On the way to Macedonia, after the heater has been installed, we drove straight to the border. We left Albania in no time, it took a little longer to get into Macedonia. She wanted to see the green card from the insurance company, it turned out the one we had is an old one and we had to print out the new one at home. One of the officers arranged internet for us, so we can download the map and show it. After a quick check on the inside of the car, we are allowed to enter the country and we drive around Lake Ohrid to Ohrid.
The next morning we start the day at NOA lounge with a cup of coffee and breakfast, we actually always have breakfast in the camper, but this is also nice sometimes. Then we explore the center on foot. We want to walk along the Ohrid boardwalk along the sea, but the wind is so strong that we skipped it. The wind causes the waves to crash over the boardwalk, which guarantees wet socks! We first visit the Robevci Family House, once the home of one of the most important families from Ohrid, now a museum. You will find old objects, furniture and clothing from that time. The original house burned down in 1862 due to vandalism, and they rebuilt the house two years later. The family lived there until 1900, after which it was used as a holiday home. After the Second World War, the house was included as a cultural heritage.
After this we visit several churches, all of the same orthodox architectural style, but one slightly larger than the other, and the drawings on the inside are also different.
- Church of Holy Mother Kamensko – We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside here, but it looked beautiful!
- Church of Saint John the Theologian – This church was closed when we were there but we really liked the outside.
- Church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon – Beautifully restored but only a few areas to view. The archaeological site around can’t be visited.
- Church of St. Sophia – This church has been less restored, but you can still clearly see what the drawings were like, some still intact, others more dilapidated.
Ohrid has many more churches than these 4 described above, but after 4 churches we thought we had seen enough. We last visited Church of Saints Clement, which is located on top of a mountain. It’s a short walk through Ohrid to get to the church. After this we walk past Samuel’s Fortress, here we only take some pictures of the outside. Then we walked back down to the shopping street, where we bought a small souvenir. We enjoyed our day in Ohrid. The old center is very beautiful to walk through on the cobblestone streets. The architecture in Ohrid is unique, what we haven’t seen before. Almost all houses are painted white to reflect from the sun on warmer days in the summer.
Now it was time to leave Ohrid and drive a bit towards Greece.