After arriving back from my travels through three countries,
I went to pick Lizzie and Jen up at the airport and drop Jen’s sister’s
suitcase off. Jen’s family had all gone home and the three of them went to
Venice! Now Jen’s sis was joining the rest of the family in London- Lucky
Ducks! We had lunch there before waving good bye to her and heading back to Skopje.We basically headed straight to Tetovo from
the airport. There wasn’t a whole lot of things to note, just general happiness
and excitement and lovely weather!
The next day (May 30th) was a huge day for Jen!
She had organized a donation of about 10,000 books to local schools around
Tetovo. There were so many people who helped her achieve this feat, and so many
people who were in love with the outcome. They gave out free books to the kids
of the area. When I say there was a crowd of people- there was a gigantic
crowd! But some many people were so happy to get English books. (American
Corner Tetovo FB pics: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151146848331959.535808.105986446958&type=1)
It was a blast, but really long and standing on our feet and tons of little
kids trying to get lots of books. But we kept smiling through all of it and had
so much fun!
The next day (June 1st) we relaxed, helped Jen pack
and took a short trip to Mavrovo. We knew wanted to try to go see this national
park and what was supposed to be beautiful. Like most natural places in MK, it
didn’t disappoint. We had a bit of trouble finding a place to park and go see
the lake just because there wasn’t so many signs about where to go to get to
the lake. We just laid out on a rocky beach and listened to thewaves, after finding a spider the size of my
palm, I couldn’t lay there anymore and went to explore and walk around the lake
a bit. After about 30 minutes, we decided we needed to go back just because we
felt like it was necessary to get everything done. We wanted to drive all the way
around the lake, because, well, we could. It was a bit difficult in one area,
because the road actually went through a PARKING LOT…like seriously? Well, it
was relaxed and they even fell asleep! There were so many vacation homes around
the lake and closed down resorts.
We decided to go to this gas station and get bread and
cheese. We drove about 20 minutes out of our way for really delicious bread and
cheese. It is that good. Just that good. I wish I had known about it sooner
than when I did actually find out about it. The trip back was uneventful and it
was finally starting to sink in that we were leaving.
Upon waking up in Sofia, I started my last long drive back
to Skopje that I would take. I found I loved the symmetry between arriving at
Sofia when I first came to Macedonia and when I was close to leaving- I was
making the same trip to Skopje but this time I was doing it on my own. The day
was perfect- the temperature was great and the sun was shining. It was a bit
hectic to get out of Sofia. I was searching for the next big town and it was a
bit difficult to see the signs and the gps failed me. Eventually, with a keen
sense of direction, I found my way out of the city and on my way to MK. The
roads were virtually empty after Sofia. I loved being able to just take in the
country side as I drove, blaring the radio (not really understanding a whole
lot, but hey).
Once I crossed the border (no problems and no fun stories),
I stopped often for pictures and just to look. Following signs and the handheld
map, I made my way towards the stone dolls. Legend goes that these dolls were a
wedding party that were cursed by the forsaken other bride. She turned them
into rocks. There are supposedly about 120 stone figures and range in size up
to 10 meters high. Scientist say that the figures were formed 10 million years
ago my tectonic erosion. Chose to believe either legend, but locals swear new
ones appear every year or so. On the road back to the dolls, I kept just saying-
well the signs said to go this way, so it must still be back this way and over
this scary little bridge and through the field. And I was right. Suddenly there
was the entrance to the “park.” I guess there is sometimes an area that sells
food (or used to) and an area to picnic. But for little alone me, I just walked
over to the dolls and made my way up to the top to photograph them all. Tons of nature and relaxation. I wanted to
just sit and read and just look around, but I felt the need to get going so I
could get back to Skopje before dark.
On the road again, this time I was headed to an ancient
observatory, recognized by a registry of historical sites. Part of the
renovation of the area around it was sponsored by the US Embassy. I made my way
following signs and around tons of little corners and mini villages (avoiding
kids and goats). I made it up to the site and thought, I will just hike the
rest of the way- knowing it was a bit far, but thought it would be nice since I
had made great time….However, there were about 8 bees per square foot and I am
allergic to bees. Haven’t been stung my one in a while, but didn’t want to try
it out on a hike all alone in a foreign country. So I got back in my mini car
and tried to drive up the mountain. Not so great of an idea due to recent rain,
but I didn’t get stuck and decided that pictures would just have to suffice for
this trip. I was able to get some pictures of the observatory and when I go
back to MK (and have a 4 wheel drive), I will actually walk up the top of the
observatory.
I made my way back to Skopje, just in time for the afternoon
traffic. Parking in Skopje is always interesting. I’m sure there are actually parking
laws, but no one seems to follow them. So I always try to find a way to park
and hope not to get a ticket….this time was no different, but it was always an
adventure.I was able to just relax the
night away and get ready for the next part of our adenture!
After spending the night in Bucharest, I headed down the
road to Sofia. I wanted to see more of Bulgaria and hit some sights in eastern
MK on my way back to Skopje. It rained all day. Literally all day long. I think
I saw sun for about 2 hours, max. But it was still pretty. I got a pretty good
start and made it to the border with no problems. It was a really weird border
with a long driveway thing and then one stop check point followed by about 1
mile of road before reaching the actual border. Just when I think I have
borders under control, something strange happens.
