absolutely!  Would we come here again?  Maybe not. I am pretty sure it’s the most puzzling place I’ve ever visited. 🤷‍♂️

Next on the list is Ohrid…… 2 1/2 hour drive from Skopje brought us to this Macedonian vacation oasis, Lake Ohrid. It’s a big lake and it feels a lot like the Okanagan without the nice beaches. (Rockier here from what we’ve seen so far). Lake Ohrid is set in the mountains so it’s a bit cooler and the other side of it is in Albania. 

Our apartment here gets honourable mention as we were “downgraded” 🤣. Downgraded in what floor we were on only.  He had us booked into a room on the fourth floor and you guessed it…there is NO elevator!  On top of that we just dragged our bags over cobbled streets in very hot temps for what seems like a very long way (it just feels so far as it is so hot)  Luckily the manager saw the look on our faces and quickly said, “or, I could give you a complimentary upgrade to the suite that is right here on the ground level if you’d prefer”.  We both screamed “yes” in unison and so it came to be that we upgraded down and were very grateful for it. Oh ya, and our place is just a stones throw from the lakes edge and…..well within our budget at about $35 CAD each per night. 😀

Ohrid is dubbed the Jerusalem of Europe and the Balkans. There are so many churches here and some even date back 2000 years!

It’s hilly and the cobblestone streets are an invitation to stumble but we are always extra careful and we are really enjoyed spending three nights here. 💕

We hiked up a couple of hills once we got settled into our room and found an artisan shop where we purchased some home made (dried) Macedonian style pasta and a garlic sauce with walnuts that this town is famous for.  And just like that Pasta was on the menu for our supper.

Ohrid is also famous for Ohrid pearls. There are just two shops that make legitimate Ohrid pearls and this is the only place in the world that makes them. (They used to be made in Russia too but not any longer). The artist starts with a piece of mother of pearl and then “paints” many coats of an epoxy on the mother of pearl base.  That epoxy is a secret recipe that consists in part of fish scales from a fish found in this lake. The scales have varying pigmentation and so by selecting specific scales the artist is able to create pink, white, grey, and even black pearls (although the black pearl has an added mineral to deepen the colour further). 

One thing I recall from Ohrid was sitting in a caffe called the roastery sipping on a delicious cappuccino and feeling very grateful and saying out loud “I’m happy” at the exact same time as the lyrics of the song playing on the soundtrack simultaneously said “I’m happy”. I choose to take that as a sign that we were in exactly the right place. 😀👍🙏

There were lots of wonderful and interesting areas of Ohrid that we discovered during our time here. For example one dinner we had was “different” but delish. Curry chicken pizza!🤔

Wandering the streets of Ohrid is a little easier than it was in Skopje but not because of the roads!  The roads here are steep and very cobbled!  It is because it’s a perfect temperature …just that much cooler at the higher elevation and next to the lake and because that first full day the sun was behind some cloud with a gentle breeze…❤️

Really enjoyed a visit to the Handmade paper museum right beside our accommodation before heading across the street to watch an artisan woodworker in action. 12 hours work to create a 10x10 cm square piece!

Next to the woodworker is another ancient church….they’re everywhere here!  It is easy to see why Ohrid has the nickname Jerusalem of Europe and the Balkans. 

Next stop was at church of saint Sophia (considered to be most treasured of Macedonian historic sites). An image of It is on the 1000 denar note (Macedonian money). This large church was built on the foundation of another church that was from either the 3rd or 5th century depending on who you ask. 🤣. Either way….it’s OLD!  The frescoes inside this church are some that are original to it and others that are even older that have been brought to this location for preservation and protection.

In contrast to all this history, there is another area of the city that is called the old bazaar and here is where the “tourist” turns to “Turkish”…..the smells, the music, the vibe…..it all screams Middle East versus vacation on the lake.

Ohrid was to be our last stop in the country of Macedonia and what a great place to spend our final day in here.  Ohrid (and the lake here) is a vacation destination for locals as well as for tourists from away. The history (and the too many ancient churches to count) is reflected in every stone on the narrow cobbled streets so in a way it feels like you’ve travelled back in time. 

