Sami insists on driving us to Ohrid on the day we choose to go. He orientates us to the town, gives us some tips on what to see, then drops us at Samuel's Fortress while he waits an hour for us to finish. Then he drops us downtown and we're off to explore on our own.
In the 10th. century Ohrid was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire when this fortress was built upon the ruin of an earlier fortification that dates back to the 4th. century.
This fortress is fascinating. Much of the ruins have been reconstructed so you can get a real sense of its size and function. The old village on the top of the hill is completely walled and within the walled village is the fortress which is walled in itself and protected the king of the time. A wall within a wall. And of course, the views from the top of the walls are spectacular.
The old village remains vibrant and well-kept, flowers bloom off every balcony and deck. Only people who live or have businesses here are allowed to drive on these narrow cobbled streets.
In the centre of the old village is an ancient amphitheatre. It has a stage and lights so it clearly plays an important role in the community today. There is also an archaeological site, now covered by a building.
In the centre of the old village is an ancient amphitheatre. It has a stage and lights so it clearly plays an important role in the community today. There is also an archaeological site, now covered by a building.
There are many lovely churches in Ohrid. We see most of them from the outside as we are a bit 'churched-out', but this blog post does a good job of describing each: David' Been Here
Leaving the old village and the fortress we head down to the lake. Ohrid is a major vacation destination and frankly, the crowds are rather overwhelming. It must be very beautiful in the off-season.
The waterfront area is especially attractive with green spaces and flowers and landscape architecture.
We have lunch and observe that prices here are about 3x greater than where we are staying in Struga.
We choose to take the combi between Struga and Ohrid. It runs about every 20 minutes and costs 50 denar ($1.50 CAD) each. If you are in a hurry there are guys with private cars looking to make a dollar who cruise the bus stops and will take you for the same price as the bus.
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| St. Clement Church on Plaosnik Hill, built 13th. century |
The waterfront area is especially attractive with green spaces and flowers and landscape architecture.
We have lunch and observe that prices here are about 3x greater than where we are staying in Struga.
We choose to take the combi between Struga and Ohrid. It runs about every 20 minutes and costs 50 denar ($1.50 CAD) each. If you are in a hurry there are guys with private cars looking to make a dollar who cruise the bus stops and will take you for the same price as the bus.
We find what we seek and get tickets for a boat ride that will take us to St. Naum for the next day...20 Euros. Its a 90 minute ride each way with a couple of stops on the way.
Random Ohrid Photos: Every bit of space where people can get into the water is taken, even in the 'urban' areas:
We board the boat the next day and are seated with a couple from Germany, former teachers, now administrators who drive every day to Switzerland to work. The pay is much better there as are benefit packages. They spend their vacations travelling and so there is barely a lull in conversation as we swap travel stories. hmmm ... Namibia sounds like an excellent trip to add to our list.
The Captain points out that we are coming to the home of Tito who was President of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1963 when he became head of the Socialist Federation of the Republic of Yugoslavia for life. Although he ruled as a dictator the people had more freedoms than those under communist rule in other parts of Eastern Europe.
Our next stop is the Bay of Bones and interesting re-construction of how people here used to live.
Random Ohrid Photos: Every bit of space where people can get into the water is taken, even in the 'urban' areas:
We board the boat the next day and are seated with a couple from Germany, former teachers, now administrators who drive every day to Switzerland to work. The pay is much better there as are benefit packages. They spend their vacations travelling and so there is barely a lull in conversation as we swap travel stories. hmmm ... Namibia sounds like an excellent trip to add to our list.
The Captain points out that we are coming to the home of Tito who was President of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1963 when he became head of the Socialist Federation of the Republic of Yugoslavia for life. Although he ruled as a dictator the people had more freedoms than those under communist rule in other parts of Eastern Europe.
Our next stop is the Bay of Bones and interesting re-construction of how people here used to live.
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| This display in the museum building shows how the artifacts looked when found underwater |
This was a most interesting stop.
At last, we approach the Monastery of Saint Naum (Sveti Naum). From the water it looks impressive:
This website Discovering Macedonia has an aerial view that shows the entire huge complex.
We get a table for lunch with our new German friends (Martin & Juta), after which we have about an hour-and-a-half to explore.
Photos of and Around the Monastery
Peacocks strut the landscaped grounds at will.
This water feature contributes to the serene feeling of the grounds.
One can take a 20-minute rowboat ride on the springs behind the complex.
Arriving back in Ohrid we stop for a drink and more conversation with Martin and Juta.
Then back to Struga.
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