Macedonia Pt.4 - Relatives

At one point during our trip, my husband asked me: so who are your relatives and who are your friends.  To someone who didn't know the relationships, it would be hard to distinguish, because both my relatives and my friends in Macedonia I have known all of my life.  

Even an unimportant trip to the grocery store will make you run into a relative or friend.  And when we visited people's homes who invited us, if one was to judge by their hospitality, it would be hard to distinguish whether they are a relative or a friend.  Our culture is very hospitable.  People open their homes and feed you all the time.

  So I want to say that the whole country is my family, because if they are not by blood, then certainly they will be somehow related by marriage.  It's a small country, you know!!

So lets start with my grandpa. 

 

I walked to his small apartment the very first day I arrived.  I guess I couldn't wait.  I am his first grandchild, he is my last surviving grandparent.  I wanted to see him and I wanted him to see my kids.  

He spends the summer days at our house just outside of the city.  There is a small vineyard there, and other fruit trees and vegetables.  It is there that he makes home made wine and rakija.  In the photo above, he is holding a photograph of him and my grandma, my dad and my uncle dating  back in the mid 1950's.

Above: My grandpa, my uncle and aunt, me and my kids.

Above: my uncle Krste and aunt Nada

Uncle Krste and aunt Nade, are not exactly my aunt and uncle, they are my dad's.  My uncle Krste is the youngest brother of my grandma (my dad's mom).  Growing up I spent a lot of time with my uncle Krste and aunt Nada.  I am also told that whenever I'd ask my parents to buy something for me, and they would tell me they didn't have money I'd answer back to them: let's go to uncle Krste, he's got money.

An unfortunate event happened during my last week in Skopje.  Their tiny condo caught on fire.  They share a common wall with their neighbor who is mentally ill.  He's tried to burn his condo many times.  This time, he burned down his condo, and having a common wall with my uncle, their home suffered a lot of damage. 

Above: my uncle Gjorgji and aunt Duska 

They live next to my uncle Krste.  They too are my dad's uncle and aunt.  Uncle Gjorgji was a journalist for the local newspaper.  And he was my saviour when I had to write essays for school assignment.  He was the person I went to for help.  Many thanks. 

Above: my uncle Lazo who lives in Ohrid.

Above: uncle Lazo and aunt Betti.

Many years ago I spent a week with them in the summer.  They didn't have kids back then, and now their son is about to graduate from college.

Above: my grandpa's brother with my son. 

Dedo Stavre (granpa Stavre) is my grandpa's brother.  He is uncle Lazo's father.  They live in Ohrid.  

Above: my unlce Janko in Gostivar.  He is my mom's first cousin.  His brother, uncle Pavel is the one that lives in Palm Springs, CA.  Uncle Janko took us to Vrutok, the spring of the river Vardar, that crosses through Macedonia and ends in Greece at the Aegean Sea.

 

Above: Maja, my cousin's wife.  This was the first time I met her.  I could not make it to their wedding a few years ago.  Maja is an artist, a sculptor.  She has a studio in the old part of town (Stara Carsija) which I enjoyed very much.  We spent a day with Maja, museum hopping through old town.

Above: Renata, one of my cousins.  She is actually my second cousin.  He parents bought the apartment where I grew up.  So I was fortunate to visit and show my kids the home where I lived when I was their age.

As I am going through my photos, I am realizing that I never took pictures of some of my relatives.  Wrapped up in our pleasant conversations after decades of not seeing each other, and enjoying the good food, the opportunity to capture the moment with a camera didn't even occur to me.  So the last photo is a courtesy of my cousin's cell phone.  See...sitting at a table eating food.  All the time, at every house.

Above from left: myself, my mom's brother, my cousin and his wife, my aunt.

Red poppies

I probably have told you already that one of the fondest memories I have of the time I used to live in Macedonia is watching a field covered in red poppies sway in the wind.  Although the field that was visible from our balcony is now a home to new apartment buildings, red poppies were certainly not endangered.  On the contrary, they were everywhere.  And I made sure I took as many pictures of them as I could. 

