Helga in Kosovo

Hi there!

I came home yesterday from Ohrid. Wau what a place! I absolutely loved it and recommend it to everyone. I stayed in the old town right next to the lake. The lake is over 4 million years old and it is about 700m above the sea level; it is up to 300m deep. Half of the lake belongs to Macedonia and the other half to Albania. The city has a long history and nowadays it is one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. The city reminds me of Berat in Albania; the old town is full of white houses with dark wooded window frames. These houses were built mostly by the Ottomans. Religion has been an important part of the city and this can be seen when you explore the whole region of Ohrid. There are 365 churches in Ohrid; one for each day. The new city is not really any special except along the coast where you can stroll along the lake. However, many places at the shore are full of new hotels that are swirling with people. Of course there were lots of people in the old town, but that didn’t really bother me. Our hotel was next to the lake, Vila Lucija. I loved it. And I loved the price of it even more: one night was less than 30€ (I had a double room with a balcony facing the lake).

The roads were typical from the Middle Ages; very narrow and houses close to one another. Ohrid is also known for its pearl necklaces. Small jewelry stores here and there with beautiful jewelry. There is a nice walking street in the centrum that goes all the way to the shore. There are many small shops that sell clothes, jewelry, pottery, shoes, perfumes, ice-cream etc. Absolutely lovely. I also found a store where they make paper. This one guy showed me the whole process. He had made some beautiful notebooks, cards and pictures.

At the shore there are lots of boats that make small trips on the lake. They also have some larger boats that do longer trips. For example on our second day I went to St. Naum, a monastery. The boat was a little bigger and it took us 1,5h one way. The water was super clear; turquoise water. The monastery and the surroundings were beautiful. It is one of Macedonia’s most famous tourist attractions. It used to belong to Albania in the beginning of 20^th century, but they gave it to Yugoslavia as a gesture of goodwill. I wonder if Albania regrets giving it away, because not only is the place beautiful but they also get a lot of money from the tourists.

Oh and not to forget: the food. For fish lovers Ohrid is perfect. However, I am a meat lover and they had some nice dishes of meat as well. Especially on our first day I had lamb that was cooked in the oven for a long time. The portion was so incredibly big that there would have been food for two people. And it around 700 dinars which is equivalent to about 11, 5€. I have to say that the food in the Balkans is something I will truly miss once I’m back in Finland. So far I have not had bad food anywhere.

It was funny yesterday when we came back home all of us were so tired. Apparently you need another vacation after your vacation. 😀 Monday was a public holiday because of Ramadan Bajram. Prishtina was like a ghost town yesterday and it took a while to find an open grocery store. Today I’m back to work. This is my ninth week. I have only eight more work days left after today. Only one more weekend here before I’m off to Albania for two weeks. After that school starts again. I actually miss going to school. Never thought I would say this…

Anyways, I hope you a good week and next week I will write my last entry of my time in Kosovo.

Bye! 😀