back to life as usual, plus two
So where do I start after such a long hiatus??
Not sure.
Perhaps in Macedonia?
First off, true to reputation, Ohrid is beautiful, and we could appreciate that despite the sometimes cold and unpredictable weather.
The little town is situated on a stunning lake surrounded by low hills belonging to both Macedonia and Albania... Yes, I can now say I have seen Albania. And water! How I have missed it! Seriously, I have never in my life been landlocked for as long as I have been here. Even in Israel, living in the middle of the desert, we took relatively frequent trips to the coast. Sadly, though, the lake was far to cold to consider swiming, which, coming from me, is saying a lot. Let's just say that it was so windy, that little fish were washed up on the sidewalks :-)
Ohrid, itself, is a fascinating place with lots of history, which is highlighted well by a great massive fortress, many old churches, and traditional Balkan architecture.
St. Jovan's Church
And the area has a unique mix of clearly ex-communist influence and sleepy, Italian-style villa culture -- I'm stuggling, however, to find a good way to explain this combination. Perhaps you must see for yourself sometime? Ohrid remains mainly undiscovered as a tourist destination for Westerners (Europeans and North American alike), but it appears this is also changing. It's easy to access, for instance, being only a 2.5 hours drive from Skopje on beautiful roads (it's a good thing we bussed to Skopje, however, because mom would have had an absolute heartattack driving in Kosova!). Our hotel, too, was lovely, modern, and clean with such ammenities as a pool, sauna, and buffet breakfast. The only negative was a horrendous sense of interior design!
Yet Ohrid, as a city, is still very real. Our room offered a perfect view of the nextdoor property, which is basically a ramshackle home with a caved in roof...and people definitely lived there. Even without such drastic poverty to prove the point, I highly doubt that an increase in tourism will entirely errase local culture. Every morning, we found cute little men with their fishing rods preparing for a lazy day by the lake. Traffic is generally slow, with lots of bicycles and, as in Skopje, the vast majority of cars are old, tiny, and white...
... Overall, it's a cute place, with good food, too! I had some of the best calamari I've ever had, and fresh fish for the first time in 4.5 months. Speaking of which, a funny thing happened while mom and I were out to dinner one night... The restaurant was basically empty (because it was a cold and a weekday), and in walked one of the actors from Gori Vatra, the Bosnian film I have been raving about. I did a double take, and then spent the rest of our meal feeling embarassed because I knew that he knew that I knew him. Although I was too nervous to say anything, true to form, mom insisted on talking to him before we could leave. It was a good coincidence. And for good measure, I noticed we had ordered the same thing :)
So, overall, the trip was enjoyable. And my mom's visit ended well, with a wonderful meal that we both prepared for a bunch of my friends here in Pristina. Successful in the end, this endevour also afforded us opportunity to have our only real fight throughout the entire ten days -- apparently, I don't have a realistic conception of how long it takes to defrost frozen chicken :-) But despite that, and other assorted craziness, we survived.
I must admit that it's been nice to have some space to myself this week. The other Canadian girl who is now working in my office has finally found her own place to stay, conviniently across the hall from my flat. And while I loved the company, my tiny apartment once again feels like my own. And I guess life is back to normal. Busy, but relaxed. Full of coffee (some things will never change!), lots of online planning for our August trip through Italy, France, and Ireland, and most excitingly, babies... Two boys, born on the same day, exactly one week ago.
Please welcome my new cousins Andrew and Lucas into the world.
Not sure.
Perhaps in Macedonia?
First off, true to reputation, Ohrid is beautiful, and we could appreciate that despite the sometimes cold and unpredictable weather.
The little town is situated on a stunning lake surrounded by low hills belonging to both Macedonia and Albania... Yes, I can now say I have seen Albania. And water! How I have missed it! Seriously, I have never in my life been landlocked for as long as I have been here. Even in Israel, living in the middle of the desert, we took relatively frequent trips to the coast. Sadly, though, the lake was far to cold to consider swiming, which, coming from me, is saying a lot. Let's just say that it was so windy, that little fish were washed up on the sidewalks :-)
Ohrid, itself, is a fascinating place with lots of history, which is highlighted well by a great massive fortress, many old churches, and traditional Balkan architecture.
St. Jovan's Church
And the area has a unique mix of clearly ex-communist influence and sleepy, Italian-style villa culture -- I'm stuggling, however, to find a good way to explain this combination. Perhaps you must see for yourself sometime? Ohrid remains mainly undiscovered as a tourist destination for Westerners (Europeans and North American alike), but it appears this is also changing. It's easy to access, for instance, being only a 2.5 hours drive from Skopje on beautiful roads (it's a good thing we bussed to Skopje, however, because mom would have had an absolute heartattack driving in Kosova!). Our hotel, too, was lovely, modern, and clean with such ammenities as a pool, sauna, and buffet breakfast. The only negative was a horrendous sense of interior design!
Yet Ohrid, as a city, is still very real. Our room offered a perfect view of the nextdoor property, which is basically a ramshackle home with a caved in roof...and people definitely lived there. Even without such drastic poverty to prove the point, I highly doubt that an increase in tourism will entirely errase local culture. Every morning, we found cute little men with their fishing rods preparing for a lazy day by the lake. Traffic is generally slow, with lots of bicycles and, as in Skopje, the vast majority of cars are old, tiny, and white...
... Overall, it's a cute place, with good food, too! I had some of the best calamari I've ever had, and fresh fish for the first time in 4.5 months. Speaking of which, a funny thing happened while mom and I were out to dinner one night... The restaurant was basically empty (because it was a cold and a weekday), and in walked one of the actors from Gori Vatra, the Bosnian film I have been raving about. I did a double take, and then spent the rest of our meal feeling embarassed because I knew that he knew that I knew him. Although I was too nervous to say anything, true to form, mom insisted on talking to him before we could leave. It was a good coincidence. And for good measure, I noticed we had ordered the same thing :)
So, overall, the trip was enjoyable. And my mom's visit ended well, with a wonderful meal that we both prepared for a bunch of my friends here in Pristina. Successful in the end, this endevour also afforded us opportunity to have our only real fight throughout the entire ten days -- apparently, I don't have a realistic conception of how long it takes to defrost frozen chicken :-) But despite that, and other assorted craziness, we survived.
I must admit that it's been nice to have some space to myself this week. The other Canadian girl who is now working in my office has finally found her own place to stay, conviniently across the hall from my flat. And while I loved the company, my tiny apartment once again feels like my own. And I guess life is back to normal. Busy, but relaxed. Full of coffee (some things will never change!), lots of online planning for our August trip through Italy, France, and Ireland, and most excitingly, babies... Two boys, born on the same day, exactly one week ago.
Please welcome my new cousins Andrew and Lucas into the world.
posted by melissa at 5:50 p.m.
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