Macedonia :: Week 2

We’ve spent the last four days by beautiful lake Ohrid, which is a mountain lake about an hour and a half north west of Bitola. The Ohrid Riviera is Macedonia’s most popular holiday spot - the lake's beaches are lined with clubs, cafes and DJ’s.

The lake is freshwater (the locals call it “sweet water”) and is absolutely amazing to swim in. The hotel we stayed at had a private beach AND two pools, so we’ve ended up with some serious sunburn after spending so much time outside.

We also visited some of the more important places in and around the city of Ohrid – Galicica national park, St Naum and St Kliment churches, the old part of the city and most importantly, Samuil’s Fortress.

Galicica - this is looking down the side of the mountain, the blue background is the lake

Samuil's Fortress

Today we head north to visit some of my family in a place called Kumanovo.

Macedonia :: Week 1

We are staying in a brand-new apartment on the second floor of this building, right near the Old Bazaar (Stara Carsija).

At the markets

Traditional shoes

Fountain commemorating King Phillip II

Visiting Sash's aunt (his dad's eldest sister)

We've spent a ridiculous amount of time in cafes and restaurants. Summertime here is about hitting the main corso after dark and just wandering up and down the street, catching up with friends as you go (we've bumped into loads of people we know from Newcastle and Sydney). Which means pretty much everyone stays out late.

Meanwhile, back in the village... 

View from Sash's dad's family land

Feeding the chickens

Watering the chillies

Barbecue at cousin Toni's

Next week we're hoping to get to Ohrid for a few days.

Hungry?

It didn't take long for Sash's uncle to let the kids know which pig was going to become our dinner this weekend.

They were very matter-of-fact when they explained to me it was because the sow was going to have babies soon and the "boy pig" was no longer required.

Nice.

They also made themselves very scarce when the fun began. Unlike their mother who was called on for camera duty.

All the best bits of the 120kg "boy pig" were cooked up for lunch.

Strange, but when it came time to eat, no-one was really that hungry after all.

Going for a walk afterwards

Look what we found

Skopje/Bitola/Gabalavci

We have arrived!!!

Kids are having an absolute ball in the village with their cousins.

We're getting settled in the apartment we'll be calling home for the next 6 weeks and starting to plan our day trips around the country.

Novi Sad

Sash's uncle (his mum's eldest brother) and his family live about an hour northwest of Belgrade in Serbia's second largest city.

Novi Sad is right on the Danube River. Sash's cousin owns a bar/cafe in the Petrovaradin fortress which hosts the annual EXIT festival. We were visiting just before the music festival began so we watched as everyone prepared for the four-day onslaught.

When we weren't lounging around in cafes we spent most of our time either shopping or eating. Hard life.

Late night snack with Vujce Goce

Hanging out with cousin Boris

View from fortress at night 

Town square

Boris's wife Tijana took us absolutely everywhere for four days, including morning tea at her mother's place - who, it turns out, is a food blogger.

Tummies full of cake and coffee... me with Tijana (lady in green t-shirt), her friend Ana and her mum.

Next stop, Macedonia.

Rome

OK, it’s really, really hot here and I have a head cold and I'm grumpy, so this one’s going to be short.

We’ve been to see all the typical tourist things – Colosseum, Roman Forum, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum (where we unexpectedly got a great Egyptology lesson – yeah, I know?!)

Colosseum

Forum

In fact, this city has a distinct fixation with Egyptian monuments. We’ve walked past/through dozens of piazzas (big and small), and they all seem to have an obelisk in them. Either real (stolen) or replicas. Even the massive courtyard of St Peter’s Basilica.

Sistine Chapel was one of those moments where we found ourselves being terrible tourists. We walked past several signs asking people to not take pictures/video and to please be quiet. Then we walk into this:

It was almost louder than a crowded Macedonian church. So we joined in until one of the security guards was brave enough to start the ‘nofoto’ chant.

Michelangelo's Judgement Day covers one whole wall

Tonight we’re going for a walk past Rome’s Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain on the way to a restaurant that’s been recommended to us. Tomorrow, we jump on another plane and head to Serbia to visit more family.

Florence

Another (quick) train ride and we were here.

Kids are starting to get tired of looking at "old things". Too bad they've still got Rome coming.

We've had a great time seeing the sights and doing loads more shopping, though. Alot of the same high-end stores as Milan, but more street markets filled with glass jewellery, wool and silk scarves and stationery. And leather - jackets, shoes, belts, bags, hair clips, bookmarks, keyrings, book covers, bowls, trays - you name it, and in every colour imaginable. This place is definitely a tourist town.

We're staying in a 12th century (!!) first-floor apartment right in the heart of Florence, which is beautiful but comes complete with several flights of stairs up from the street and a strange, slightly-damp smell that hits you as soon as you open the front door. At least the stone walls mean the neighbours can't hear us. Kids were please to learn our next apartment in Rome with be much "newer" (18th Century) and has a lift.

Everything is within a 10 min walk. The two main piazzas (della Republica and della Signoria) are literally 2mins away, Dante Alighieri's house is right around the corner and both the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio are only a couple of blocks further in either direction.

Ponte Vecchio

Our tour of the city included entry to the museum where Michelangelos's statue of David is kept. But strictly no photos of the real thing, so here are a couple of pictures of the copies they've left out in public squares:

David in the Piazza della Signoria

David in the Piazzale Michelangelo

We also made sure we climbed the 463 stairs to the top of the cupola of Florence's Duomo, which sounded incredibly daunting from the bottom but wasn't really.

Red-brick dome towards the centre is what we climbed

At the bottom

View of incredible ceiling after first round of stairs

Still climbing...

Views from the top

On the way down

Except for the stifling heat, we've had a great time here. Off to Rome tomorrow. Fingers crossed we have better internet access and I don't have to go hunting for a cafe to post from again.