<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09190.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1870" title="Clock in Skopje" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09190.jpg?w=225" alt="The Clock in Skopje" width="225" height="300" /></a>

Number 21 on the NYT <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10places.html?em">31 Places to go in 2010</a> is Macedonia specifically Lake Ohrid.  I was really excited to see this show up on the list.  Bulgaria didn't make the list but maybe next year. Fingers crossed.

[caption id="attachment_1854" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="A street in old town Skopje"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3682.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1854" title="Old town Skopje" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3682.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

It reminded me of a great trip I took this last spring/early summer to Macedonia.

[caption id="attachment_1860" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Me in Macedonia"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09358.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1860" title="Me in Macedonia " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09358.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

My friend D. and I went together for a long weekend in June. We took the bus from Sofia to Skopje and spent a day there and then we went from Skopje to Lake Ohrid.  It was easy-peasy.  Which is good because that's how I prefer my travel to be--easy-peasy.<!--more-->

[caption id="attachment_1857" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="A Glimpse of Lake Ohrid "]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09370.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1857" title="A Glimpse of Lake Ohrid " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09370.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

Downtown Skopje wasn't so different feeling than Sofia. The streets and the sidewalks seem a little bit wider than in downtown Sofia.  I don't know this for sure but I  have a hunch that it must have to do with the fact that Skopje suffered a pretty serious earthquake in the 1960's.  The building as a whole feel pretty communist--concrete, shades of grey everywhere you turn, glass windows, balconies with laundry hanging in the wind and buildings with pealing paint.

[caption id="attachment_1861" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Church of Saint Panteleimon"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09400.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1861" title="Church of Saint Panteleimon" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09400.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

I liked it.  But I kind of like the underdog which is why I think I liked Skopje.  I liked the old town, I liked the modern newer section of town and I liked the clock tower that stopped at the hour of the earthquake and is still standing.

[caption id="attachment_1863" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Dinner on the lake"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09445.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1863" title="Dinner on the lake " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc09445.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

Lake Ohrid however has a pretty serious leg-up on Skopje.  It's beautiful. Really beautiful. I don' t thing the NYT blurb does it justice.

The town is a maze of little streets, churches, restaurants, shops and bars. The lake however overwhelms the town. It's vast and the scene is dramatic.

[caption id="attachment_1865" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Me on the boat ride home"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3800.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1865" title="Me on the boat ride home" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3800.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

We ate dinner one night on the lake. Everything had been caught fresh and the owner cooked the food as we watched.  Fresh fish, wine, a salad and dessert on the lake in June.  There's not much better than that.

[caption id="attachment_1866" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Lake Ohrid at Night"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3804.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1866" title="Lake Ohrid at Night " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3804.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

We spoke Bulgarian with the owner--his restaurant was clearly a family affair--and he spoke Macedonian in response. He laughed at us a little bit but we got through it.  FYI: for those who don't live in the Balkans Bulgarian and Macedonian are considered very similar languages.  This was a nice thing for us. Then after dinner the owner gave us a ride home on his little motorboat.  Um, wow.

[caption id="attachment_1869" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Lovely, lovely Lake Ohrid"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3854.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1869" title="Lovely, lovely Lake Ohrid" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/cimg3854.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

Of course time makes the memories a little bit sweeter, a little less crisp, and the frustrations fall apart. And as I am beginning to learn a trip in the Balkans never goes off completely without a hitch.  Ours was that at the border we spent a couple of hours at the border Macedonian-Bulgarian border on our way home sitting on the side of the road waiting for our turn.  The good thing? Well, the weather was beautiful and someone was selling ice cream cones.