Macedonia

Ivana's parents met us at the airport in Thessaloniki (Greece).  Thessaloniki is the capital of the Greek province of Macedonia. The country of Macedonia, where they live, is just to the north of Greece.  Here's an ongoing problem:  the Greeks don't like the use of the name.  So Ivana's country is officially "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".  I will drop the "FYRO" mouthful, and just use "Macedonia".

 We stopped in Edessa (Greece) on the way north to view the waterfall, and lunch on some very large, tasty gyros, and later bought cherries from a roadside stand.

 Bitola is the largest city in southern Macedonia.   This clock tower is a prominent landmark.

a Byzantine coin, from their museum

It was ruled by the Byzantine empire,
then by the Ottoman Turks (the first president of modern Turkey, Attaturk, was stationed as a soldier here).  But patriots grew tired of being ruled by others, and in the end Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia, which disintegrated in 1991.

a pretty local costume

We visited the city museum to learn about this, and more.  There was a room with period furniture from the time of the uprising against the Turks.  The table was set with Turkish coffee (still very popular).




The ruins of Heraclea Lyncestis lie on the edge of town.  This Greek settlement was then occupied by the Romans (who built an amphitheater) and then by early Christians (who built a basilica, with beautiful mosaics).

Bitola was on the front line in World War One.  There's a French military cemetery in town.  So many graves, and it's only one cemetery.  And World War Two was worse.

We took a hike with Ivana's boyfriend, Christian, in Pelister National park.  

Ivana's cat, Basti, was waiting for us at home.  In the evening we watched Ivana's dance group rehearse.  They work hard, and were very exciting and entertaining!

Ohrid is a lakeside resort (Albania is just across the lake).

traditional building style

Resorts are a nice place for couples to enjoy being together, and having their pictures taken.
We wandered around old streets, and visited old churches and a Roman amphitheater.

Then it was time for lunch (pizza).  It started to cloud up and drizzle, so we headed back to Bitola.

Ivana's grandmother has a summer home in the village of Dragosh.  St. Ilija Church outside the village is almost on the border with Greece.  Many people (including Ivana's parents) have worked hard to restore the church.  There were beautiful views of the valley (and Bitola, Ivana's home city) from the upper floor of the social hall next to the church.

St. Ilija

Ivana's grandmother has a lovely garden.  She treated us to a generous snack, then we picked cherries  before it was time to leave.

We visited the ruins of the Roman city of Stobi, an important crossroads settlement.  Our guide was very knowledgeable.  This kitten was the only fierce beast in the amphitheater.

 Lots of beautiful, and well-preserved mosaics were in the basilica, the baptistry, and private homes. 

Ps. 42.1:  as the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after you

 There were separate baths at three temperatures (cold, tepid, and warm), plus a sauna.  We also saw remains of plumbing, and food storage urns (which were buried when in use, to keep the food colder).

In Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, there are a seemingly endless number of statues.  There are also some "knockoffs" of famous monuments from other world cities.

The old stone bridge now has two modern neighbors, and a statue of a diver at the river.

 Mother Teresa was born here:  there's a memorial museum, and several plaques with quotes around the city.

We had a nice lunch of kebab in the old market, then scurried home to avoid the rain.

Macedonian partisans fought a battle against the Turks (who had been in charge for hundreds of years) on this hill near Kruševo.  In the town itself was a memorial (built in Tito's time) to those who lost their lives. 

We also visited a memorial museum (no photos allowed) to the popular Macedonian singer Toše Proeski, who died young in 2007 in a car crash. 

On top of a nearby mountain was a monestary (Toše helped with the funding), and beautiful views of central Macedonia.

On the way home we visited relatives of Ivana's father, and enjoyed their hospitality.  There were para-sails overhead.  It was a happy Father's Day.