Monday Hike: May 21, 2012

Since the first time I joined my new friends on Monday hikes, the hikes have continued uninterrupted.  Unfortunately our hiking guru, Lyubov, injured her knee forcing her to stop hiking for next several months.  This Monday was our group's first hike without Lyubov.  We took a new trail up Vodno that was marked with red and yellow trail markers (from the trailhead near the Swiss Residence to middle Vodno) and returned down.  The hike up was pretty steep in places as shown in the first photo.  At middle Vodno, we took a break for macchiatos.  The weather was gray, of course.  Despite the cool air, we sweated through the steep portions.

Anjeanette, Jasmina, and Viera

Macchiato Break

The trail down

Last night I met Olivera (my landlady) at the nearby Police Station to register my most recent entry into Macedonia.  All went well despite the fact that I have come and gone several times without re-registering since my initial registration when we moved into our apartment in January.  

Dan also found out that his Visa will be ready for pickup in Washington DC.  He will fly to DC on May 28 and return to Macedonia on June 1.

Sunday Dinner: May 20, 2012

This afternoon, we went to a pig roast dinner.  Our landlady, Olivera, invited us.  The dinner was with Olivera, her mother Tatiana, her brother Andre, her boyfriend Tana (a champion chess player), and their neighbors.  The weather was warm and lovely.  We ate outside and it felt like a picnic. 

First we had salads, a white cheese from sheep, another white cheese from cow, and Ouzo as an aperitif.  After salads, the main course was brought out.  The young pig had a golden brown crispy skin with the meat falling from the bones.  The pig had been purchased from a village outside of Skopje.  It was butterflied, baked for about 10 hours, and delivered fully cooked to our hosts.

Olivera, Tatiana, Andre, Otto the dog(clockwise from bottom left)

It was a most unforgettable, amazing meal.

Kosovo Day Trip: May 19, 2012

Today, Cassidy Henry (a Fulbright student) and I rented a car and went to Kosovo for the day.  Dan was working, Cassidy wanted company, and I needed a re-entry stamp on my passport so I could update my residency in Macedonia.

The weather was beautiful especially coming after a week of gray and rain.  Our exit from Macedonia went smoothly, and our first destination in Kosovo was Prizren.  The landscape between Macedonia and Prizren is lushly green with the snow-covered Rugovi Mountains soaring above.

The roads are narrow and slow.  Cassidy drove the first leg of our journey and ended up meeting a couple of Kosovo traffic police when they waived her over for speeding.  Neither of had noticed any speed limit signs.  The traffic policeman on the left showed her the radar gun that registered her speed at 55 kph (34 mph).  The policeman informed her that the speed limit was 40 kph (24 mph).  He told her to get out of the car and Cassidy and the policemen had a discussion--Cassidy using Macedonian and the police speaking Serbo-Croatian--about whether or not she should be fined 35 Euro.  The policeman on the right (below) called someone on his cell phone and handed Cassidy the phone.  The voice on the other end spoke English and he asked Cassidy to explain what was going on.  Then, he said the policeman was his cousin and to tell the police not to fine her.  Everyone was smiling and no fine was enforced.  We drove even slower the rest of the way to Prizren.

View at the pass

View at the pass

Picturesque Prizren was sunny and vibrant with people crowding into cafes, shopping, strolling, and KFOR troops.

15th century Ottoman bridge

11th century Kalaja (fortress) on the hill

Prizren has a restored 15th century Ottoman bridge, Ottoman-era mosques, churches, and an 11th century fortress.  

Sinan Pasha Mosque (1561)

Lonely Planet states that the "Orthodox Church of the Virgin of Levisha is not exactly welcoming..." I agree. We tried to visit the church, but the guard said the church was locked.  I took a photo of the "no smoking, camera, gun, high-heels/skirt" sign that greets visitors as they walk onto the church grounds, the guard scolded me.  The "no camera" symbol means no photos of the sign or the exterior of the church (shown below).

More photos of Prizren:

A Fixer Upper

Missionaries? 

The deteriorating Gazi Mehmed Pasha Baths

Our next destination was Pristina, the capitol of Kosovo.  The drive between Prizren and Pristina is slow, slow, slow; we arrived in Pristina after the museums were closed.

The interesting architecture of the National Library completed in 1982

A never finished Orthodox church

Milosevic started to build the above Orthodox church before he was stopped by the NATO bombings.  Now it is known as the never finished Orthodox church.

The fence in front of one of the Kosovo government buildings has become a photo gallery for the almost 2,000 people missing (disappeared) since the war in Kosovo.  Eerily, some of the images are fading and disappearing.

We walked through a small park with archaeological artifacts possibly from the Roman era. The eroded carvings on the tombstones reminded me of the modern era "photographs of the disappeared."

The building that is supposed to contain archaeological artifacts, is empty. Inside there is a sign informing visitors that in 1999 Serbia borrowed the artifacts and only one piece has been returned.

With the museums closed, there wasn't much to see in Pristina. They have some Ottoman-era mosques, but most were closed for renovations.

