European Vacation Part I: More of Macedonia

Let me just say this outright at the start — our trip to Macedonia wouldn't have been possible without the help and coordination of our daughter, Rene. She planned all of our activities, from the restaurants and sites visited to the folks who would guide us when she wasn't available. Not only did she do most of the talking for us — after all, we can't speak a lick of Macedonian — but she corrected us on some very important cultural nuances as well. She was absolutely stunning as a tour guide, trip coordinator, and translator. If not for the career path she's already chosen, I would suggest she get into the travel coordinator business!

But, on with our Macedonian adventure. After the night at the Irish Pub, I was pretty worn out. We took a leisurely drive through Skopje to meet the folks at the Peace Corp headquarters, picked up one of Rene's PCV coworkers, and struck out for the southwestern part of the country. We were headed for Lake Ohrid, home of some of Macedonia's most beautiful scenery and resorts.

Our PCV guest was great company, and told us a little about his work in the town of Struga, his exploits around the lake, and his home in Texas. I was beginning to learn that the young people who go to work in the Peace Corp truly are the créme de la créme of our American exports — this nice young man was no exception. Every one of Rene's friends was generous, smart, respectful and witty. I loved hearing how they had adapted to their temporary homes. Though they seemed a bit starved for the attentions of fellow Americans, they also seemed well adjusted to their new surroundings, and had definite plans and goals. Steve and I were continuously impressed by this new generation of leaders. Make no mistake, I fully expect that these youngun's will be doing much more remarkable work in the years to come, no matter where they end up.


Upon reaching Lake Ohrid and dropping our friend near his home in the lakeside town of Struga, we checked in at our new hotel, Villa Sv. Jovan in Ohrid. This lovely, tudor-style hotel is a renovated building in the heart of the old town center, decorated in the traditional manner of wealthy old Macedonian lake homes. The rooms were well equipped, their was a lovely dining room downstairs and we even had a bathroom to ourselves! Rene even got a little "mother-in-law's" room of her own. The generous proprietors were Jovan and Lidia from Kumanovo. Jovan himself, who immediately became a close friend, escorted us to the restaurant on the water's edge and suggested we try the town's favorite dish: lake trout.

And we did! It was a lovely dinner, with fresh salads, local Macedonian wine and the promised fresh-caught trout. Another one of Rene's friends from Struga joined us, and upon finding out that we were having the trout, mentioned that perhaps we might not want to order it again the next day. Why? Apparently, this species is considered endangered in Macedonia! Well, no wonder the price was nearly that of an American entré. We'll never know for sure, though, as later we were told by another helpful native guide that this might not have been the trout species we were told it was. Or, perhaps the same species, but caught on the Albanian part of the lake, where evidently there's no such endangered designation for this treasure. Oh, how complicated things can get in these small countries!!?
The next day, we learned firsthand why Rene had told us to be ready to be flexible. After a short coffee break with more of her PCV friends, she announced that because of storms and the resulting "slight chop" on the lake, we'd be skipping the boat tour she had planned. Instead, she took us on a walking tour of the town of Ohrid. It was actually great fun visiting the fortress on top of the hill, a few more old Orthodox churches, an archeological ruin, and shopping the tourist stores. We ran into the most interesting "experts" along the way.

Lake Ohrid has been a sort of spiritual center for a very long time. I read somewhere that it was sometimes known as the Slavic Jeruselum. This is a well deserved name: there are at least 365 spiritual sites or churches situated around the lake. One sharp lady, whom Rene had met on a previous trip, had written a book about the history of the Macedonian Orthodox churches at Ohrid. She was a Ph.D, and took us on a wonderful tour of one of the newly preserved churches, explaining the allegorical histories and stories in the frescoes, and how the different regimes over time had squelched, but never taken away, the soul of the people and their religious beliefs. She was at once professorial and eccentric, spiritual and earthly, and yet her narrative was extremely interesting. I don't think I've ever had a tour of a church like that one.