That last day we located the boardwalk and set out in the direction of yet another church as well as a couple of beaches. These beaches are tiny,  not easy to get to and yet sunbathers are packed into every corner (we were reminded again just how spoiled we are in the Okanagan). In spite of that these beaches have a quaint charm about them. The first one we stopped at was Potpesh where Lynda had her best coffee of the trip so far. It was in a big mug, it was hot, and it tasted like coffee. (Or perhaps the beautiful views looking out over the lake helped it to taste especially good. ) Next and final destination was the Church of saint jovan at Kaneo and we had to go over stairs, up and down hills, and around a couple of cliffs to get there. 🤣…..and the incline was pretty steep for some of the path!  Eventually we made it to the end and then back to Kaneo Restaurant for a much deserved lunch which was outstanding. We stayed at the restaurant for hours (you’d think we were on vacation!🤣) before venturing out to make the trek back to town. It’s not really that far but it is slow going for part of the way and really worth taking your time to enjoy the view and the experience of being present in the moment. 

We’d arranged a driver to take us back into Albania the next day where we planned to spend a couple days at a place called Castlehouse in Elbason.  Bonus….this driver picked us up right at our door in Ohrid so no dragging our bags over the cobblestones to get our of this historic city.

It’s hard to believe we are six weeks into this adventure which means we just have two weeks left. Wow!  That time has flown by!  Don’t want to jump ahead though…better to just stay present and enjoy where we are. 😎

Elbason Albania…we are staying in a 400 year old castle that has been renovated to accommodate a couple of rooms to let on the second floor. Downstairs is all Still original Walls!   As well this building backs onto an ancient church and at 9:00 on Sunday (well actually every day!) you can hear the bell being “rung”. 🤣  “Rung” is a figure of speech only here ……We are guessing that the rope broke so they use a hammer. 🤣. We are also pretty sure that the bell ringer really likes the song Jingle Bells!

Met an awesome young woman who was working in a shop just around the corner from our accommodation.  She makes 200 euros (about $300 CAD) per month for working there 7 days a week!  Her name is Bora and she is 18. She dreams of going to university abroad to study architecture but knows it may never happen for her as she’d need to have some kind of scholarship so on the off chance that any of you who are reading this know of such a thing be sure to let me know and I will pass it along to her. 

The last afternoon we were there (once it was past the worst heat of the day) we headed over to a hotel/restaurant called Real Scampi to check out the archaeological site and to have some dinner.  What a beautiful location that is also a UNESCO site and home to local rotary meetings. 😀. Dinner for two tonight was 1950 Lek or about $30 CAD. We are definitely under budget today which is good as we had to hire a driver for tomorrow and that’s going to be the equivalent of about $60 CAD each to take us to Vlore (a couple hours away). Busses in Albania are more challenging for sure. Smaller places like this don’t have a station and it’s only the under 20’s that speak English for the most part. We will keep trying to find busses but when it’s an unlikely option we just go for the driver. 🤣After dinner we just joined in with the locals and hung around the downtown centre where families all mingled and children played and old men set up their dominoes while others watched the soccer game on the big screen in the caffès over coffee and beer.

As We’ve been moving so often, We kind of make up a story to find our way back “home” til we know where we are in each of the towns. In the case of Elbasan Albania from anywhere along the Main Street, we just turn at the castle and walk along the castle wall (keeping it to our right) till we see the fancy “place Of art” building which is where we turn right (and begin the single lane cobblestone journey).  Watch for cars front and back (as they’re coming from both directions) til we see the big blue “parking”. Take the next left til the “bat cave” at which point we veer onto the right fork til we hit another intersection and see the big arched door. If we’re right….The notched key will open that lock and then we will see the next arched door where the non notched key should let us in. Whew!  We made it. 🤣

Elbasan to Vlore took about two hours with our private taxi (8000 lek or about $120 CAD for the door to door trip) and much of it was some of the prettiest scenery!  About half way here we went through an area that must be home to the most olive production in the country!  None of the photos we took do it justice but boy was it pretty!  Mostly olive trees as far as we could see. Hard to believe that someone actually walks all that way to maintain the orchards!  There were also lots of cherries and corn and melons and nuts growing but it was the acres and acres of straight rows of olive trees in every direction as far as we could see that left us speechless. 

We stopped along the way and picked up a watermelon and some cherries as well as a few fresh figs as we couldn’t resist and trust me they’re all delish!  We had them at dinner last night. 

Vlore is on the coast and we are here for two nights. Our hosts Izi and Ellis are such a sweet couple. Ellis even drove us to the beach so we wouldn’t have to take a cab to get there. 💕

Tomorrow will be explore the old city day and then it will be an early morning bus for the next leg of our journey still heading south the day after.