3. Macedonia.

Skopje and Lake Ohrid    

June 28th -  July 4th

Love this!!

Crossing the border was emotive, probably as we will not be crossing back into Bulgaria to go home, it really did feel like the end for me, the border experience (in Eastern Europe) makes me a little nervous full stop after a traumatic border crossing into Russia back in 2004, lets put it this way from here on they can only get easier.  

The first thing that struck us in Macedonia was the flag, its everywhere and its beautiful, the second was the Mosques as they stretch elegantly above the roof tops. The drive to Skopje was pretty trouble free and we found the camp site relatively easy too, the Trip Advisor reviews of Camping Bellevue were not great but it was the only one near the city, we have been to some pretty 'basic' sites over the years and it turned out to be in the grounds of a dated but very nice Best Western hotel with a lovely lake and garden area, the site itself could be fantastic, lots of relatively new but unmaintained facilities, it was certainly not the worst we have used but we are coming from Eastern Europe where accommodation on the whole is a few 'stars' below Western standards and at 25E per night all in not bad especially as access to the city was easy from here.

Lovely and cool :)

Camping Bellevue, Skopje.

Skopje was amazing!! We took a day to look around the center and the old town, they are investing so much money we have actually been wondered where its all coming from...  Amazing Opera and Ballet theater, bridges to rival Prague and riverside developments underway.  The recent 'colourful revolution' was evident, many buildings and monuments had been paint bombed by demonstrators following the wiretapping scandal of thousands of politicians.

Colourful revolution.

Fun water feature in the square.

This wonderful monument is a lovely tribute to Motherhood.

Just one on the many bridges.

The Millenum Cross overlooks the city, a short and enjoyable cable car ride took us there. The Alexander the Great fountain and nearby water feature was great fun and the old town beautiful, we had a meal in a Turkish restaurant/hostel called Nargile, took a while to get food as it was so busy and we were all staving so it felt much longer and when I ordered a beer they told me they dont sell alcohol... refreshing change if you ask me, the boys were fascinated by the group of youngsters next to us enjoying a smoking pipe - fun to watch them observing something new with joy and interest :)

The captivating old town.

Our Second day took us to Matak Canyon, Lake and caves. Lunch then a boat ride to the caves - very enjoyable.

Matak Canyon

Loving the river.

Lake side dinning.

After such a lovely relaxing day it was later than planned when we packed up ABI (the caravan) and whilst doing so we found ourselves pretty much surrounded by riot police, quite a few Defenders, an armored vehicle and two coach loads of football fans - what on earth...

Interesting...

I am sure we could have spent at least another 2 or 3 days in the wonderful city, may have to visit again!!

Arrived at Camping Rino at around 10pm, much later than planned, its never good arriving in the dark when you are not sure where you are going. Once set up it was pretty much time for bed, we were right at the edge of the lake and to be honest I was quite excited about what we would have right outside our door in the morning.

7am and this is what greeted me as I opened the door...

Feeling very lucky :)

I managed to log on and get the blog up to date and was served fresh complimentary coffee - what could be better!?

We had a lovely few days looking around the town of Ohrid and the surrounding area, swimming and just relaxing. 

The Bay of Bones a 'Museum on Water' was well worth the visit.

A reconstruction of a village built on the lake.

Nice Melon.

Old Town gates in Ohrid.

Streets similar to Veliko Tarnovo

Our bed has been collapsing so Neil purchased some lathes to fit to the edge of where the slats sit to prevent us finding ourselves on the floor in the morning, this is a bit of a worry as it used to all fit perfectly we are still finding screws on the floor every time we  stay somewhere and have no idea where they are from,  I am sure we shall make it to Portugal in one piece...

As usual we meet wonderful people and on this occasion a lovely young British couple Ellie and Paul who have traded life in London for a cycle around Europe, they are organising Marathons around the world and planning not to get back into the 'rat race', I shall be sharing more about their projects and hopefully we can assist them in organising a marathon in Veliko Tarnovo, I think the town is ready for such a thing :)

Our last evening with a stunning sunset over Ohrid.

Following days of early morning dips in the cool and refreshing lake and fresh coffee has truly been wonderful, now we are ready for Albania...