We ran into another man, (who later became known as "crazy freethinking guy"), who offered to explain a little about the ruins at the base of the hill. His theories were quite a bit "looser" than those of the Ph.D., and we soon wondered what we'd gotten ourselves into. At the end of his short "tour" we gave him a small donation, as he answered a call on his smart phone, and gave me his website address! My only regret is that out of respect, I didn't take a picture of him. He was the most interesting looking character study I've seen in a long time — a real Ichabod Crane type, with the hunched over, monk-like look that would be at home in the peasant folk paintings of the 19th century. I kept wanting to ask him if he was really a character actor, pretending to be a crazy scholar! I'll soon forget exactly what he taught us, but I'll never forget his appearance.

The day was a mix of sun and storm, made even more nuts by the fact that every time we walked out of a building it started to rain; while we were indoors the sun would come out. Didn't matter though, we had some potent home-made hooch to keep us warm! No one could resist giving us a bottle of their personal favorite. I think we were given three liters of the stuff until we finally said, "no more!"

Ohrid is famous not only for endangered trout and free-thinkers, but for a type of freshwater pearl made from the lake. These pearls are not made by oysters, but rather from the scales of a local fish called the Plasica. It's a bit of a mystery to me how the scales become pearls, but there were many jewelry stores selling creatively set and designed pieces made from them. Here's a site with more about the Ohrid pearl. I know Rene's planning to go back to get herself a little booty from the lake.

Our next day was another day of travel, but since the country is small and there is lots to see, Rene had arranged a private tour guide to drive us to our next destination in his car, with historical oratory along the way. Now, really, who could afford this anywhere else in the world? But in Macedonia it was a very reasonable way to go from point A to point B, and I can say that by the end of the day our guide Daniel had become yet another close friend of ours. He even knew "crazy free-thinking guy!"

Daniel first took us to a historical/archeological site known as the "Bay of Bones," a prehistoric pile dwelling settlement on the lake. Apparently, prehistoric Macedonians found that building over the lake made it easier to defend themselves against the bad guys: namely big prehistoric bears! These folks lived in the Bronze and Iron Ages — 1200 BC to 700 BC, so bear repellent probably hadn't been discovered yet. As expected, Steve's pulse quickened when he saw clay pottery in the museum, but I was glad to see it wasn't for sale.

Daniel then took us to a small river that fed into the lake. This river had unique geological features that he was able to point out with considerable scientific knowledge, such as bubbling spring-fed sands, and quicksand. After a boat ride, and lunch at the riverside restaurant, we headed over the top of Mt. Pelister to Lake Prespa and beyond, ending at the small town of Demir Kapija.
Daniel gave us a running historical and geographical commentary along the way which kept things interesting. We found ourselves commenting at how well the roads were holding up at one point, only to hear that the roads built by Tito's political prisoners (aka: volunteers!?) were the best! Certainly, you won't get that kind of in-depth background info from your iPhone touring app.

After a stop at the resort town of Bitola, we headed on to Demir Kapija, our final destination in Macedonia. This small town is home of the famous Popova Kula Winery. We were very pleasantly surprised to see this beautiful Napa Valley style winery out in the countryside. The setting is gorgeous; set near the top of a low rise of hills, vineyards all around, a view of a small river and the startling vista of the "Iron Gate," or Demir Kapija in the near distance. The story of how this winery got it's start is no less dramatic than the scenery around it. It has even been reported in a great background story on CNN, in much better terms than I can say here.

Rene had made reservations in the finest of the winery's hotel rooms, and arranged for the perfect-sized group wine tasting experience in the Priest's Tower at the top. She invited three of her friends to join us so that we had the entire room to ourselves: an invitation to act slap-happy if I ever saw one.

One of these intrepid tasters actually has taken on the daunting role of English tutor to the employees and staff of the winery — daunting I tell ya! Imagine hanging out all day in a beautiful priest's tower, teaching a difficult language to poor unsuspecting students while having to occasionally partake a sip or two of the latest crush — just to be polite of course. Oh the horror. This is just my personal observation, but service in the Peace Corp isn't for the faint of heart!