I pull up to the border control place and hand over my
passport and the rental car papers. That’s all I needed or got at the border on
the way in (see previous post). The lady askes me where this other paper is.
*BLANK STARE* What other paper? The one that you get when you cross the border,
(They gave me no paper) the one they gave you when you bought gas (Like a receipt?
Well…..I through that one away!)…..pull over there. So I pull the car over and
wait. About 2 minutes later I realize I can’t find any of the receipts where I
bought gas (because it only happened once) and I don’t have this paper, and I
can’t speak a word of Romanian to help me out to understand what this paper is
supposed to be! I get my passport and the car papers. I walk back over there
and hand this new lady the paperwork. They inform me that the fine for not
having this paper is 10 Euro a day (total of about 80 euro for me) for all of
the days I was there. But they give me no option to pay it. I keep apologizing,
hoping this will change something. I can’t leave because they have my passport.
After about 5 minutes of “You should have this paper!!!” “You need this paper!”
They finally asked what border I came in on (Serbia), they shug and roll their eyes.
I offer to pay the fine, but ask where I can pay it. They look at each other
and hand me my passport and car papers back. Apparently there was nowhere to
pay the fine and thus I don’t have to pay the fine…..(Make this the second time
that I have gotten off of paying a fine for a law that I didn’t know about that
I broke!)
I cross into Bulgaria over this amazing looking metal
bridge- totally surrounded by factories. The Bulgarian border goes off with no
problem (just had to wait a bit longer than normal). In Bulgaria, you have to
have these little stickers on your car or you are driving illegally. I also had
to get gas, so I stopped at the first gas station I saw. While filling up on
gas, I go in and ask for the “vinegrette” for the car. After much discussion, I
have to buy the 7 day one because that is the shortest one they have. Since it
still wasn’t that expensive, it didn’t bother me that much. The drive was very interesting.
The countryside varied so much! From rolling hills to forest to lakes. While
totally rainy- just gorgeous!
I made it to Sofia just fine and stayed at my friend’s
apartment. Got a bit of work done as he worked on his project as well. Then we
headed out to dinner! We went to the Bulgarian restaurant that I went to the
last time I was in Sofia (forget the name, but oh well). The restaurant messed
our food up so bad they gave us free whisky. No joke. After walking home we
both basically went to bed.
As I was typing this, I realized. I have absolutely no
pictures. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Wow- way to go Cassidy!
From May 23 to May 28th I was in Romania. I was
going to a conference on International Social Work/NGOs that another
Fulbrighter had put on for her research part. It was a long drive to get there
through Serbia! The border was super long going into Romania as well. I guess
that it was because it was entering the EU from a non EU country. But when I
got to the front of the line with my car, they looked at my passport asked me
where I was going in Serbian and the said good day! Like EVERY SINGLE other car
they were checking for bombs and looking under the car/taking the car apart,
but me the American, oh you can just go! It was a beautiful countryside and
very pleasant to drive through. I enjoyed the drive and the scenery. When I got
into Romania I was amazed by the amount of driving laws. Then I saw that no one
followed them. Like ever. And the roads were bad that you often weren’t even
able to drive on your own side of the road. We weaved in and out and through
the pot holes. I later found out that there is a Romanian saying that you can
tell if someone is driving drunk if they are driving straight!
I arrived to a lovey sandwich dinner, and company of other
Americans and one German! I even got to see Bill from Thessaloniki! I wish I
could catalog all of the days that I was there. From the lovely seminar to
playing in the park with local children, to my utter confusion with Romanian
(which I think was just my brain’s overload of languages this trip. And since
this one wasn’t Slavic based, my head shut down.), to visiting some Really cool
NGOs that work with local children!
The NGOs were nice and very helpful to see other countries
and how they work. I had tons of questions that they were willing to answer. It
was also good to talk with other Americans who were in the same position as me,
but in a different country and be able to compare our experiences. I felt like
the German girl might think we complain a lot, but we were really only sharing
things that appeared crazy to us, but normal to locals. But not saying that it
was horrible! But impressions might have been different.
At the very last day, I went with Bill and a Peace Corps Volunteer
from Moldova (Zach) to Castle Corvinilor! IT was a really cool Romanian castle
that had lots of empty rooms and a MAsconic meeting going on! With inductees!
But the castle was built a really long time ago. There was a bear pit where
they feed the prisoners to the bear, and a water trap that had been built by
Turkish Prisoners who were promised their freedom and then killed after working
for 10 years! There were nooks and crannies that we explored, even one that we
weren’t supposed to! They are awesome to explore with because they like to take
funny pictures! J
Then I decided to go to Budapest for the next night to take
Zach and Bill there and see more of Romania, and then head on to Sofia the next
day- letting me see new and different parts of the world! I spent the night in
a friend of a friends apartment and explore for about an hour before giving up
and going back to relax and de compress. But I did, of course, get a lot of
pictures. And I want to go back, of course!
We woke up a bit early to go get lunch at the market. We
found tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, bread, and sausage. Then we were off! Today
was a big day for me. I was voluntarily hiking up a mountain. Yup, read that
again. Hiking up a mountain by choice.
We were hiking to the Two Lakes View in southern Macedonia.
There are (obviously) two lakes there- Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa. Between
these two lakes there is a mountain: Galichica. At the top of the highest point
in Macedonia in this mountain range is Magaro at 2255 meters high. At this
point you can see Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa.
