Ohrid Art Walk.

Shortly after beginning our walking tour of old town, we discovered this school

hosting these works of art.

, 

So sad yet so amusing.

Ohrid, Old Town Walk.

Because the sun continued to shine, we were able to experience the Lonely Planet walking tour to see the major sites of Ohrid's Old Town. 

 Starting at the Upper Gate, we climbed down a small hill to see the 2,000-plus-year-old classical amphitheater.  Originally built for theater, the Romans turned it into a gladiator ring {dislike!}, but it is now back to hosting non-death-resulting summer performances.


{Sorry the photo doesn't exactly capture the amphitheater; I'm just really a lover of mountains.}

From the theater, we headed over to Sveta Bogorodica Perivlepta.  Built in 1295 and ranking among the most outstanding achievements of mediaeval architecture, the church is home to an icon gallery {that we didn't make it in time to see} and some majorly gorgeous frescos.



It also offered a view of the Ohrid Fortress of Tzar Samuel {or Car Samoil's Castle}.
Once serving as a function of defense against enemies and as an inhabited area, it now just acts as an item of magnificent beauty.



Continuing our walk, we strolled through the cobblestoned old town until we arrived at the fortress.

  

 From the top of the castle walls, the lake shines like a blue jewel, like a piece of the sky. And the whole city of Ohrid is visible.







Climbing the narrow stone steps down from the top of the walls, we realized we were actually locked-in to the fortress.

Don't worry! After a completely unnecessary panic, we escaped/the workers unlocked the gate for us, and we continued our stroll down a wooded path to Saint Clement's Church of Saint Panteleimon,  a church sitting on a cliff looking over Lake Ohrid. Beautiful inside and out.

Because of the sun and rain combo, a bright, full rainbow dramatically and beautifully cut across the sky bridging city and water -- a perfect escort for our trip back down.

Following the rainbow, we continued downward to the 11th century, Sveta Sofija Cathedral, said by Lonely Planet to be modelled after Constantinople's St. Sophia.  The church offers views of more frescos, Ottoman-era architecture, and old ruins, but also provides some amazing acoustics making it a great place for a concert.

 

And it was here, across from a beautiful cathedral underneath a rainbow that Susan and I decided it was time for a cold beer on a patio to celebrate {my} life.    

And yes, we ordered some fried cheese as well.

Jealous?

Bay of Bones and Museum on the Water.

On the way back to the city of Ohrid from Sveti Naum Monastery, our taxi driver stopped at a second tourist attraction -- a palafitte -- which Susan and I would soon find out is a settlement built on stilted platforms or pile dwellings typically over water. 

 Sitting in the Bay of Bones, this palafitte is a reconstruction of an actual settlement that sat in this very spot 3,000 years ago.



 Even the interior of the little houses have been reconstructed with authentic detail.

   

Really, this was a stop for the view; the museum {fittingly called "Museum on the Water"} offered us little but shelter from the rain, an up close look at a few ancient artifacts from the found on site, and an extremely ESL subtitled video on underwater diving in Lake Ohrid.

As we stood laughing at the video, the sun emerged {yes!} allowing us to walk around the village, admire the aquamarine shades of the lake, and climb up to the fortress which provides an elevated and stunning view of the area.

   

Thanks for sending the sunshine, rainy day; please, please keep it up!

Sveti Naum Monastery.

The Sveti Naum Monastery sits on a hill alongside the National Park Galicica and looks out over the deep blue Lake Ohrid and Prespa Lake. 

From the Monastery location, you can see Albania which borders the south side of the beautiful lake. 

 

An absolute beauty, the Monastery was built by and later named for Sveti Naum who was most known for his work with the mentally ill and for this one time when he helped out a farmer whose horse had been attacked by a bear while plowing. Apparently, Sveti Naum's response was to hook the bear up to the plow therefore saving the farmer's crop. 

The Fresco below "Harnessing the Bear" depicts said scene. 

 {The bear kind of looks like a goat.}

It's My Birthday!

On my 31st, I woke up to pouring rain and our inn keeper knocking on our door hosting a smile and a candle topped cupcake.

{Best customer service ever?}

Susan continued the shower of birthday love with some presents all the way from America including a twenty dollar bill from my parents and some "chill pills" from my BFF, Emily Broyles.

While enjoying my presents and eating breakfast in bed – the cupcake and a chocolate covered Fiber One bar – my sister and I realized that my birthday date this year – when written European style {31/3/13} – is a palindrome.

Put your seat belts on because clearly my birthday is going to be a wild ride.

;)

Wine Fest

After unpacking and sharing some homemade rakii with some locals and some other travelers, we headed over to Wine Fest which was happening at the main square, a short walk from Hostel Hostel.

Wine Fest was amazing for several reasons. Here are some of them:

* There was A LOT of wine.

*We got to drink wine underneath The Warrior, Alexander the Great.

*It was packed, and like Kosovo, everyone was extremely nice, young, and welcoming.

*There was beautiful traditional music played throughout the night.

* Our 2 euro tickets included a souvenir wine glass and discounted wine prices at all the booths. {For the record, somehow, I managed to get that wine glass all the way back to Prishtina in one piece.}

* We ran into an expat we know from Prishtina. He's originally from Michigan (hence my instant friendship with him), and we play pub quiz against him on Thursdays ... and now, sometime, we run into him in other countries. For one very quick second, I felt like a really big deal in eastern Europe.

We definitely want to get some more Skopje QT soon!

But now, on to Venice!

Skopje, Macedonia

So, about 3 hours after boarding our bus in Prishtina, we arrived in Skopje.

Birthplace of Mother Theresa.

First country I have vacationed to since moving to Europe.

Host of T-mobile, McDonalds, Burger King, Holiday Inn, and a really big mall.

Home to Hostel Hostel which was our accommodation for the evening. I am not much of a hostel fan -- been there, done that -- but when I began living on 1000 euro a month, hostels became surprisingly inviting. And Hostel Hostel is one of the best that I have stayed in. For 8 euros a night, guest get amazing hospitality, good company, free wifi, and computers in case you need to borrow one, decent bedding and beds, multiple {and clean} showers and bathrooms, coffee and tea all night long, beer/wine/rakii for purchase, 24 hour security, and free dinner and breakfast. Extra bonus: the girl working knew we had to catch a plane in the morning, so she had our breakfast to-go style and had a cab waiting for us. {Our cab cost us 20 euro -- we hear it can cost as little as 15 euro, so make sure to price check before committing to your driver.}

Random information: You can use euros in Skopje, but you usually need to have exact change. The official currency is denars.