Ohrid in Summer, Part 2: June 28, 2012

I met Bobbie, the boatman, at 8:00 a.m.  Just as last evening, I got into the boat and Bobbie moved the boat a few meters away from the dock.  He stopped his engine and poured me a cup of rakija.  Bobbie says that in the morning rakija gets the blood flowing and the heart beating.  He says it is better for your heart than running 3 kilometers each day.  With a rakija for each of us, we set off again toward St. Jovan of Kaneo.  Another stop was made for the preparation of Turkish coffee, and then we were off again.  More rakija was offered and declined.

The old city of Ohrid is even more beautiful in the morning from the water.  It is quiet and calm and most people are still sleeping.



After St. Jovan of Kaneo, we traveled in Bobbie's boat toward Tito's former residence.  There wasn't much to photograph, but the residence sits on a hill above the lake and it is nestled in a forest of large trees.  A new presidential residence sits nearby.  Presidents really know how to live.  The boat trip lasted about 1-1/2 hours and was a very good way to begin a summer day in Ohrid.

I checked out of our room and picked up Dan about 2:00 pm.  We drove about 27 kilometers farther west to visit Sveti (Saint) Naum Monastery.  This monastery sits very close to the border with Albania.  Approximately 30% of Lake Ohrid is in Albania.  Sveti Naum is in a lovely location above Lake Ohrid.  The current structure was built in the 16th century on much older foundations.  Free-range peacocks stroll the grounds and sit on the church rooftops.

After our brief sightseeing detour, it was time to drive back to Skopje.  When we arrived in Skopje, we decided that we'd make it easier on ourselves and park the rental car in a nearby parking space to empty it of our luggage and accumulation.  About 20 minutes later, we returned to the car to drive it back to the rental car agency--the car had been booted.

We've never parked a car in Skopje so did not realize that the parking space was in a pay lot and that even at 9:30 p.m., there was a parking fee.  We called the phone number on the sticker on our window but no one spoke English.  Dan called his co-worker who called the city parking department for us.  She told us someone would be there in about 15 minutes.

The parking guy showed up within 5 minutes on a Skopje City Rent-a-Bicycle.  Dan paid him 1,100 MKD (about $22 US), and he removed the boot.  He was tough and said ignorance of the law/rules/sign was no excuse.  We appreciated his efficiency.  If he worked in the ministries responsible for our Visas, we'd have them by now.  Last week Dan got his permit to legally work in Macedonia, but at this point he is (we are) still illegally residing here.  He's still following the myriad steps necessary to get our resident Visas.

Ohrid in Summer, Part 1: June 27, 2012

We arrived in Ohrid yesterday.  We'll be here for 3 days.  Dan is working--conducting an advanced training class for Macedonian defense lawyers in conjunction with the US Embassy's training for prosecutors.  I'm just enjoying the scenery.  We stayed again at the Grebnos Stone House Apartments.  I love waking to the view of the lake every morning.

The above photo is what Ohrid's port looks like now.  The next photo shows what Ohrid's port looked like two months ago during our Orthodox Easter weekend visit.

On this visit, the weather is perfect and Ohrid is truly at its best. With the weather as fine as it is, Ohrid is a place one could fall in love with and forget that there was life before Ohrid.

While Dan worked, I strolled around taking photos.  Tonight, after Dan finished his day of work, we took a boat ride to see St. Jovan of Kaneo from the water with the lovely golden late afternoon light.







St. Jovan of Kaneo was built in the late 13th century.  It is much visited and photographed because of its stunning location above the former fishing village of Kaneo and just outside of the old city walls of Ohrid.

Our boatman, Bobbie, was a charming character.  He looks for passengers all day long while chatting with his fellow boatmen.  Every time I walked past him, he tried to charm me into his boat.  He was so persistent that I picked him tonight.  Once in the boat and a few meters into the lake, Bobbie stopped his engine and offered us rakija which we accepted.  Then we traveled a few meters farther and he stopped the engine again.  This time it was to make Turkish coffee on his little propane burner.  We finally made it to the point under St. Jovan of Kaneo just and the light had become beautifully golden.

Bobbie told us he was famous in Ohrid because a CNN reporter, Nic Robertson, did a story on Ohrid in May 2010.  Bobbie was his boatman.  I watched the video and indeed, Bobbie, was Nic Robertson's boatman.  The video shows Bobbie making Turkish coffee over his little propane burner just like for us.  The rakija didn't show up on camera, but I'm sure Bobbie shared his rakija with Nic.




The boat ride was so pleasant, that I arranged to meet Bobbie at 8:00 a.m. to see the old city and St. Jovan of Kaneo in the morning light.