Lizzie is obviously a hiker, but I was the one convincing
her to go! The day started off cold, rainy, wet, and cloudy. But we decided to
try anyway. Off we went. It looked pretty nice until we made it to the stopping
point. But first, as we were driving on this little back road/main thoroughfare
and through villages , we were once
again laughing at what was considered a major road in these countries. This
road was barely able to hold two cars on it. But we got to see Lake Prespa as
we drove by. No pictures sadly because there was no place to stop along! We
kept following this little road up and we came to one part with hiking signs.
It was about where we thought we would have to stop, so we backed up and looked
at the map. While the map and the guide book called them separate things, and
we were a bit turned around, we did determine that we were in the right
location! We hesitated about going up, but in the end decided that we were here
and in 3 weeks we wouldn’t have the chance, so why not? And off we went.
What we should have done was take the car up a bit further
and then walked. It would have saved us about 30 minutes of walking. Which I
would have enjoyed, but oh well. There was a Red Cross Outpost that is more
than likely open in the summer but not in any of the other seasons. There was
also a small weather station. The first part was easy compared to the second
part, but at the time, we didn’t know that. It was steep and wooded and made me
out of breath very quickly! But then.
Then.
We got to this one part that should have been easy, but it
was covered in snow. Yes, snow. In May. Like SERIOUSLY? But oh well, we decided
to try to scale it. Remember that I am in Tennis shoes and have no winter coat
or gloves. But we made it to the center area and then starting half
climibg/half walking up the face of this mountain! We were laughing the whole
way! I lost my water bottle and decided that it would still be there when I
went down, so I waited to go get it (Mostly I didn’t want to have to climb down
to climb back up). So off we went. Grabbing on to grass and rocks and sand,
even snow to be able to keep going up.
The only thing that made it worth going up was what I was
going to see when I got to the top. That is was a great motivator. We made
numerous stops along the way to catch our breath. I was really glad that I had
asked Lizzie to borrow some jeans because I had been planning on wearing capris
and not very warm ones at that! We made it most of the way up when we turned
and saw Lake Prespa.
Worth it. At that moment, everything that we had done was
worth it. IT was totally worth it. The view was breathtaking and almost unbelievable.
Hard to describe. The glistening lake and the mountains surrounding it, washed
with snow and sprinkled with green. Breathtaking. We stopped and just looked
for a bit.
Then it was onward! It got really steep and the trail
markers disappeared. Like we couldn’t see any of them! It was a bit scary, but
we figured we were only supposed to go up, right? And up and UP an d up we
went. We stopped for an apple once, just to get our bearings. We had thought it
would be clearing before we stopped, but then the clouds rolled in, So we sat a
bit longer than we would have otherwise to just see if we could wait them out.
We couldn’t so we started up to see if maybe we could go up while they were
there, but then they would blow over!
This is where it got really interesting. I was grasping snow
and bent over and holding on to anything. But then. Then we got to thetop! (Well almost, I think there was
something that was a bit higher, but oh well. ) And we saw the views. Oh the
views! AMAZING!!!!
After looking around and SEEING BOTH LAKES, we headed back
down. Lizzie was walking it, but I couldn’t get any traction, and then I slid.
Then I decided that I would shoe-ski down the mountain! Like, use my tennis
shoes as skis, and just slide down! If you put your pressure on the back of
your heels and balance with your arms- you slid down a mountain!! SUPER SUPER
DOOPER FUN!!! Like enough fun to make me want to go on a ski trip!
Then we came to an area where we had found a yellow raincoat
that we had decided would work for sledding down the mountain. And then we
sled! Oh so much fun! Like it was amazing! I’m not sure if it was fun because
we were so tired or fun because it was legit fun.
Afterwards we headed to Sv. Naum, which is a famous monastery
in Macedonia where Sv. Naum is buried. If you listen closely you can hear his
heart beating, supposedly. I didn’t, but maybe they would say that it is
because I am not a believer (in Eastern Orthodoxy). But the area around it was
beautiful, as was the architecture. We took a mini boat ride out to view it
from the lake. Oh, did I not mention that it was located on Lake Ohrid?
Very peaceful. We took a walk back to a spring that leads
into the Lake. We even sat on a rock and dipped our feet into the water. Or in
my case my ankle, which was killing me! Then we wandered towards another church
located on the same ground. It was nice, and the lake springs were so
refreshing! The spring ran through the church! I guess the whole lake was
blessed!
Then we were done we headed to Ohrid, where we were to meet
Jen and her parents for dinner. But we had a real MK dinner at about 9pm. It
was yummy! Then they offered to let us stay at the apartment they were renting,
which was nice, because Lizzie and I weren;t sure if there would be any water
when we got back and we wanted to shower! It also ended up being the most
expensive meal I had ever eaten in MK!
On Saturday May 19, I went to pick up a rental car that I had rented for the next two weeks to explore Macedonia and the surrounding countries! Cecelia went with me because we were going to Kosovo for a day trip. I had reserved this car through Interways RentACar because they had the cheapest price and through in a GPS for free! And SURPRISE you had to do everything online! It was so different, when they said, go to our website and make the reservation, I think I looked at the phone like they were crazy! SO I go online and request the Opel Corsa Automatic for my two weeks, get an next day response to the reservation in my inbox and it confirms everything and lowers the price that I was expecting to pay! Way to go. Or so I thought.
