Macedonia, the land of Philip of Macedon and his over-achieving son, Alexander, is like a warm sweater or a favorite pair of jeans. It just feels right. After Albania it's like stepping out of the black and white Kansas house into the technicolor world of Oz. The countryside is pristinely clean, the lakes are crystal clear and the air is crisp and cool, at least on this late autumn day.
The heat and hot water at Hotel Lebed in Ohrid was pretty dodgy on Friday night but the wonderful staff promised they would have it up to snuff shortly. We spent Saturday wandering around the old city and up to the Byzantine fortress, part of the World Heritage Site. The town is semi-deserted this time of year but it must be a bustling resort in the summer.
Natasha, who works reception (and is a weather girl on local TV) helped arrange a rental car for today and we set off for Prespa Lake (the same body of water where we saw the Dalmatian pelicans in Greece) and Galicica National Park. I wrestled the underpowered Chevy without power-steering up the mountains and around the tight turns and we were rewarded with spectacular views of both Prespa and Ohrid lakes. When Connie asked directions to Ezerani Bird Sanctuary, the men hanging around the corner store stopped drinking their morning beer and huddled up for a consensus decision. After using a "lifeline" to call an expert, it was finally decided that despite what Lonely Planet and the internet said, the sanctuary didn't actually exist. But we did find some decent birding along the shore.
Our final stop was back along Ohrid Lake at the monastery of Sveti Naum. It was such a spectacular afternoon that we fell in love with Macedonia. It's too bad we can't spend more time here but there isn't much to do now that winter is nearly upon us.
