City on the Hill: Ohrid, Macedonia

According to the Lonely Planet "if you haven't seen Ohrid, you haven't seen Macedonia" and I understand why because Lake Ohrid is spectacular. Situated on the Albanian-Macedonian border, Lake Ohrid is one of Europe's oldest and deepest lakes and covers an area of 138 square miles.

Luckily our bus ride to Macedonia went much smoother than the one to Albania and we were in Ohrid by early afternoon. We got dropped off on the main road in town and as we stood there looking completely lost, backpacks strapped on and map out, trying to figure out how to get to our guesthouse a man approached us and asked if we needed accommodation. Of course this happens often traveling and people are trying to get you to stay with them so we politely said we had a place to stay and went back to our map. He asked where and when we told him we were staying at Antonio Guesthouse he pulled out his phone and called Antonio to come meet us. Once we made it to our guesthouse (the house was shared by Antonio and his parents and they used some of the rooms upstairs for renting to travelers) we decided to relax for a bit and then headed out for dinner and a walk down to the harbor and through 'old town' with its lovely narrow cobblestone streets.

Upper Gate of Old Town Ohrid

On our second day in Ohrid we did Lonely Planet’s walking tour of Ohrid’s ‘old town’. We began our tour at Sveta Bogorodica Perivlepta church, which is home to some amazing frescos depicting the life of Mary (not picture allowed though) and on to the old town’s Upper Gate and Classical Amphitheater. The amphitheater was originally built for theater, but later the Romans pulled out the first ten rows to accommodate the gladiator fights. At the church we were given a tour about the history of the church and an explanation of what the frescos depict. According to Robby our tour guide reminded him of the gypsy woman Esmeralda from the Disney movie 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. She had long wild curly hair pulled back in a large jeweled butterfly clip and wore a long hot pink sundress and wedge sandals. Her tour style was animated and she spoke loudly with a very passionate tone about the subject matter of the frescos. When our tour first began there were four of us, but as more visitors came inside the church she had to tell them about the ticket price (she was only person working there) and she would yell to them that they could join our tour and pay later. Invariably when she went back to the tour instead of starting off where she had been she would quickly begin the story again.

Classical Amphitheater of Ohrid

Next we went to Car Samoil’s Castle. Car Samoil from Bulgaria ruled Macedonia from 980 AD to 1014 AD, until Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated Samoil at the Battle of Belasica in 1014. The castle offered panoramic views of the lake and city.

From the castle we wandered down a forest path to the ruins of a 4th century church, which is currently being excavated. Next to the ruins is the 5th century church of Sveti Kliment i Pantelejmon that displays the architectural style of the various empires that ruled Ohrid.

Sveto Kliment i Pantelejmon church

Walking back up the hill we made it to Sveti Jovan at Kaneo, a 13th century church, sitting on a cliff above Lake Ohrid.

Sveti Jovan at Kaneo church

Chapel of Mala Bogorodica

Below Sveti Jovan tucked into the cliff base is the small chapel of Mala Bogorodica sitting next to Kaneo beach. We stopped for a fish lunch at a beach café before finishing up our tour. After lunch we walked back up the hill towards the center of the old town to Sveta Sofija, an 11th century church that was modeled after Constantinople’s St. Sophia. Some of the frescos have been exposed from beneath the wall plastering that preserved them during the Ottoman era.

Sveta Sofija church

On our last day in Ohrid before our overnight bus to Belgrade we took a quick trip to Sveti Naum 29km from Ohrid on the other end of the lake. The Church of Sveti Naum is a multi-domed, Byzantine-style church and was built in the 16th century. Peacocks roam the grounds around the church (apparently peacocks were an early Christian symbol of resurrection and immortality. The peacock is also featured on the 10 Macedonian denar bank note and coin.

Church of Sveti Naum

Next Stop: Belgrade, Serbia

What's in Albania: Tirana & Kruja

When many of my friends found out I was traveling to Albania their first response was often "What's in Albania?" or "Why Albania?". Well I wanted to visit Albania because it is such an unknown to many people due to its decades of isolation under Enver Hoxha. My interest in post-communist states and Eastern European history also drew me to Tirana. Tirana is a city that reminds me of Yerevan in many ways, but also has the evidence of a stronger European influence than in Armenia. Albania is a country that was ruled over by many empires and ideologies all of which are evident in its architecture, cuisine, and people, which makes it a fascinating place worth visiting to me.