We show up at 9am when they open to get the earliest start possible on our day trip since I was driving to Krushevo when we got back. We do all the paperwork, check everything out with the car, and are ready to leave at about 9:30. Then I get in to leave and go to put it in drive…it’s a manual. So back inside I go and tell them I can’t drive that car. When I requested an automatic, and you confirmed that car, I should be getting that car. Well their system is stupid and apparently doesn’t tell them if someone wanted an automatic or manual, even though online I requested Opel Corsa Automatic. That car was also apparently rented out, so they were going to upgrade the car. They said I would have to bring it back in the next day when the other car was available. I told them no, because I wasn’t slotted to be back in Skopje until Tuesday. What I should have said was I wasn’t coming back to Skopje- it was too much hassle and stress later. (wait for that blog post). But the kicker- the other car was at the airport a 30 minute drive from where we were. So out to the airport we go! And then back to the center to drive to Kosovo! We left almost 2 hours after we wanted to leave. VERY upset customer, even though the upgrade was super nice!
We had no problems at the border. And we went off to drive to Prizern, mostly because Cecelia really wanted to see it. I wanted to see Prishtina but the road back from Prizern is scary and you don’t want to do it at night if you don’t have to! We stopped along the way for a few pictures and a video or two.
We also had an encounter with the police!Apparently I was going 55 km/hour in a 40 km/hour zone (34 mph in a 24 mph). They flagged us over and one guy (Cop A) comes over and says “Miredita” which is Albanian for hello. It is also one of the few words I know. He then proceeds to try to tell me something in Albanian, and I have to interrupt him and tell him I know no Albanian. He thinks, then shows m the radar gun (they have radar guns?) which reads 55 and says “40” in English. Immediately contrite, I apologize and wait for him to say something else. He then asks for the car documents and my drivers license. Next there was the word “ticket” with hand motions. He walks away as I go “well crap” to Cecelia. Then we realize that I’m supposed to be over there with him as he writes the ticket. (cultural difference from America!) I go over there and Cop B comes over and tries speaking to me in English. Then I realize something: how much is this thing and how do I pay it? So I ask the guy in English and he tells me that his English is exhausted and he doesn’t understand (roughly). So taking a leap, I suggest that I know some Macedonian. This is a leap since I would be expecting them to know Serbian, which is not as good in Kosovo. Cop B tells me that is fine and we switch to “Macedonian.” Turns out the fee is 35 Euro and I could pay it somewhere else or right there. I do have that on me, so it would be a problem. But this turns into the “Why are you here?” questions. Once I tell him that I am a student in Skopje studying international politics, Cop B tells cop A to let me go because I am a “good student” (never knew that could get me out of a ticket). But Cop A tells Cop B that NO! I will get the ticket. And snatches the papers back that Cop B tried to pull away. Cop B shurggs and goes back to talking to me. Once I tell him that Kosovo is beautiful and that I am only spending one day in the country he tries to tell Cop A that I shouldn’t get the ticket but Cop A insists! Then Cop A calls some one and hands the phone to me, convo goes a bit like this:
Random Person: Hi Me: Hello? RP: What’s going on? Me: I think I was speeding. I think I was going 55 in a 40. But I’m bot really sure. RP: Oh! You’re American! Me: yes RP: what are you doing here? Me: studying in Skopje. RP: oh cool. Well this guy is my cousin, I’ll tell him to let you go. Me: ok….
There was some silence, so I hand the phone back to Cop A and he talks for a bit pretty upset then hands me everything back kind of mad and say “ok go.” I walk back to the car thanking him profusely and apologizing. Then Cecelia asks if she can take a pic of me with them. Cop B says no and Cop A say of course and tells Cop B to get in the picture. I won’t post the pic online to not get them in trouble!
When we got to Prizern, we stopped for some lunch at a restaurant downtown, before just wandering around and taking pictures. And getting ice cream. And getting yelled at for taking a picture of a sign that said no pictures of the church. And then taking another picture of the church later just on principle.
Then we headed off to the capital. We had been told there was an interstate between them. There was not. There was a back county road. Pretty sights, but it took more time than we were expecting, so we got into the capital after all of the museums closed. We arranged to do dinner with Andy at 6:30p, so until then we just walked around. We wandered on the main street, where they were setting up a big screen and viewing area for a futball match that night. Then we went to go try to see some of the mosques listed in Lonely Planet, but they were all mostly closed. We were able to go into one of them and look around- it was very beautiful!
There is a wall of pictures of the missing or dead from the war with Serbia for independence in 1999 along one fence in the center. It was disheartening. So many faces, so many young boys, so much death. After the mosque viewing we also found a park with older Roman style stones in it with a plea for people to help get the antiquities that were stolen by Serbia in 1998 back to Kosovo. Only one has been returned.
Cecelia and I had a bit of a problem finding the place we were to eat as it isn’t very well marked while being hiding behind an umbrella. But nonetheless, we got there and sat down and waited for Andy to show up. While he promptly did! We enjoyed a delicious dinner of various things while have intelligent conversation. We ate for 1.5 hours if that is any indication. Then Cecelia and I had to leave to head back to Skopje. She drove while I took a cat nap, since I still had three hours to go once I got back to Skopje. That border was an uneventful as well. We were worried a little bit since Cecelia is going through the same process as Erin did in the beginning of me being here. But no worries we were back!