The last couple of days, I have finally gotten back to normal and found some time to get back to crafting.  I purchased some red paint, specifically for the occasion.  And the paper tags were on sale at the craft store.  So I made tags with red poppies.

Macedonia Pt. 3 - Ohrid where my husband had a shot of rakija

The shot of rakija (home made liquer) was not the most important thing that happened in Ohrid, but I had to grab your attention.  It's taking me a bit longer to get the details of my trip posted on my blog, and I am afraid that as time passes, mine as well as your enthusiasm goes down.

Ohrid, is probably one of the most visited destination in Macedonia by foreigners.  Situated by a lake makes it a great vacation destination in the summer.  It has beautiful and unique architecture, as well as natural beauty with the crystal clear lake surrounded by mountains.  It's a 3 hour bus ride from Skopje, and that is how we got there.  One of my uncles (I have many in Macedonia) who lives in Ohrid picked us up.  Once, a long time ago, my brother and I stayed with him and his wife.  They didn't have kids at that time, and now their son was a college student.  It was the first time I met him.  Yes, I have been gone a long time.

"If I moved back to Macedonia, this is where I'd like to live", I told my uncle.

"There is only tourists here in the summer, and retired people the rest of the time", he told me.

Maybe I want to retire then.

We stayed in the old part of town, where the locals rent part of their home to you.  We had a two bedroom, and a small kitchenette on the top floor.  And a balcony with this view:

 

And this to the left.

 

We were next to one of the many churches there, Sveta Sofija (St. Sofia).  My uncle said that there are 365 churches in Ohrid.  One for each day of the year.

Our visit was short in Ohrid, but full of great experiences.

The first day we walked to a fort, very similar to the one in Skopje.  The one in Ohrid is called Samuilovi Kuli (Samuil's Towers).  King Samuil was the king of the first Bulgarian Empire. (9th century, I think).  I am not one to say that history is my forte, and what I remember about King Samuil is that his military was defeated on the mountain Belasica, by the Byzantine Empire.  The battle is known by that all of his solders were blinded, except for every hundredth man was left with one eye to guide the rest of them home to King Samuil.  Sometime I wonder about us humans.  We are pretty cruel to each others.

 

 

 

Near by there is an amphitheater, dating back to somewhere 200 BC.  If I ever get any superpowers, it would be to be able to see back in time, while standing in a place in the present.  Can you imagine the people, the activities, the performances for the past 12-13 centuries.  Today you can still see performances here during the summer.  Take a look at the houses on top.  Talking about seeing a life performance from you bedroom. 

 

As you wiggle around past the amphitheater, you end up at Sveti Kliment Plaosnik.  It's a basilica dating back to 5th century.  Nowadays there is construction going on around it building a University.  I believe for religious Christian Orthodox studies.

 

By the time we got to Plaosnik, my kids were ehxausted.  A bus ride, walk through the old town and carsija (bazaar), up the Samuil fort, to the amphitheater, and now to Plaosnik....it was a bit much for a 5 and 7 year old.  I really would have liked to take a little more time to finish this long walk with a visit to Sveti Jovan Kaneo, another church with a gorgeous view of the lake as sits on a cliff over the lake.  But it did not happen.

When we got back to the place we were staying, the neighbors occupying the small apartment next to us were in.  They heard the kids speak English and were curious where we were from.  After a brief introduction, we learned that our neighbors were neighbors in many ways.  They were from Los Angeles....well this is where they lived.  Vlatko, the guy is actually originally from Ohrid, but has lived in the States for over 40 years.  And as the conversation went on, it turned out that we have even more connections than that.  He went to school with the husband of one of my aunts.

"What are you plans for tomorrow?", Vlatko asked us.  Embarrassed, I said that we didn't have any big plans.  There is a lot to see in the old town, that just walking around with two kids was a plan enough for me.  Vlatko was quick.  "Have you ever taken a boat ride to Sveti Naum "? (a monastery on the lake, some 30 km from Ohrid).

After a phone call to a friend of his (another school buddy of my aunt's husband), it was arranged that the next morning we are going to Sveti Naum by boat.

