Week In Review Sabbatical Style: T-4 Weeks

I just sat down on my bed in the hostel and realized just how tired I was. I don't think I'll be getting up anytime soon. Since I'm just going to be sitting here, how about a week in review?

• The WIR should be pretty easy this week. Why, you ask? Because I was at Lake Ohrid ALL week. It started with me deciding on 3 nights instead of 2. Then I added 2 more days to my stay. Then...I moved to a tiny village on the other side of the lake for 2 nights. Then I extended my stay, yet again. I liked it that much. 
• You know what is strange about a lake? It's quiet. It's like the ocean...but quiet. 
• OK, but I'm not at Ohrid anymore! Today I mustered up the strength to get myself to Albania (po, po!). 
• Even though Lake Ohrid is shared by both Macedonia and Albania it took me a whopping 7 and a half hours to get here. That included a prearranged ride to the next village, a packed bus, a walk to the monastery, a walk from the monastery through the border, a furgon (shared minibus) to Pogradec, another furgon to Tirana, a city bus and a 45 minute walk. Whew. 
• I was worried about the walk from the monastery to the border as you had to catch a shortcut through a military camp site...which I read doesn't always allow you to cross. I also read that taxi or walking was the only way to get from the border to Pogradec...and that sometimes there are no taxis...meaning an hour walk with bags. Surprisingly everything went off without a hitch.
• Albanians have to be the most hospitable people to tourists. While waiting at the border an Albanian woman told me which window to go to and then took over. She took me to the furgon I needed for Pogradec, sat down and told me to sit next to her. When we got to Pogradec she literally took me by the hand, walked me to the bus stop and got me on the right bus to Tirana. There's absolutely no way I would have found the bus by myself, so she was definitely a Godsend. 
• I love Tirana! I've heard a lot of negative things about it from other backpackers, but so far, I'm a fan!
• (I think I a contributing factor to my like of Tirana might be because I like things that are slightly tacky...!)
• The food at my hotel in the village in Macedonia was AMAZING. All of it was homemade--from the wine and rakija to the bread and cheese!
• Macedonia was good for the budget. Albania looks like it's going to be the same way. I think I'm going to have sticker shock when (if?) I get out of the Balkans. 
• Wait! Did I say that I made the trip to Albania today without a hitch? That was a lie. After visiting the monastery (today was a huge feast day so everyone was there celebrating...I saw several lambs being carried around. I hope their fate wasn't what I think it was...), anyway, I wanted to have a cup of coffee to a) use up my last bits of Macedonian currency and b) give myself a caffeine jolt for the journey. I sat down at the cafe, ordered a coffee and when it came asked for a glass of water (coffee usually comes with a glass of tap water here). He asked if I wanted still or sparkling and I made the sign for turning on the faucet to indicate I just wanted tap water. Except apparently the sign I made for turning on the tap was closer to twisting off a bottle cap, because he brought me out a fancy bottle and poured it in the glass. Whatever, it didn't cost much, so I wouldn't care...except the bill came and I was 20 cents short! Oh man. So embarrassing. I was wondering how many dishes I would have to wash to work off 20 cents. In the end he let me pay in euros, and (maybe) thought it was as funny (pathetic) as I did. 
• Finding contact solution ended up being an ordeal this evening. Apparently its not sold at a pharmacy (which is normal in Europe) or in grocery stores (which is normal in America) but rather in "sunglass shops." OK...except when I asked in sunglass shops they looked at me like I was crazy. I finally found a regular glasses shop who had it though. 
• Most things are cheap here, but that tiny bottle of solution? 10 bucks. 
• I'll be home in officially less than a month!

OK...I'm out of interesting things to say. And I'm about to fall asleep so no pictures, and I'm not even gonna reread this to make sure it makes sense. So if it doesn't, you know why. Because I'm lazy. 

Lake Ohrid

In the Week In Review I mentioned that I wasn't a huge fan of Skopje, Macedonia. Ohrid, though? Different story.

Lake Ohrid is going onto my list of happy places. I was just going to stay a couple of nights then settled on 3. Then I added two more. I've now been here a week. Honestly, I could stay longer, too.

There are tons of churches to visit and fortresses to climb, but the real draw of Ohrid for me was just drinking coffee while taking in the views and lounging in the water.

One of the beautiful frescoed churches (of which there were at one time 365). The frescos were interesting both artistically and theologically--including the Trinity portrayed as a three headed woman and a vegetarian last supper scene. 

I just so happened to be there during the regional folk dance festival. Attempts to take photos largely failed, but it was so much fun to watch!

This picture was taken from a cafe perched right on the edge of the water. Not a bad view for the price of a $1 latte.  

Ancient theatre

These flowers seem impossible. I saw some on the Camino and they seemed just as incredible this time around. 

View from the fortress

This tiny chapel was tucked right into the cliff. The caretaker inside insisted that I dip myself some of the holy water from the little cave in the back. 

The choices she gave me were to either drink it or to wash my face with it. I chose to dab it on my face (and gave the rest of it to the hydrangeas...which must be really holy)

Sveti Sofja--supposedly modeled ater Haggia Sofia in Istanbul although I couldn't see the correlation. It had some great frescos nonetheless. 