The final day of our road trip got off to a really slow
start. Justin didn’t want to leave until 11am for our 13 hour journey home. But
hey, he was the driver. Sadly this was just early enough to not get to go see
another museum :( But it started off again with burek! And French fries. Don’t
ask, but they were yummy! We drove north towards Croatia, hoping to avoid the
bad roads that we encountered on our way here, and shorten the time (only
worked by 2 hours, but we saw something different).On our way out of the city, we pasted the
site of the 1984 winter Olympics! It was cool to drive by.
On the way out of
the country we also saw something not cool- signs warning us to stay out of the
mountains because of mines. We even saw a team de-mining an area. Just another
reminder of the war. But beautiful countryside none the less. We were able to
stop for lunch before we left Bosnia, but this was an adventure in itself. We
tried about 4-5 different places advertising food before we actually found
food. Yummy food, but just the same thing we’d been eating all four days- salad
and fried stuff nothing too fancy.
warning us to stay out of the woods
Then we were in Croatia, to jump on the interstate (I use
this instead of highway because it was a legit interstate! or in this case
intercountry?). Then we were in Serbia. No it was really that quick. Serbia
looked a lot different than what we had been seeing when we drove the rest of
the time- it was pretty flat! We drove through Belgrade and Nis on our way to
Skopje, but didn’t really stop anywhere. We did buy gas, and I found a CD of a
singer I had been looking for that is Croatian! There were no real funny
stories to make this part of the trip more interesting, sorry guys. Just a
normal day on the road! We got back to Skopje at about 12 am and Jen, Justin and Lizzie decided to keep
driving to Tetovo and spend the night there. I tried to find food, but failing,
just went home and ate some cereal.
The next day we woke up before our alarms went off, well Jen
and I did. And off we went to get breakfast. Turned out to be delicious potato
burek with yogurt. I had some of this in Strumitca and wanted it again, well I
got my wish and fill in Bosnia. Apparently, they do it often there. Then we
bought some stamps for our postcards and some books for Jen. Then we hopped in
the car with everyone else and were on our way to Mostar.
Mostar is located on
a river in the mountains and thus developed as a city. It’s basically famous
for its bridge that was built in 1565, then it was destroyed and rebuilt a few
times. So of course we headed straight to the bridge when we got there.
After lunch and souvenir purchasing, we left for a winery or
two. We didn’t really know where they were located, but figured we would see
signs and that we did. We also went up a seriously scary mountain side.I
refuse to call this anything other than a mountain, although, it did look like
it might be more of a plateau while where we were was gouged out of the regular
landscape and made lower. Oh well. We found one winery, but it wasn’t open so
we kept looking for a new one. We found another winery, this one was called Andrija. And normally
they don’t do tasting on Saturday, but they opened up a two bottles for us and
poured us a glass. They gave us one red and one white. And cheese. This cheese
was so good. I wanted to buy the cheese not the wine. The white wine was really
good, but I didn’t like the red. However, the rest of the party thought the
opposite. Then the guy gave us a tour of the winery.
And off we went to find the next winery. This road was
vicious and I almost got sick twice on the way to these wineries. I eventually
had to just close my eyes and hope for the best. The wine made it so much worse!
The next one we found was Brkic.
The guy was super nice. He told us all about his wines and how he makes them.
Then invited us to join this tour that they had arranged for some local embassy
workers (American, Polish, and Norwegian to be exact). We ate some more
delicious cheese and olive oil. I mean this was the best olive oil I had ever
had- it actually tasted like olives! Then we got to taste 3 whites and 3 reds.
One of the whites was called “Moon Walker.” They allow the grapes to get some
yeast on them before putting the whole grape into the barrel. Then when the
moon is young, they churn the wine. When the moon is full, they let the moon
church the wine (with gravity). It was interesting. The last red we had tasted
the best, but it wasn’t for sale sadly.
Then we headed back to Sarajevo. We had
to go down the creepy side of the mountain again. It was a lot less scary going
down. People suggested that it was less scary because I was in front, but I
claim that it was just less fast.
We stopped for dinner in a little restaurant on the side of
the road. It was kind of creepy because I knew out the back of the restaurant
was basically a giant river, but because it was so pitch black dark, we couldn’t
see it! They literally had no veggie food. The guy just shrugged when we asked
for some. Eventually we convinced him that shopska and cabbage would be an acceptable
version. Then he seriously over charged us, but apparently the hunk of lamb was
yummy. We made it back to Sarajevo in time to go to sleep to be functional
tomorrow while exploring!
We all got up bright and early on Friday the 13th
for our long road trip through 5 countries. I have to admit. I was SUPER SUPER
nervous for this trip. Jen and I had it planned for about a month, and invited
Lizzie/Justin/Aryn and others who couldn’t make it along with us. And then they
changed the plans. I get car sick ever since I was 15 if I don’t start out
driving. So we were going to rent an automatic, but a few people refused to do
so and said if I wanted an automatic and the ability to drive I needed to pay
the difference by myself. All 130 euros of difference. Needless to say I was
not happy to be starting this trip. I felt like people were telling me that my
health/comfort didn’t matter and they didn’t care if I was sick for two of the
5 days of our trip. And there were other things involved, but to keep things
nameless, I will leave those concerns out. I almost backed out a few different times.
Every time I thought about it, I got nervous and a little sick to my stomach.
