Lake Ohrid -Second Take

Having wandered through the streets of the old town in the evening, it was a different treat to see the town from the lake. Zoran loaded us into his boat and slowly cruised around the base of the old town, put a glass of rakia in our hands, then cruised slowly past what was Tito's summer house. He edged his way up a little bywater and we visited a trout farm (the lake has trout which are endangered - it is illegal to fish for trout in Macedonia - unfortunately the trout can be fished in Albania which has access to the lake from its 30% ownership side - no-one has helped the trout work out which side they should stay in..) and then a restaurant with old bits and pieces. The autumn colours were beautiful here, the whole place had a calming energy.

Back to the boat, another slow cruise to our starting point.

I headed up to see the frescoes in one of the churches (St Mary) at the top of the old town - stunningly beautiful. The artwork has been renovated (that's not the word I want but you know what I mean) over the last few years and the colours are exquisitely vibrant, especially where the gold leaf has been applied. This was well worth the hike up the hill. Having not quite got my fill of churches, I then went into St Sophia, the gorgeous church we saw in the sunset on the first night - just me and a Hungarian man who told me that this particular church is sort of like a mecca for Hungarian people. I asked him why one of the pictures of Mary and Christ depicted Christ as a balding middle aged man, but he didn't know. He did suggest that we could walk together if I would like that, but I scuttled off to the next church..).

This one was a tiny church honed out of the rock - the guy inside told me that the church was originally just a shrine and was used for baptisms, but the expanded church is now used for weddings. Honestly, when the Hungarian guy entered the church too, making three of us, I calculated that you could only have maybe ten people standing at a pinch. Frescoes on the ceiling and icons everywhere. No  entry charge for this little beauty, just the cost of a candle to light for happiness.

I sat in this little cafe and had a cocktail and a salad, watching the lake taxis touting for customers. What more could you want.

And if you were wondering where the Muslims live if they don't live in the gorgeous old town,  I found their shops and mosques about 15 minutes walk out of town. I'm heading to that area shortly to see what else I can find.

A final evening meal  - back down to the cafe next to where I ate lunch, rising moon, and raised wine glasses.