 

Sultan Mehmet Fatih Mosque (1461)

We walked the Mother Theresa Pedestrian Street and had dinner with Cassidy's friend, Andy, another Fulbrighter.  Kosovo has embraced Americana. There are "American Hot Dog" stands, "Tom and Jerry" ice cream stands. American flag designs are everywhere as is spoken and written English.

Before leaving, we visited Bill Clinton Street.  There is a statue of Bill on one of the corners.  The first thing I noticed is that the statue is not proportionally correct.  Bill has the body of a child with a large head and hand. Artistic license or an inept artist? Bill is holding a book with the date "24 March 1999" engraved on the cover.  That is the date that NATO (US backed) began bombing Serbia and Serbian held Kosovo.  Ironically, and perhaps intentionally, there is a dress shop named "Hillary" just around the corner from where Bill stands.

It took about 90 minutes to get back to Skopje.  At the Kosovo-Macedonia border, my passport was stamped leaving Kosovo and entering Macedonia.  Now I can re-register with the Macedonian police and restart my time in country, hoping no one will notice that the total is more than 90 days.

2012 Mass Quadrille Dance Parade: May 18, 2012

How do I find out what's going on in Skopje?  I hear the noise or I just get lucky.  This morning I heard the noise and saw a huge line of high schoolers wearing either red or black T-shirts heading up the pedestrian street toward Macedonia Square.  I followed.  

It took a while to figure out the reason for this mob of teenagers, but eventually, on stage, a Radio Slovenia broadcast was turned on.  This is a Dance Parade for a new world record for simultaneous dancing.  This year, the Dance Parade is happening simultaneously in 58 cities in Slovenia, its Balkan neighbors, and in the Ukraine.  It happens every year with more participating cities and countries.  The participants are graduating high schoolers.   At 12 noon, the Dance Parade officially began with a  mass quadrille.

A salsa ended the Dance Parade

These newly graduated high school students came from cities all over Macedonia for this event.  The mass quadrille event has already broken at least six Guinness world records for synchronous dance since its inception.  This year?  Yes, another world record.  It's certainly more fun than the world's highest flag pole.

Travelogue Starata Čaršila: May 14, 2012

Yesterday we had a lunch date with  friends, Dean and Kristina, who currently live in Kosovo. Dan and Dean worked together in Tbilisi for the ABA.  It was nice to catch up and hear about their adventures in Pristina, Kosovo.

Today, Sunday, Dan and I had no dates so we explored a little farther into the Old Turkish Bazaar (starata čaršila) part of town.  In this part of town the architecture is a mishmash of pre-Columbian Islamic structures and post-1963 earthquake modern. The above photo is of the rooftops of the bazaar (Bit Pazar).   Because it was Sunday "no-work day", there weren't many people out and most of the shops were closed.

Minaret of Murat Pasha Mosque

 Murat Pasha Mosque in its modern form (hidden behind the shops) was built in 1802.

Dome of Čifte Amam National Art Gallery

Čifte Amam is a former Turkish bathhouse built in the first part of the 16th century.  It was badly damaged in the 1963 earthquake. Now restored, it is part of the National Gallery of Macedonia. The next photo is of Daud Pasha Amam Gallery located near the Stone Bridge. It was built by the Turks in the 15th century as a bathhouse. Then, there was a side for women and a side for men; now it houses changing exhibits of modern art.

Daud Pasha Amam Gallery

Pela Antique Shop

Obsolete? Not yet!

Arasta Mosque

Farther still, we found a wonderful market of flowers, trees, and vegetable seedlings.  Despite the changing weather, this is where the shoppers were.

Nearby, we visited several old mosques.

ISHAK BEY MOSQUE (Aladja Mosque)

The Ishak Bey Mosque was originally built in 1438-39.  Restored in 1519 and again after the damage it suffered in the 1963 earthquake.  Alajia means decorated, and it must have been stunning in the 15th century.  Next to the mosque is the beautiful, original tomb (Turbe) that retains it original shape and blue-colored ceramic tile decoration.

This tombstone is decorated with the ancient symbol for the sun.  We've seen this same decoration in Georgia and Iran.

Saat Kula

The Saat Kula is the last remnants of the old city wall built in the mid-16th century.  The top half of the clock tower was originally wood and it held a clock procured from Hungary.  In the early 20th century, the wood portion was changed to stone/brick and the clock was also changed.  Its style of architecture looks so clunky and strange next to the graceful, pencil-shaped Turkish minarets.  The minaret behind is part of the Hjunkar Mosque (Sultan Murat Mosque) built in 1442.  It is on a hill and the gates were locked so we were not able to get closer to the mosque.

Gazi Issa Bey Mosque

Gazi Issa Bey Mosque built in 1475/6 by Issa Bey (who else), and it was restored after the 1963 earthquake.  The grounds of the mosque have beautifully manicured rose gardens.  The lovely plane tree was planted when the mosque was built--536 years ago.  When built, this mosque housed the first library in Skopje.

The above photo is a view of the bazaar with the Mustafa Pasha Mosque in the distance.  The Mustafa Pasha Mosque was built in 1492--the year Columbus was credited with discovering the New World.

It began to rain just as we reached our apartment, and the shorts we were wearing didn't seem as weather appropriate.