However, with medication and Justin’s driving skills I only got nauseous 3
times.
We started almost exactly at our target time of 6AM in our
tiny Kia Rio towards our first border crossing of the day. We pull up at the
Macedonian side and the guy waves us through. We slow down and look at the next
group of guys and they don’t move or even look at us. We basically stopped and
they did nothing, so we start going forward and Then They Care. So Justin backs
us up and we pass through customs on the MK border. Then we drive through no man’s
land to the Kosovo border. Where he accidently misses one window (because there
were two) and has to back up again! They let us through after laughing a bit
and asking us what we were doing in Kosovo.
The mountains were beautiful. Breathtaking. Even though it
was cloudy.
We stopped once for a bathroom break and then got lost in Prizern.
Apparently signs aren’t as necessary in Kosovo as they are in the US. And a
straight arrow actually means turn left. So after about 30 minutes of driving,
I check on our GPS (aka my US HTC Evo that allows GPS to still work w/o a data
connection), and see that we seriously missed the highway.
bridge we wouldn't have gotten to see if we didn't get lost!
I was worried about
that, but we trusted the sign (not the last time of this problem on this trip,
spoilers!) and got a bit lost. Eventually we found the correct way and made it
to the border. The Kosovo border police literally just waved us through. I have
no idea if Kosovo computers still show me in Kosovo or not. But we actually
stopped at this crossing and they (from inside the office) waved us through,
and there was only one office so we didn’t miss it. The Albanian side actually
had a bit of a bottle neck- many cars waiting to get through. So about 20
minutes later we make it through and our on our way!
Shkoder Lake
We get to pass through a 5.3 KM tunnel, and as we are coming
out, we get flagged by the police. In this part of the world, the police stand
on the side of the road and flag people over rather than follow them with
lights and sirens on. So we pull over. (I’m going to tell you as it happens
rather than how I found out, which was after we left the cop.) He walks over to
us and tries talking to us in Albanian but only Aryn speaks it and she is in
the back seat behind the passenger side. So she starts speaking to him in
Albanian (he speaks a slightly different dialect and the car is beeping so she
can’t hear him all that well). But he tells us that it is illegal to pass a
truck coming out of a tunnel (which we were inadvertently doing) and asks for
Justin’s passport (I had to look through about 5 of them to find his! All of
ours were just in the glove box for easy border crossings.). Then he looks in
the car and through the passport a bit and asks Aryn what Justin’s name. And
she blanks and has to ask Jen what it is! Then she calls him over to her side
of the car so she can hear better. The conversation goes something like:
Cop: Are you the only one that
speaks AL in the car?
Aryn: Yes
Cop: Can anyone else understand?
Aryn: No
Cop: Are you being trafficked?
Aryn: What? No!!!
Cop: So you are really American?
All of you?
Aryn: yes
Cop: Then what are you doing on
this road? American’s don’t take this road!
We were all glad that he was concerned, but it was
HIRLARIOUS in hindsight! He let us go, and we then had a good laugh when Aryn
said “He thought we were being trafficked!” We continued on the road until we
got to Shkoder we ate lunch. We ordered salad, and the waiter had to go get the
veggies from the market! I had pilaf with yogurt and salad. After walking a
bit, we got back in the car and were off. This is where the day got
interesting. Up until this point the word “highway” meant the same thing in
every language. Not so from this point on. Highway in Albanian can apparently
mean ½ finished highway with gravel connecting the parts that aren’t finished.
And to stop you from going over the bridges that aren’t finished there is rocks
placed across them. It made for some interesting roads and stories! Like this
video! (The video is not as scary as it was!)
We then made it through both the Albanian and Montenegro
borders with no incident. (or any funny stories.) But the “highway” in
Montenegro was a one car lane road up a steep hill. We stopped because Justin’s
nerves were on edge by some goats, and this car come careening around the
corner at breakneck speed!
it was raining and I didn't have my umbrealla out, but I had just straightened my hair and didn't want it to get ruined by the rain!
We had thought that this was a one way street and
were a bit freaked out. So he drove extra careful until we got to a real road.
(which was a bit far away, by the way…we had a fun time following the “highway
signs”) We drove through a few towns and some mountains with no eventful
happenings. Then we stopped for coffee. (That sounded more eventful than it
was. We just stopped for coffee at a lake. Had coffee. Got some pictures of the
lake. Left.) Then we drove through some breathtaking scenery. Like wow. Gorges and
lakes and rivers. That you can apparently raft. There were a lot of guard
rails, and some of them (like literally every single one) had been hit in some
way. We figured that most of them were from snow plows since they were the
first part of the rail.
these were taken byholding the camera out of the car window and snapping as fast as it would let me!
When we made it to the itty bitty border crossing in
Montenegro and handed over our passports. Then the guy proceeded to talk on his
phone, talk to whomever stopped by, joke with the other workers, and generally
just try to show off his border crossing power. About 20 minutes later (we were
the only car on this side, so no blaming it like the Albanians with actual
people there) we cross through no man’s land over a rickety one car bridge and
in Bosnia (and the Repulika
Srpbska)!
said bridge and view. Juston drove slow so I could quickly snap this picture before we got to the other side
It was odd that the EU was supporting a border creation/joint
post. But the Montenegrins were in a fancy building, and the Bosnians were in a
shack. But off we went on our last border crossing. If you are counting that
was 8 (if you count them as leaving MK (1) entering Kosovo (2) etc…)! This road
was a bit scary. We knew what the mountains looked like off the side, but this
time there were no guardrails and it got dark, and there were no lights, and
there was mist. But we didn’t really see any cars, so we were lucky.