 

Our captain Kole (Nikola Ribarski)

 

And here is where the rakija comes (the home made liquor)...it was offered to us many times.  I take beer, but usually refuse rakija.  My husband, taken aback by the spontaneity of the entire experience in Ohrid, decided that this offering of rakija must not be refused.  So the four of us, Vlatko, Kristen, my husband and myself all had a shot of rakija.  And a cup of tea for me to chase the burning sensation in my throat and chest.

Kole was a great captain.  He stopped for us at a  place about half way between Ohrid and Sveti Naum, called Museum on Water.  A reconstructed historic settlement on water.  And this is where I have a confession to make.  See many places have their entry fee doubled for foreign visitors.  My Macedonian still in tact, with no noticeable accent came in handy.  So I asked my family to stay aside and be silent, while I purchased tickets. This worked many times in negotiations.

 

 

 

We continued to Sveti Naum after this.  And oh we were lucky in many ways to have visited just slightly outside of the booming tourist season.  That day we were the only visitors to Sveti Naum by boat.  It's like getting a private tour of everything.

Sveti Naum

 

 

We had a nice lunch at Sveti Naum and almost negotiated another boat ride, on a row boat, that takes you in to see some springs.  But time was short.  We had to get back to Ohrid, I had bus tickets to go back to Skopje.  I really would have liked to spend more time in Ohrid.  Maybe next time I go to Macedonia, I won't even tell anyone I am going.  I will enjoy Ohrid in peace.

I am going to leave you with this picture I took when we were somewhere in the middle of the lake.  I believe the shore that is barely visible is the coast of Albania.

 

I do have a little more to share about my trip.  Check back soon!

Macedonia Pt.2 - Skopje continued

Being my city of birth, Skopje had a lot for me to see and do.  Visit places, and visit family and friends.  At the end I don't think that I was able to give each place or person the amount of time I would have wanted.  

I enjoyed the zoo which was small, but it was well re-done.  And at just over a $1 entry fee, it was a great deal.  Aside from the domesticated animals, it had a hippo, a bear, monekys, wolves, a giraffe (actually 2).  There was an old, abandoned part of the zoo, which interested my husband.  I enjoyed the sheep.  Yes, I know, of all things I enjoyed the sheep.  I feel connection to them, even though I've never cared for sheep.  They are sweet natured, their milk makes a great feta cheese, and their wool makes cozy blankets.  See they are givers, that's what draws me to them.

 

Skopje can also surprise you with unusual sights, like this bench, with no person sitting, but a bottle of booze and a glass half full of it.  I came across this one morning while walking to the bus station with my kids.  I though for sure there's gotta be a person around whose bottle and cup sat on this bench.  But no...there was no one.  Perhaps a left over from the night before, where the person did end up finding their way home and forgot their booze.

In the center of the city there is a fort called Kale.  It originated somewhere in 5-6 century and off course it has been changed and rebuilt over the years.  In the years I lived in Skopje, I don't recall much about it.  Nowadays there was signs of excavation projects going on.

Almost attached to Fort Kale is the Old Bazaar (Stara Carsija).  It's an old market place, probably one of the largest in the Balkans aside from Bazaars in Turkey.  Traditional gold and silversmiths, potters, weavers and other artisans sell their handy work here.  

The photo below is of one of ceilings in Daut Pasha Amam.  Dating back from the Ottoman Empire, today it is home of the National Gallery of Macedonia.  As in most of the museums we went, we were the only visitors.  In fact, the attendant told me he's going to lock us in, while he goes and gets lunch.  Sounded perfect to me!!

A little deeper in the Stara Carsija just near by Kursumli An, we also visited the Museum of Macedonia.  It's a combination of historical, archeological and ethnological museum.  It houses a gallery of icons, from old churches.  Flash photography was not allowed, and my phone camera wasn't the best at taking pictures of the elaborate icons.  At this museum we got an artist discount, it cost a little over a $1 to get in.

 

There is a part of Stara Carsija called Bezisten, a covered market place.  It's basically a 15th centry mall. My cousin's wife Maja,  has an atelje (workspace/gallery) there.  I was envious.  What if...one day...I have a space there.  What if?