Dan and I left Bobbie behind and went off to the Belvedere Restaurant for a lovely dinner--probably the best we've had in Ohrid.  The restaurant's outside seating is under massive plane trees that have been trimmed to offer a thick canopy over the table area.  I had grilled river trout. The trout had been flaked and combined with onions and parsley and a lemony sauce.  It was like a warm seafood salad.  Dan had the specialty of the house: Belvedere Brochette.

Easter Weekend in Ohrid--Easter Sunday

Despite our best intentions, last night we did not go to the midnight mass to celebrate Easter. The weather took a turn for the worst and not only was it rainy, but it was also windy.  We went to sleep instead.  This morning, the weather conditions are the same.  We packed up, said goodbye to our host (who also did not attend midnight mass), and left Ohrid behind.  As we crossed the first mountain pass, the weather became much drier and sunnier.

Village of Novo Selo between Ohrid and Skopje 

Since it was so early and we had a car, we located the old stone aqueduct that resides just outside of Skopje.  The neglected aqueduct with 55 surviving arches sits in a field near an army base.  It was probably built in the Ottoman period during the 16th century to feed Skopje's many Turkish baths.

Then, we went back to our Skopje apartment to see how Kali Cat fared with her new cat sitter.  I was referred to her new cat sitter by a young lady who works at our local pet supply store.  Anita is a university student studying Philosophy.  She is lovely. When we first got home we couldn't find Kali Cat and had begun to worry when I finally spotted her on a dining room chair behind the table cloth.  When she had been found, she got off the chair and hid under the bed. We were a little worried that perhaps the cat sitter had not been nice to her.

I called Anita to tell her we were back, and she came by shortly to drop of the key and get paid. Anita wanted to see Kali Cat so I took her into the bedroom where Kali Cat was sitting on the window sill.  Anita reached out her hand toward Kali and Kali licked her fingers. So, Kali liked her cat sitter after all; she was just mad at us.

Anita brought colored eggs as gifts for Dan and me and she made a toy for Kali.

On Easter Day the one who is able to smash his/her egg into the most other eggs without cracking the shell will have good luck the rest of the year.

Easter Weekend in Ohrid--Saturday

View from our room at Grebnos Stone House Apartments

Saturday in Ohrid began with sun and no wind but with ominous clouds threatening above.   We continued our walking tour of the old city seeing more noteworthy churches.  Most of the noteworthy churches for which visitors must pay an admission fee, feel cold and unused.  They are more like museums.

We visited St. Sophia a cathedral built in the 11th century.  During the Ottoman Empire, the church was converted into a mosque and then it became a warehouse.  In 1912 it was returned to it's status as a church.  In making it into a mosque the 11th-century frescos were covered with whitewash.  In the 20th century, the whitewash was carefully removed and the rare 11th-century frescos uncovered.  The interior is cavernous, austere, and cold.

Early 11th C Church of Sveti Sophia

Besides the church we went to on Good Friday evening, our favorite church was Sv. Jovan Kaneo.  The 13th C church sits on a rocky outcropping high above the lake.

We took photos from every angle and just enjoyed being there.  The sun was mostly out and the sky was fabulously photogenic.  The cliffside was covered with wildflowers and blooming mustard and two white swans swam by the churches coastline.  It was like a fairy tale.  Finally, we went inside the church.  I gave the church custodian a 1000 MKD bill for our 100 MKD each admission.  He gave me 700 MKD in change because that was all he had.  To make up for the short, he offered us candles, and he gave us a tour in French of the small interior.  Strangely, that while I'm not able to speak French, I can understand it pretty well.  At the end of the tour, he gave both of us a small glass of rakija.

Wood-carved Iconostasis at Sv. Jovan Kaneo

Custodian at Sv Jovan Kaneo

Our next stop was the museum housed in the 19th-century Robev house. The collection isn't very interesting, but the house is a beautiful example of 19th-century Macedonia architecture. The three-story wooden structure has been well renovated. The house, actually two houses side by side, was built by two brothers.  Each brother hired a different master builder and forbade the masters to confer with each other. The original structure was divided into two houses by a center wall. The third floor was not divided and both families shared this room. The ceiling of the third floor is embellished with a wood-carving in the shape of a medallion. The furnishings in the room are original and were also carved by master carvers in Ohrid.

Some of the shops in the new town sell decorative wood carvings, but we didn't see any pieces that compare to the skill of the 19th-century artisans who made the furnishings in the Robev house museum.

Studio of an Ohrid Woodcarver

The Muslim (Turkish and/or Albanian) neighborhood is at the far end of the Tourist Street.  

A few mosques and the outdoor market are in this neighborhood. Our guidebook didn't provide any details about the mosques so we picked an interesting looking one (Ali Pasha's Mosque) to enter. The structure is a round shape dome with a rather austere interior.  A group of kids were practicing music and singing inside during our visit.