The cheapest way for us to travel from Athens to Tirana was to take the 11 hour overnight bus, which became a 16 hour journey because it took 5 hours to cross the border. Many tour companies run overnight buses to Tirana and that means that they all arrive at the Greek-Albanian border at the same time and each bus has to wait its turn to cross the border. We spent our first night in Tirana relaxing at our hostel and recovering from our bus ride. The next day we explored the streets of Tirana and this is what we saw.

The Pyramid was built in 1988 (can't you tell!) by Enver Hoxha's daughter and son-in-law to serve as the Enver Hoxha Museum. It is now home to cultural events and teenage graffiti artists. Hoxha founded the Albanian communist party in 1941 to fight back against the fascist occupation of Albania by the Italians. He was in power until his death in 1985. He kept the country extremely isolated breaking off relations with Yugoslavia in 1948. He maintained relations with the Soviet Union during Stalin's years, but after Khrushchev came to power and criticized the cult of personality surrounding Stalin, Hoxha broke with Soviet-style communism in 1960. After this Albania aligned with China and from 1966 to 1967 Albania underwent its own cultural revolution. Atheism was promoted and churches and mosques were destroyed and the collectivization of agriculture was completed. Hoxha built tens of thousands of igloo-shaped concrete bunkers that still dot the hills of the country. With Mao's death in 1976 Albania's unique relationship with China came to an end and the country became isolated with no allies.

The Bell of Peace was forged from bullet casings from the 1997 conflict in Albania.

Parliament Building: After Hoxha's death restrictions loosened a bit, but the whole system of government was falling apart. Throughout the 1990s thousands of Albanian fled to Western embassies in Tirana and to Italy in search of political asylum. The government finally agreed to allow opposition parties and the 1992 elections ended 47 years of communist rule in Albania. The transition from communism to free market led to increased corruption and smuggling. A severe economic crisis led to 70% of Albanian's losing their savings and rioting and looting in the streets. The situation has stabilized during the first decade of the 21st century, but it is estimated that around 25% of the population lives in poverty.

Communist-style Apartment Buildings fill the neighborhoods of Tirana. These buildings are a feature of all cities and towns throughout Eastern Europe, but unlike those of Armenia the one's in Tirana have been painted with bright colors and patterns. This really adds a sense of hope to the city and takes away from the grim nature of concrete block towers.

Italian Architecture: Albanian King Zog I cooperated extensively with the Italians in developing Albania during the 1930s. The Italians built grand boulevards and beautiful buildings from the Fascist school of architecture (that's right there is a Fascist style) and helped turn Tirana into a true capital city. However, this left Albania indebted to Italy and basically a de facto colony. In 1939 Mussolini ordered the invasion of Albania and King Zog fled to England. The Italians occupied Albania throughout World War II.

Skanderbeg: This statue of Albanian national hero Skanderbeg looks out over Skanderbeg Square, which is currently a giant construction site because the square is being renovated to be a pedestrian only area. Skanderbeg is a national hero because from 1443 to 1468 he led the Albanian resistance against takeover by the Ottoman Empire. He won all 25 battles he fought against the Turks and although the Ottoman's finally overwhelmed the Albanian resistance - it was only after 26 years of fighting.

Et'hem Bey Mosque was built in the 18th century and managed to survive destruction during Hoxha's 1960s atheism campaigns due to its beauty and its status as a cultural monument.

Mother Teresa Square: While Mother Teresa may be one of the most famous Albanians sadly the square meant to honor her is not much more than this statue and an empty concrete fountain.

Mother Albania sits atop a hill overlooking Tirana surrounded by Martyrs' Cemetery where 900 Albanian partisans who died in World War II are buried.

We took a day trip to Kruja, the site of Skanbderbeg's castle, during our time in Albania. Located about 45 minutes north of Tirana the ancient site is now surrounded by the modern city of Kruja. Skanderbeg was born in Kruja and Albanians still take pride in that fact that he and his forces defended Kruja until his death.

Next Stop: Ohrid, Macedonia