Then there were signs. Gloriously big signs with big arrows!
And we were on our way to the capital! When we got within the city limits,
suddenly the radio started working. Literally, we crossed the sign and suddenly
there was radio. And we got pulled over by the cops again. This time one he
realized we didn’t really speak a lot of Bosnian, and we had US passports he waved
us on. We also told him we were tourists. It was a tad difficult to find the
hostel. We drove around in a circle and then parked while I went to find the
hostel. I guessed a few streets based on how we had drove around and where we
thought the hostel was. And you know what? I literally came out at exactly the
right place, like next to the hostel! No joke! Ran inside and checked us in,
then the guy was showing me where the parking was, and I asked him how to get
back here and he said he would show us. So I walked him back to the car and dropped
him off with the crew then walked back to hostel. It was nice to be out of the
car and walking around.
Aryn, Justin and I were actually hungry (did you notice the
complete lack of food throughout the day?) so we went to find dinner. Note that
it was 12 AM at the time. There was a place open and we got pizza! We ordered a
veggie pizza and it came with tomato, corn and peas. And wine. Then back to the
hostel to discover that there was no hot water. Well not for me and not any day
was there hot water, ever. Not even lukewarm water. But other than that it was
ok. But I do not recommend this hostel. It's called Hostel Tito by the way.
Saying of the day that will only be funny if you were there:
“It’s not about you Cassidy, it’s about David.” These will get no explanations. None at all!
We woke up (kind of) early the next day so we could go to
the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. I was really curious about this museum
that was located in Greece. I wanted to see how much propaganda was in there
vs. actual history. Surprisingly enough, it was almost all history. There was
only one room that was anti-Macedonian/not true to history. The rest was about
how the Greeks over threw the Ottoman empire and how they Greek had “special”
diplomatic officers that were really military people. (So admitting to spying
while the rest of the world doesn’t, way to go!) The last room had a video that
I SO wish I could have gotten my hands on (but I couldn’t I asked). It was
describing how the FYROM people succeed in 1991 after failing to get the Real
Macedonia from Greece after WW2 when Yugoslavia took over. Then the book/movie
states:
Claims were not limited to Hellenic
territories but sought to challenge and usurp cherished symbols and the cultural
heritage of the Greek Macedonians. Under these circumstances the reactions of
the Greeks, especially in Macedonia, were reasonable
and unavoidable. (emphasis mine) Publication of the Foundation of the
Museum For the Macedonian Struggle
*Political viewpoints ahead, please
feel free to skip* An economic boycott that threaten democracy, human rights
and the stability of the only country to succeed from Yugoslavia without war is
reasonable? How was a tiny country with NO military supposed to take over or
even think about invading and EU and NATO member? Cultural heritage of the
Greeks, you do realize that Alexsander of MACEDON (not Greece) didn’t speak
Greek nor consider himself Greek and he ruled over modern day Macedonia? So how
can that symbol belong ONLY to the modern Greek nation? How can history only
belong to the victors that happen to survive into modern times (which, by the
way, there is no relation in any way shape or form to the modern Greeks or
Macedonians to the Ancient Macedonians)?*end rant*
But it was interesting to see, and to learn a bit more of
the history there. Since I don’t really remember any of it from school (did we
even cover this?).
After the museum, Daniel, Andy and I walked back to the
hotel while stopping along the way at a few bookstore to look for books for
Jen. Do you know how odd it is to walk into a bookstore and ask for Captain Underpants? But
for you Jen, I did it multiple times to no avail! Then we checked out of the
hotel and walked to look for a specific type of pizza for Anjie (didn’t find
it). And picked up the car and drove to a CarreFour where we did a bit of
shopping. I literally only bought stuff that wasn’t good for me: Oreos,
chocolate, (cous cous), Cheetos, and hot chocolate.
Then we were on our way back to Macedonia. We made it safely
and had a lovely new CD serenading us- check it out here!
See you around the globe!
Sorry for the picture less post, I can't find any of the pictures I took on the way back, and my hard drive has stopped working, so I don't know if I even have any left!
The last day of the Ohrid conference started with a change in schedule. The Foreign Minister was unable to attend so we had to switch the day up a bit and move the President’s speech up to 11am, which meant people stayed in bed a bit longer.
It is actually really cool to see the President of Macedonia speak. And shake his hand/talk to him for a bit! (Are you able to ask harsh questions to the President if it isn’t your country?) He had some very good quotes, and some interesting commentary on MK’s future. He used to be a lecturer at the University and I can tell why! He can speak and he has presence! He started off showing us some maps of the world (some of which had been shown to us the other day at this conference, but I thought it more appropriate to highlight it here. This is a traditional world map:
This is a world map where the equator is exactly half way on the paper, with as close as the right ratio as possible:
The thoughts of how we think about the world are shaped by our education, though history and geography. We are the “audiovisual generation” according to him. He did start to say things like all of our beliefs come from religion. But freedom is the source of knowledge and the dominant idea is “the idea of freedom.” What was ironic, is that he started talking about how we are supposed not be eurocentric but then starts showing videos that are really eurocentric about how republics are formed. Is money the new reason for conflict? He claims that freedom isn’t the idea that now moves people but rather wealth is. And the new form of slavery is debt. Another good line “People who only look to the future fly as I they had red bull!”
