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.