Macedonia was another country where I didn’t know what to expect, and it ended up being such a surprisingly joyful memory. The name of the country is technically North Macedonia, but there is no South Macedonia. It’s complicated, but basically it’s something to do with how the region that used to be ancient Macedonia (where Alexander the Great was from) is claimed by Greece, so since Greece claims to own “Macedonia,” they’ve left the country of Macedonia to use the name “North” Macedonia. Does that make sense? Nope, no, it really doesn’t. Feel free to message me if you have a clearer understanding of this absurdity. But in any case, I will call this country Macedonia during this blog post for the sake of ease. We visited two different places in the country that couldn’t have been more different.
I booked two nights in the town of Ohrid, which sits on the giant Lake Ohrid, one of the oldest lakes in the entire world. There’s evidence of some of the very earliest civilizations here, and you can feel it when you walk around. There’s a sense of serenity here and the feeling that people have been here forever and ever, quietly keeping to themselves. Ohrid is a popular tourist destination in the region though. It looks like a lot of locals come here for summer holidays, and one of our taxi drivers told us that it’s popular as a holiday destination for other European countries, too. But it was so much less crowded than any other place I’d describe as a summer tourist destination. We stayed in a gorgeous Airbnb for like $36 per night, and we spent the days exploring the Old Town. It’s the type of place that if Hallmark ever finds out about, they’d try to invade and set movies there. It’s a hilltop town of winding cobbled streets full of restaurants, ice cream, more of my Balkan stray dogs, mosques, and Christian chapels. I “surprised” Michael our second morning with a walk to St. Joseph’s Church which consisted of walking over the water on rail-less boardwalks and climbing steep and crumbling staircases. (It wasn’t a surprise. A quick google search revealed to him that there was only one place that we could possibly be going so early for a view.)
That day we also had the bright idea to hike to a restaurant called Terasa Utarna that we’d read a ton of excellent reviews for. The restaurant was high in the mountains several miles from the town of Ohrid, and most people get there by taxi or in a rental car. For some reason we thought it would be fun to walk there. And in a manner of speaking, it was, though we had to do things like climb through briar bushes on dirt roads to avoid mud puddles the size of Olympic swimming pools. We made it after 2 and 1/2 sweaty hours, and it was 1000% worth it (though we took a taxi half-way back). If you find yourself in Ohrid, do not miss this restaurant.
Ohrid was the perfect place to rest for a couple of days and prepare for our journey to Kosovo… but then poor Michael woke up the night before we were supposed to leave with food poisoning. (I will not name the restaurant that we believe was the culprit here, but I highly suggest that you NOT order the seafood pizza in any country that is landlocked.) We ended up staying an extra night and cutting Kosovo, and though I feel guilty admitting this because of how miserable Michael was, it was honestly a nice memory for me. I walked a mile to the bus station and convinced the stern attendant to change our bus tickets to the next day, and our lovely Airbnb hosts let us extend with no problem. I wandered around some and bought Michael crackers and sports drinks. And once he was feeling more alive, we watched a documentary about the Bosnian Siege and also Harry Potter. When things don’t go as planned during travel, you can make the most of unexpected days of relaxation.
The next day, Michael felt better, and we took a bus to the capital of Macedonia, Skopje. (I had to ask the stern bus attendant how to pronounce it correctly. It’s like scope-ee-ah, or when local people say it, more like scope-yuh.) While Ohrid is quaint and peaceful, Skopje is a big and odd city. It’s a place that a lot of tourists treat only as a transportation hub and skip actually exploring. And while it’s not necessarily the first city that comes to mind if I’m suggesting destinations to someone, it’s definitely a quirky place that deserves a night or two. This is the city where Mother Teresa was born and lived until she was 18. (Did you think she was Indian? Yes, me too. That’s just where she moved to fulfill her life’s work.) They also claim Alexander the Great, even though Greece isn’t happy about that. There was a devastating earthquake in 1963 that destroyed most of the city, so much of it has been rebuilt, and today it looks like a weird hodgepodge of things that don’t appear to fit together. The current leadership has a fascination with statues, and they are EVERYWHERE. Statues of everything you can think of. Historical figures and politicians and Alexander the Great, but also random things like homeless people, abstract art, fish, giraffes, and a pirate ship. The oldest and largest bazaar in the Balkans (the oldest in Europe after Istanbul’s) is here which dates back to the time of the Ottoman Empire. We spent a night here and did a day tour, and it felt like just the right amount of time.