Our sommelier is knowledgeable and patient with us!
 
The winery is in full production, with the latest equipment and quality wines produced from 11 varieties of grapes.

 

Though the evening started out on a sophisticated and upscale note, after 5 bottles things had gotten decidedly low-brow! 

With the help of Rene's friends I learned some interesting new dance moves, which they call "noodle-arms." (Not to be confused with "catfisting," a form of noodling that results in a 20 lb. catfish attached to the end of your arm.)

My takeaway from this trip to Macedonia is that the country is young. This is not to say that it's history isn't absolutely ancient! But as a country with it's own identity, it is just beginning to find it's voice. The people we met have found a very strong sense of nationalistic pride, and they are happy to share it with great pleasure and assurance. From having the red-ist poppies and best little apples in all of Europe, to being the only place in the world where you can get a certain variety of wine, and having the most churches in one small setting, this love of all things Macedonian is present everywhere. Even though they are experiencing some hiccups with their startup as a country, I am hopeful that this great pride can be channeled in positive directions. I believe this is one of the reasons that Rene's organization is there, and she is learning so much more than she's aware. Her experiences will stay with her for the rest of her life, and she will be richer for it.

Next post: We leave Macedonia for Northern Greece. Green hills, olive trees, great gyros, Ouzo, octopus salad and monasteries everywhere — on mountaintops, on cliff faces, and precariously perched on massive towers of stone. Mamma mia!

European Vacation Part I: Macedonia

My husband and I don't travel a lot, but that's for situational reasons and not because we don't like to. On the contrary, we love going to new places, exploring regions we've never been to, meeting new people, and discovering out-of-the-way spots.

So, by way of catch-up on this blog, I promised to post photos from our recent big trip to Europe and the Balkan country of Macedonia. Why Macedonia? Where is Macedonia? Easy: it's a southern-most former republic of Yugoslavia, now it's own country with it's own struggles and aspirations of joining the EU. Our daughter is there with the Peace Corp, and we promised we would visit her when she joined up. So, consider "promise kept." But, also, our hearts and minds may have been expanded just a bit (ala the Grinch at Christmastime), by the wonderful hospitality of the people we met along the way.


This first post, then, will be about Macedonia, though in reality this was the third country we explored on our trip.

Rene met us at the Skopje airport. We were so excited to see her after more than a year of absence that we could barely contain ourselves! Luckily for us, she speaks the language really well by now, and found our errant rental car agent for us. The airport was shutting down for the evening, and he had gone back to town!

Driving to Kumanovo, the town Rene works and lives in, wasn't far or difficult, as long as we had Rene with us to read the signs. That night we had our first experience with the local food: she took us to a small traditional restaurant called "Cobra." The menu offered a favorite of the locals and the Peace Corps Volunteers--they called it the "meat snake," not really a snake at all but lots of thinly sliced meat wrapped and grilled around a cheesy filling that resembles a long log or "snake." We had the chicken, along with a large shopska salad of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and lots and lots of grated sheep cheese on top. I quickly fell in love with that salad! The feta cheese was so light it melted in your mouth!!


Next day, Rene had an opportunity to introduce us to her coworkers in the nonprofit organization she is working with--a lovely bunch of very dedicated and passionate young people who really seem to care about the goals they are working toward. I'm posting a link to their website here so that you can read for yourself why Rene chose to work with them. http://www.cid.mk/ Steve and I came away from meeting these energetic young ladies with a better understanding of just why she wanted to help them: they seem to feel genuinely responsible for helping to move their country onto a progressive, global stage--one youth at a time. We were very impressed!

Our next order of business in-country, was to get registered at the police station. We're so glad one of Rene's friends had lead the way on this one. He learned the hard way that you must employ the appropriate introductions to Macedonian bureaucracy. Rene introduced us to the police, helped fill out the paperwork, and we were given our official visitors' papers so we could stay a spell. I'm sure that in time this will be streamlined into a simplified border-crossing event. In the meantime, they don't post this info anywhere at the airport, so it's easy to miss it. Heed this warning travelers: Just getting your passport stamped on entry into the country isn't good enough! Visit the Police, they will be happy to accommodate.