Did you know that 2 people are killed in conflict every minute?
He claims that most of the political spectrum is on the right now. Most politicians are on the right hand side of the political spectrum, even those of the left. He argues that we use the term “right” in almost all languages to symbolize the conservative side. Daniel thinks he was saying that to be on the “right” is the “right (correct)” move. But I just got that through history people were more conservative and thus the correct version was to be more conservative and that is how it got the name.
The first thing he said that was *ugh* feeling is that there is a problem assimilating due to maintain your own culture. And that this is a challenge that needs to be overcome. (WHY does this need to be overcome?) Also you need to learn to speak the language where you live because “those who communication integrate. And those who don’t communicate live in a ghetto.” (Once again….ummm…not all the time.) He claimed that the internet is a great leveling tool and has helped make territory loose it’s importance. He also claims that if the EU doesn’t start switching for the future and adopt for the new needs of the youth, it will be become a “museum for the Chinese/Indians/Brazilians to come and look at the past.”
I really wanted to ask him “How can you keep stressing freedom and democracy when your country, which you represent, is only listed as partially free according to Freedom House?” But I decided not too, when talking to him I wasn’t sure how much English he actually understood, or if he was just exhausted form speaking.
Daniel and I were going to meet with Andy, a Fulbright researcher who lives in Kosovo and was in Ohrid visiting a friend to drive down to Thessaloniki together! Since Daniel had decided to go to the Ohrid Conference at the last minute we had to change car rental companies and the price increased and we had to get a manual transmission. So Daniel was the only one who could actually drive the car. The lady was about 20 minutes late in showing up to give us the car (which ended up with us arriving RIGHT on time to our next conference). We were able to rent the car and get on our way!
The views were beautiful driving through the countryside of Macedonia. I would have never seen this part without having to drive to Thessaloniki! We drove through Bitola on the way there, that was the closest Greek border to Ohrid. The border was super easy and we flew right through! Then it was into Greece with more countryside that is beautiful and nowhere to stop for food! Luckily I had though ahead and bought some snacks!
even the Greek cities needed a city with a cross on a hill
When we checked into the hotel, they said under their breaths (some Skopjian just parked in our parking spots) because we had moved the thing to park in front of the hotel to check in. Immediately after checking in we went up to our rooms and then right back down to go to the opening reception at a local artist studio. The guy was on a Fulbright to study art and is very active in the commission in Greece. His studio was kind of cool! And they had food. Lots of greasy baked food. But yummy orange flavored potatoes. No dessert sadly. But free Greek wine. We tried to go out to a pub, but after they decided which pub to go in to, I helped this girl find her way back to the hotel. When I went back to the pub they had left! So I went back to the hotel and just checked my email and stuff!
We are finally able to saw that WE HAVE BEEN TO OHRID!!!!
Everyone asks us “Oh where have you been besides Skopje?” And I list off a few towns, but they ALWAYS follow this up with “What about Ohrid? You HAVE to get to Ohrid!” It’s gotten to the point where I always go in my head “ ohasgpoihasgfj8! I know!” but publicly say “I know! I can’t wait!” But now I can say, I have been. It was only for a day, but I saw basically the whole town (minus museums). We also only saw the outside of the churches, and didn’t go into any actually church. We also walked the whole town, but that would be pretty easy, the streets were pretty small.
Jen and I were able to go down with Vesna, Jen’s friend and co-worker at the university. She offered to drive us there because she needed a break. The trip takes about 2 hours from Tetovo through the mountains. The mountains on this side of Macedonia are not as rocky as the other side. They were filled with more trees and less “Caution rocks falling signs!” It was a bit cloudy and rainy the whole way down (and actually the whole day) but I still should have gotten more pictures! I actually didn’t get any on the way down (STUPID!).
When we got to Ohrid, we met up with Vesna’s friend (Emilija) at a café for a coffee. We all sat and talked for a bit, but then Jen and I wanted to give them some alone time, so we went to take pictures at this little old dock. This commenced….
followed by this:
When we went back, they were done with their coffee and started wandered towards the mountain. We passed through most of the town taking lots of pictures!
I translated this, and went, wait, WHAT...did I translate that correctly? Yup, yup I did: Men know why
Traditional Ohrid architecture
We made it up to this Old Amphitheater, which according to WikiTravel (because they are the only real source about history of the tourist stuff (even the guides don’t tell you about all of the sights)), was from Ancient Greek times. The only Ancient Greek theater in Macedonia, all others are from Roman times.
We then walked towards the Fortifications with a Upper Gate. The whole old town is encircled by a stone wall.
Then we headed to the main church, St. Bogorodica Perivlepta (I think).
We also passed along the First Archbishopric/school of Macedonian.
Also, some GREAT views. The beauty of this city is almost indescribable.We walked up to Samuel’s Fortress and then down to St. Jovan church along the edge of the lake.
We also encountered this:
It is meant to say “sign” as in your astrological sign:
Then Emilija had to leave us, but Vesna, Jen and I then wandered back to this little pizza joint where we all enjoyeda different kind of pizza before heading back to the car and driving home.
Ohrid was AMAZING and I can’t wait to go back to see some of the museums and inside some of the churches!