Turkish Coffee Delivery

Our last church of the day was the renovated and heavily modified St. Kliment at Plaošnik. The renovation was completed in 2002 and the church is located next to the site of Kliment's monastery school from AD893.  Kliment or Clement is the patron saint of Ohrid. He arrived in Ohrid in the 9th century. The site chosen by Kliment for his monastery school/church was the site of a 5th century church. Kliment's monastery classes were taught in Slavic.

St. Kliment at Plaošnik

The area around the current church is the site of an extensive archaeological dig. This church also commands a beautiful view of the lake.  

A century after Kliment, Tsar Samoil moved the capital of his empire to Ohrid.  His fortress remains high above the old city of Ohrid.  

Yes, it's spring.

Easter Weekend in Ohrid--Good Friday

Orthodox Easter is observed over a 4-day period in Macedonia.  Friday, April 13, is Good Friday and Monday, April 16, is a holiday for Easter Sunday.  With a 4-day holiday it was the perfect time to see more of Macedonia.  We hired a cat sitter, rented a car, and on Friday we drove to Ohrid.  Ohrid is about 3-1/2 hours southwest of Skopje.   Unfortunately, the weather forecast was for rain the entire weekend.  About halfway, we stopped at "Мекиците од Стража" roadside cafe that serves all manner of fried or baked breads, called pies, stuffed with cheese, meat, or spinach made from a recipe developed in 1942.  The pies are many layers of pastry shaped into a rope and coiled into a circle. 

The town of Ohrid is described as the "Jerusalem of the Balkans" and pilgrims and vacationers from everywhere visit Ohrid during Easter.  Both the town and the lake are under UNESCO protection.  The lake is one of the oldest in the world and the deepest lake in the Balkans.  The town has roots back to Neolithic times and claims that it is the oldest continuous settlement of humans going back 7,000 years.  The lake sits on the Macedonia-Albania border.  

When we arrived in Ohrid, we quickly realized that we weren't going to be able to locate our hotel easily.  We were staying at the Grebnos Stone House Apartments within the walls of the old city.  We called our host and he took a taxi to our location in the new town and directed us back to the apartment.  

View of Ohrid's Old City on the Distant Hills

Once we were settled in our weekend apartment, we bundled up and walked around the old city.  At one time there were 365 churches, monasteries, and holy sites around the lake.  Now there are about 70.  We concentrated our visiting on the major attractions.  We saw Sveti Bogorodica Perivleptos (Church of the Holy Mother of God Most Glorious) a late 13th C church and its gallery of icons dating to the 13-14th C.  The exterior of the building is undergoing extensive renovation.  The interior is covered with the original frescos that were covered with the soot of centuries until uncovered in the late 1970s.  The diocese has a strangle hold on photos with no photos of any kind allowed.

Bell tower of Sveti Bogorodica Perivleptos in the distance

Just down the hill and past the upper gate we visited the 2000-year old Roman amphitheater.  It was buried for centuries until it was discovered in the early 20th century.  Now it is used for summer concerts.

We dined at Damar Restaurant across from the church of St. Sophia.  We were lured inside by the signs for lamb in a stove pot and pork cooked in honey.  Both were delicious.  After dinner we strolled down to the port and new town area.  Ohrid Lake, the jewel of Macedonia, looked more like an Alaskan lake rather than a Balkan lake.  It was so cloudy that the distant shore was not visible making the lake look more like an unbounded ocean.

Ohrid's Port

In the Ohrid's new town we could hear a church service beginning up the hill at the church of Sveti Bogorodica Kamenska.  The church is not old by Ohrid standards dating to 1832.  The exterior is not noteworthy, but the inside is fabulous.  This Good Friday evening, the church filled with worshipers holding lighted candles.  Many people lined up to pay their respect to a table of icons in the center of the church.  The top of the table (similar to a gazebo structure) was decorated with a variety of fresh ivy vines and spring flowers.  The table top was covered with a cloth that stretched to the floor.  Some of the worshippers went under the table crouching there for a few seconds and then exited the other side.  We've been told that this custom is peculiar to Macedonian Orthodoxy and the action symbolizes entering the tomb.  One person told us that it is believed that this action can bring about healing.   The priest and his young attendants sang passages and the congregation sang the response.  It was beautiful.

Dan with his stealth camera did take some photos, unobserved, during the service.

Good Friday Evening inside Sv Bogorodica Kamenska

We returned to the church on Saturday to take photos of the now empty church.  The flowers decorating the table and the church column were beginning to wilt, but the interior was still beautiful and obviously well loved.  The carpets and flooring were still covered with plastic sheeting to protect them from the extra foot traffic and wet shoes.

Wood-carved Iconostasis and Easter Gifts from Worshipers

The Table Symbolizing the Tomb of Christ

19th C Frescos in Sveti Bogorodica Kamenska