The following day in Macedonia was time to meet the host parents. Rene directed us to Sveti Nikole, a small town to the south of Kumanovo, and home of Toshe and Bilijana. These folks provided the "home-away-from-home" that was so valuable to Rene as she was getting used to living in a new culture and country.

We were welcomed with open arms, generous gifts and a great home cooked banquet for lunch, full of traditional dishes and local produce. Toshe's parents joined us and we had the most amazing time sharing stories about Rene and finding out more about the people and town where Rene lived and learned for three months before formally starting her 24-month gig with the Peace Corp.

After lunch, Toshe and Bilijana took us on a short drive to the countryside, where we parked at an archeological dig site -- I've since learned that it's called Bylazora, and part of an acropolis on the hill. We climbed the hill for a perfect view of herds of sheep, wandering cows, farmland and the town below.

Toshe loved showing us the local plants and herbs, some of which he brings home to make teas. He knows the medicinal uses for many, like the chamomile, the wild plums, rosehips and thistles.

Then, Toshe took us to the first of the many Macedonian Orthodox churches we would visit on this trip. He explained many of the church customs and and showed us the old church preserved below the new one. Sveti Nikole means Saint Nicholas, so this is whom the town is named for, much like the patron saints of the Catholic towns of western Europe. Many of these sites were destroyed or neglected before the break up of the Yugoslav republics, so it is with great pride that they can show us churches that either still maintain their old iconographic art and frescoes or are in various stages of restoration.


After our wonderful day in Sveti Nikole, it was hard to leave, but we had big plans in Skopje for the next day. Saying goodbye was not easy; we had to promise that Rene would be back to visit many, many times before she finally leaves the Peace Corp. Their hospitality was unbelievably generous! We found this to be true everywhere we visited in Macedonia, but Bilijana and Toshe really seemed to care a lot about Rene. I realized that she had been in very protective hands all the while that I had been worried about her well-being so far from home. They took very good care of her -- like a beloved Aunt and Uncle in a far away place, I know she'll always hold them close in her heart and memories.

Our next day was packed even more with great friends and amazing places! We toured the capitol city of Skopje with Rene's host-brother Ane, who is attending school there. We were joined by Marija, Rene's language teacher and friend. Both friends were very knowledgeable about the town's sites and points of interest and made great tour guides.

Ane showed an artistic flair for photography, so I handed him my camera and let him do the shooting in the old Turkish Bazaar area downtown. We visited the national museum, with many items that dated back to 5,000 BC. As a lover of Native American pottery and ceramics, Steve was duly impressed that some of these clay pots could be that old! We look at museum pieces here that date back to 1200 AD and think they're old, but that's nothing compared to the antiquities in this museum. 

After Ane went back to class in the afternoon, we dropped by the Peace Corp office to meet some more friends, then headed out to a beautifully scenic spot very near town, Matka Canyon. We took a boat tour on the lake of Matka Canyon and picked up a little local history with our guide/oarsman. This area is close to town, yet so beautiful with a restaurant and chapel right on the lake. The exceptional geologic beauty was doubly enhanced with a glass of wine from local wineries, lakeside!

Our Skopje tour ended that night with dinner at one of the nicest, and most traditional, restaurants in town: Makedonska Kuka. Ane joined us again, and we had a delicious meal chosen for us by our waiter.

Oh, but the day wasn't over yet! Back in Kumanovo, Rene took us to the Irish Pub, where her fellow PC volunteer and friend Paul was headliner for the night. We were out way past our bedtimes, singing along to our favorite pop-rock tunes long into the night with Paul, Rene, and friends Anna and Jessica.
With our dry throats whetted by a free round or two from the Pub owner, we slept like the dead 'til the next mornin'.

Next post: Our Macedonian tour continues, with a drive to a lake resort, endangered species, fortresses, ruins, flowers and a Bay of Bones!