June 7 -Nestled next to a lake
and below a fortress...Ohrid
Ohrid is a city in the Republic of Macedonia and the largest city on Lake Ohrid. It is the jewel in Macedonia's crown. Ohrid is notable for once having had 365 churches, one for each day of
the year, and has been referred to as a "Jerusalem (of the Balkans)"
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| Saint John at Kaneo is a Macedonian Orthodox Church situated on the cliff over Kaneo Beach |
The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and natural beauty making it very popular with tourists. We were there early enough in the season that it wasn't too bad yet.
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| Lake Ohrid |
Archaeological finds indicate that Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in all of Europe. Some say that it us nearly 6,000 years
The drive to Ohrid was spectacular!
Zoya drove us the 3 hours since she wanted to go visit a friend
there. We decided to stay two nights with Filip, then the best way
to go to our next destination was to return to Skopje with Zoya for
one more short night. Best decision EVER! So glad we didn't miss
staying in a 5 star hotel room next to Filip's fancy restaurant and
in front of the lake front of Lake Ohrid. He was new at couch
hosting (he had only one other host). This Russian guy described
Filip's place as: “Imagine being in a remote place like Indonesia
in a jungle sleeping in a hut on the floor. Filip's place is the
opposite of that.” So we were in for a treat!
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| Meet Filip from Ohrid, Macedonia |
He fed us the most
amazing meals, took us on a boat ride across the lake and then to his
villa (a 2nd restaurant/hotel which he and his family
owned). More about that later! He gave us the most memorable
evening I have ever had with good food and dancing in his popular
restaurant. Then to top it off, he presented us with a beautiful
gift when we parted.
Zoya took us on a tour through
the old town when we first arrived. Such a cute and historic town!
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| What? You don't like to go shopping, Rich? |
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| What a wonderful young Zoya to take us to Ohrid and then show us around! Hey guys....she is available. |
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| What character the old town has |
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| Shari's favorite daisy flower. |
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| We're Prince and Princess for the day |
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| mmm...having a ball in this cute little city. |
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| Ok Zoya, this is way too many pictures that you're taking. |
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| What a sweet girl to pose for a picture. |
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| Wish we could have seen the folk dance program, but we chose to go to the fortress instead. |
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| Rich is looking lost |
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| Beautiful Macedonian costumes for sale |
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| An old ampitheatre from 200 BC in the Roman times. |
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| It's always such fun to stumble upon some really old historic site |
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| Looking down upon the city as we climb up to the fortress. |
We then took a walk up to the fortress on the hill. We arrived just
before sunset...spectacular! We had so much fun taking pictures
across the lake and mountains. And the history!
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| Sunset Time is coming soon, |
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| A new excavation of the medieval city below the fortress |
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| The fortress walls are all around me |
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| Lots of beautiful wildflowers everywhere |
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| As we peered down into an excavation area, we saw round stones that were used for ammunition |
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| The Old Castle is really fun to climb around & on top of. |
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| A true Bird's-eye View |
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| I decide to get on the wall for a photo opportunity |
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| I can't look down or I'll really freak out! |
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| Take the picture fast before I lose my balance PLEASE! |
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| What a gorgeous sunset it was! |
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| From Ohrid and us to all of you |
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| The view looking back as we climbed back down the hill. I was just on that wall....crazy! |
We then went and changed our
clothes. We had a four course dinner with Filip, Zoya, her friend,
Denica and a guy who was in charge of a cultural exchange program
with Macedonia named Johan.
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| Filip has reserved the best table in the house for us, his American guests |
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| We were all served the most wonderful meal at Filip's restaurant |
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| 1st course - oe'deurves with the BEST dip. Ajvar is a combination of
roasted, mashed eggplant and sweet peppers served as a side dish with
grilled meats or as an appetizer on bread. It was AMAZING! |
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| 2nd course - Shopska Salad |
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| 3rd Course - Bits of Lamb and Pork in a gravy that was so tender |
His restaurant was so cutely decorated with pictures and antique things, musical instruments - just about everything.
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| Denica was the sweetest lady, also from Ohrid |
We enjoyed the music by a
professional group Filip hires every night. They played typical
Polish folk songs since a big group of Polish people were there that
evening. They danced and danced. I was having fun videoing them and taking pictures when a Polish man came up to me and whooshed me off my feet to dance. I kept insisting that I didn't dance, but he didn't speak English or maybe it's because he knew he could lead and I would dance no matter what.
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| The Polish Man insisted on me dancing with him. |
This was the most exhilarating experience I have ever had. I literally felt like I was flying. We did the polka for about 4 minutes and he whirled me so fast that I didn't have a chance to stumble. I can't tell you how much fun it was and the feeling I got from his strength and power. That will never happen again, I'm sure. I was dizzy for several minutes afterwards.
He inspired Rich to ask me to dance, however, so we enjoyed some Polish music and some more fast-steppin'
Zoya started all the teens dancing in the restaurant. The leader carries a white scarf. She taught me how to do the dance...absolutely amazing FUN! I want to go to more dances in Macedonia.
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| Zoya having fun with the young people...she is a teen at heart. Love this 6' tall lady! |
Later, the instrumentalists came over
to our table and played the most beautiful Macedonian songs, one of
which was everyone's favorite.... The evening was
“super”!
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| That song was the BEST! " Zoya, what was the name of it again?" |
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| I hope this night never ends. |
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| "Blagodaram" Philip - You're the BEST |
We didn't get to bed until 3 a.m....we felt like teenagers again.
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