There was an old fashioned paper making shop in town. We stopped in and they let us make our own paper (I always loved this kind of stuff) and then showed us their printing press--its an exact replica of the original Gutenberg press (of which there are apparently only 2 of in all of Europe). I ended up buying my very first souvenir of my entire trip here. 

The view from my room in Ohrid at dusk

The view a ways up in the village of Elshani where I am currently residing. It's almost 3,000 feet above sea level and has a million dollar view of the lake (yeah, my pictures can't do it justice!). 

Lovely all around. Tomorrow I'm headed away from the lake and making my way to Albania. I'm excited about being there, but something tells me the getting there (even though I am almost at the border right now) is going to be a very interesting ordeal. We will see!

Week In Review Sabbatical Style: T-5 Weeks

I've got to think of a better way to title these...counting down the weeks like this is both startling and depressing...


I've been wifi-less for a few days but I thought I would throw out a quick review of the week! It's definitely been a good one.

• Countries visited this week: Serbia, Kosovo and (currently) Macedonia. Tomorrow I'll head to Albania. Or...maybe I'll stay here for a while longer...
• I feel like I have some kind of street cred for having been to Kosovo. But really, it's a front--it was perfectly safe there. 
• Southern Serbia is nothing like the north. The bus station at Novi Pazar was a little sketchy. I got out of there quick--took a taxi straight to the Sopocani monastery I was going to stay the night near. The monastery was beautiful and covered in frescos that were hundreds of years old. My hotel, though? I shudder thinking back on it. Thankfully I still had my sleeping sack from the Camino and employed a do-not-make-any-contact-with-any-part-of-this-place policy. 
• I lucked out the next morning and caught a ride back with a guy from Novi Sad who was down in the south visiting the monasteries (I was worried about finding a cab out there in the middle of nowhere). He let me share his cab back to Novi Pazar, went out of their way to get me to the bus station and then refused to let me pay. 
• Most awkward moment of the week? I was sitting under a tree at the monastery when an ant/spider-like creature fell on me. I brushed it off my neck and unfortunately it fell...into my bra. What do you do when you are at a monastery with monks all around, no bathroom or place to hide, and you have a biting ant down your shirt?! I swear. These things only happen to me. 
• I have not succeeded in escape the smoking. (In fact, at the moment, grandpa next to me at the cafe is blowing it straight into my FACE.)
• Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, was nice enough, but it was a furnace. It was in the upper 90s. (And, yes yes, I know it's been in the 100s for weeks now in Texas, but you're not walking around in it all day carrying a backpack with all of your belongings or trying to sleep without AC.)
• Of course the day I left it cooled off. I got to Lake Ohrid, which is higher up, and it was properly cold. It's been sunny during the day, but the nights are chilly. Last night were were sitting around at a cafe and I saw the temp on a sign near by--50 degrees! No wonder my teeth were chattering!
• I met a fun and eclectic group of people at my hostel in Skopje, then, ended up bumping in to all of them again here in Ohrid.  
• I skyped in to a conference back home this week. Granted it was 11pm when I was trying to listen in, but I think it might be official--my brain has turned to mush. 
• Before I left Belgrade I took a day trip to Topola. There's not a whole lot there besides an old church up in a bit of forest outside of town. It was stunning! The Church of St. George was covered in mosaics--40,000,000 pieces worth! In 15,000 colors! 
• Spending the day hiking it up to the monastery through the thick trees gave me a happy flashback to the Camino. (And also an allergy headache.)
• Skopje = one giant construction zone. They are building huge statues, monuments and buildings everywhere. 
• My guide book says that street names are a relatively new thing in Skopje...which might help explain why I got lost who knows how many times (it also didn't help that the 3 maps I had all showed things in completely different places...)
• My favorite thing in Skopje was the Mother Teresa memorial center/museum. She was born in Skopje and the museum was actually really moving and inspiring. The building is built on the site of the old Catholic church in town where she attended and felt called to be a missionary, which I thought was pretty special. 
• Ohrid is really, really beautiful. 
• I'm afraid that I am starting to look like a hippy...I think it's time for a haircut. 
• Cuban food, no matter how enticing it seems, is not a good idea when you are in far away Macedonia. 
• They seem to be a fan of American R&B and hip hop here in Macedonia. I was getting tired of the random 80's mix that seems to be popular elsewhere, so I suppose its a nice change. Although I wasn't too excited to be woken up to someone blaring old school Usher this morning. 
• Similar to that one time in Panama, I got lucky and happened on to a region-wide folk dance festival this week. It was fantastic! 

Hiking up to the church in Topola

Church of St. George

All made of mosaic tiles (made from Murano glass)

From the top of the hill you could see vineyards 

Sopocani Monastery

In Prishtina, Kosovo

My "Cuban" sandwich (cheese, slice of ham, tomatoes and cucumbers...) and rice and beans which I'm pretty sure came premixed from a can

Old bridge in Skopje 

Sunset along the river/construction zone

Mother Teresa statue

I had read that her feet where messed up because she always took the worst pair of shoes so that no one else would have to have them 

Her sari

Lake Ohrid from the window in my room

 

Another look at the lake

OK, that's it for now--more on Ohrid later!