Wednesday, August 16, 2023

After a twisty and turny bus ride, we arrived in Ohrid late in the day and found a taxi into the old town. Most cars aren’t allowed in without a pass, so we were dropped off outside the gate and rolled in through the arch. Our house was quite close. We dumped our bags and, after a long day, headed to “Pizza Leonardo” where we got four “standard-size” pizzas (we never found out whether it was the Balkan standard #4 pizza or more of a EU standard). Sunset on the lake was really pretty from our balcony.

On the bus from Tirana

Concrete train bridge

Border crossing into North Macedonia

Passports

First view of the lake

Taxi into old town

The view from our balcony

Walking to dinner

Old church next to pizza

Pizza Leonardo

Sunset

Thursday, August 17, 2023

The next morning we headed out to “Samuel’s Fortress”, a castle once occupied by Tsar Samuel amongst various invaders and siege-layers over the years. The castle had been rebuilt; the castellations at the top were complete (and used concrete to hold it together), and some of the new walkways did not exactly match up with the old walls. But at least there was a railing, in contrast to Albania.

Walking down the hill from the castle, we walked by an archaeological site within a monastery; we didn’t go in because we were getting a little hangry. Stopping for a snack outside of the monastery, the kids did some reading and writing. We walked into town and headed along the shore on a boardwalk, which took us by a couple small beaches and bars to a fantastic find of a restaurant (It was highly rated in Sara’s Eastern Europe book 15 years ago). We ate a great lunch featuring a bunch of different fish. We walked back to the apartment; Max and I napped while the kids did some school. Dinner was at home that night.

The front of Fortress “Samuel”

Inspecting the perimeter

Walking the wall

Walking the wall

We are the watchers on the wall…

Heading inside

Nock, Aim, Fire!

Special inspection of the stair’s pitch

View of the town from the tower

They’re getting heavy…

Sam and Sara

Coming down some steep steps

View of the new town

Helical plants

Ben on the wall

Sam and Max

Ben and Mom

Mom on the wall

Mom and kids coming down

Long shot of Mom and the kids

“Samuel’s Fortress”

Snack break

Excavation under the monastery

Kids checking out 2 tortoises

Walking to lunch in town

The walls of an old church

Walking down to the water

Looking out from the boardwalk

Boardwalk

Along the boardwalk

Cliffside bar

Cliffside beach

Looking for the restaurant

Along the path…

Aah, there it is

Ben’s “field notes”

Lunch: Fish soup, “trout in prison”, sea breem, salad.

Local passionfruit

Nap with Max

Early Dinner

Friday, August 18, 2023

Max woke up early and went out to the living room by himself. He was so quiet for so long that we had to check in on him…we found him quietly at work on his “workbook”, a pre-school level book we brought with us for him to work on colors, letters, and numbers. Very impressive. We did some school in the morning and then headed out to find a park and learn about boat rental options. Mom went for a walk while I watched the kids, and then we switched; I made it up the main walkway all the way to the bazaar before turning around. We got Doner Kebabs for lunch and brought them back to the park.

At the park, Sara met up with a woman she had been chatting with recently about a pop-up school she was setting up in Ohrid; she lives in Canada and had her two kids with her, and were staying, along with her mom, in Ohrid for several months. Ben, Sam, and Max really enjoyed playing with them at the park. I headed back to the apartment to get some work done, and they met me at home for a brief wind-down.

We met back up for a beach dinner while the kids used their new nets that Sara got them to fish for minnows.

We found Max up early, working on his workbook

Me and Sam doing some bananagram spelling

Glimpse of the bazaar

Sammy getting into his Gyro

Kids love water

View of the town from the pier

Kids playing

Kids playing

Creepy building

Boardwalking to the beach

Picnic on the beach

Ben’s catch of the day

Kids netfishing

The “haul”

The “haul

Saturday, August 19, 2023

The kids woke up and did school early. After that We met up with our friends and made our way to the “semi-submarine”, to get there a little bit before the 11:00 a.m. departure, but found it full. We decided to stick around for the 12:00 p.m. tour. The kids played in the park, I went to the bakery and got some different things to try, and at noon we embarked on our voyage under the lake.

It was a pretty neat tour. We saw lots of little fish, I saw a water snake swimming on the lake bed, and we saw a lot of seaweed. The boat itself doesn’t ever go underwater but, unlike a glass bottom boat, you’re fully immersed in the water when you’re downstairs. It was also a little disorienting to look out the thick glass as the boat moved forward, because the warped view through the thick glass made it look like you were moving inside a kaliedescope.

We got off the boat and made our way to a water taxi and immediately took a short little tour on our way to a nearby beach recommended by our friend. We spent the whole afternoon there, with our kids in the water almost the whole time. Though the sun was hot, there was luckily a bar nearby; we finished off the afternoon with some beers.

Looking across the lake, we saw thunderheads forming and decided we needed to make our way back to Ohrid before it caught us. It was 5:00 anyways and we knew our kids would fall apart soon if they didn’t get a proper dinner. The water taxi came back for us and we made our way home. Dinner that night was very simple and satisfying, with a lot of veggies.

The thunderstorm finally hit later that night with some pretty dramatic lightning across the water.

Early morning reading

In the “semi”-submarine

Look, a tire!

I think I see a sea snake!

In the “semi”-submarine

Atop the “semi”-submarine

Max in the water taxi

Water taxi to the beach

Kids, what kids?

Water taxi to the beach

Dad with the nets guiding everyone home

Evening fireworks

Evening fireworks

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Sam and I walked into town to grab some donuts and sweet pastries for breakfast. We again did some schoolwork in the morning followed by lunch, but one in our midst was a bit emotional. Max couldn’t ask anything nicely without falling apart crying if he heard a no. Seeing that this wasn’t going to end unless we put a stop to it, Max and I stayed at home so that he could take a nap. We had had a long couple days and he needed some extra sleep. Sara and the other boys went to the beach to meet up with ouir friends again a little way down the shore.

I got some work done while Max slept, and then when he woke up – in a much better mood – we made our way to the other kids at the beach. I rented a stand-up paddle board and took Ben and Sam out for a short trip each.

We walked back to town together with our friends and said goodbye along the quay. Our trip to Skopje would begin tomorrow…

Pastry breakfast

Kids schooling

Max napping

Refreshed and ready to swim

Walking home from the beach

Walking home from the beach

Saying goodbye to our new friends

Petting the kitties

Golden hour

It’s just a matter of perspective