Lake Ohrid, Macedonia (10/2/2026)
Dear Friends:
It’s Friday and we are still in Macedonia (yes, we dropped the North as we got a lot of comments on this on social media from Macedonians). We are leaving Ohrid for Skopje with a quick stop in Tetovo for lunch and to see a mosque with ornately painted walls and ceilings. We are all packed up and once I have this sent out to all of you, we will get on the road. Tetovo is about 2.5 hours from Ohrid and Skopje is about 40 minutes beyond that. No border crossings today, though! (Note: I’m out of time so forgive any typos!)
Wednesday: Ohrid, Macedonia
We couldn’t have asked for better weather here in Macedonia (or on the trip in general). Wednesday, we walked along the water and went to lunch at a place that came highly recommended with a 4.9 rating. Google reviews are not to be trusted! It was pretty crappy but it was fuel for our trek up and down in Old Town Ohrid.
We got to the edge of Old Town and immediately questioned our decisions as we saw souvenir shop after souvenir shop. It was not charming. We continued up the cobblestone streets into a less busy area with charming buildings and I saw a sign for a little museum in a little house, not realizing the artist (Jordan Manasijeski) is world-famous according to one commenter who did not appreciate how little we praised the beauty of Lake Ohrid and the surrounding area in one of our short videos.
The art was incredible and I am a sucker for galleries and museums in renovated old houses and apartments. I shared some pics on IG.
We continued up the hill to the Church of Saint Sophia which had beautiful frescoes but we couldn’t take any pics. Outside there was a sign warning visitors not to disturb the turtles. Turtles on a church property? That’s a new one for us. There was a dog sound asleep under a bush that also seemed to have gotten the memo.
We continued up the hill (this will be a recurring theme in Ohrid) to the Ancient Macedonian Theater with its incredible views of the lake. The theater is nestled into a neighborhood between houses and old buildings converted into hotels.
We continued up the hill to the Plaoshnik Archaeological Park where multiple eras of buildings had been built on the site, including a new Orthodox church made to look old (Saint Clement’s Monastery of Panteleimon). No pics inside there either. We had a quick coffee and ice cream as we appreciated the gorgeous view of the lake.
The path to the platforms to see the mosaics was closed so we ventured further up the hill to Samuel’s Fortress. I thought it closed at 3:30 but the gal said we had 10 minutes as she took our 300 denars and we made our way up the stone steps to the highest part of the town. I did not like being that high. We did the National Lampoon Grand Canyon view of the area and then carefully made our way down the slippery and steep stairs to have the woman close the gate behind us as we left.
Then it was time to make our way down the hill, through a small forest, down more slippery and steep stairs, to the Church of Saint John of Kaneo. Kaneo is the area of Ohrid around the little church and the church was small but mighty in terms of frescoes. I mean, really small. Have I said enough how obsessed I now am with Eastern Orthodox icons, frescoes, and iconostasis?
We walked down to the water where we sat and had a drink to appreciate the beauty of the late afternoon and the lake before we walked back along the lake to our Airbnb in Ohrid. Zeke had hit the wall with his cold so we got takeout from a local place, watched Ghosts on Netflix, and crashed.
Thursday: Struga, Macedonia
Zeke wasn’t feeling 100% yesterday and frankly my cold is lingering too so we got out in time to drive to Struga for lunch. We were amazed at all of the new construction and had the same concern we have for back home in terms of infrastructure: where do people park? What about sewer? Water? Public transportation? It seems that these are all an issue here especially since the lake is a UNESCO heritage site.
We parked and walked along the pedestrian street and Zeke found a very local place for lunch. We had a huge Greek salad and then two meat dishes: goulash and veal. It was really good and we know we were the only tourists in there.
Across the street was the Church of Saint George and this place was amazing. It’s unassuming from the outside (built in 1835) but the frescoes from 1873–1874 were stunning. I loved the iconostasis and icons from 1847–1850. There’s a painting of Saint George from 1267 which was pretty incredible…he was standing and not on a horse slaying a dragon. Pics on IG. I finally got to talk to a local person…the language barrier continues to be an issue…and learned more about the church. It was a lovely interaction and we both left happier people.
From there, we walked to the water, and then to where Lake Ohrid feeds the Black Drin at the northernmost part of the lake. Remember this because later we went to Saint Naum where the natural springs bubble up to feed Lake Ohrid at the southernmost point.
We were amazed at the number of tables set up along the river to enjoy in the summer. Apparently this area gets a ton of visitors in July and August. We can see why. The lake is like Tahoe with the various summer activity amenities.
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Kalishta, Macedonia
We got back to the car and drove about 30 minutes to Kalishta to see the Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary where we got to quickly climb up into a cave before a tour group came through. We also met a couple (Karen and Tim) from the US who used to live in the Bay Area. They were taking Karen’s 95-year-old aunt Marie on a trip. As we were talking, Karen said she thought she’d seen our videos on Bordeaux. I’m shaking my head.
Saint Naum, Macedonia
We then drove about 90 minutes around the lake to Saint Naum, passing hotel after hotel. When we turned into the drive for the Saint Naum Monastery, we both had flashbacks to Chambord. The drive was beautifully lined with trees and orchards. We got to the parking lot after paying 100 denars to park and saw four tour buses and wondered what the hell we’d driven into.
It ended up being fine. We parked, walked up to the church alongside the river, making note of where the crystal clear water from the springs fed into the lake. We continued to walk up to the small church where the guy waved our money away and said it was ok to take pictures so I quickly went in snapping away, afraid he was going to change his mind. It was beautiful. Pics on IG.
When we got to the tomb, Zeke turned around and left. I didn’t get to hear the saint’s heartbeat because our senses were overwhelmed with the smell of onions. Several big tour groups came in so eventually I was forced out. We wandered down to the water again, had a bite to eat and a drink overlooking the clear water until I told Zeke I wanted to take one of the oar-powered boats to see the springs.
Since it was close to sunset, we had a boat to ourselves and we enjoyed a peaceful ride with Ohren who is a boxer who moonlights as a server and rower. We saw the springs bubbling up from the sand…we had to look hard! We also learned that the water came underground from Lake Prespa where we’d been a few days prior.
Then it was time to make our way back to the apartment to get some takeout and watch Ghosts until it was a reasonable time to go to sleep.
Final Thoughts
We are continuing to adjust to traveling without constantly taking video and thinking about what we want to share. We are taking pictures and enjoying the journey as best we can. We are ending our days with a short video of our experience to add to our memory capsules. It’s been interesting to see the responses from Macedonians with corrections, suggestions, and criticisms.
Just as we are letting go of chasing algos and views we are getting interest. Go figure! Anyway, it’s 10:33 and we have to jet. Off to Skopje!
Much love to all of you,
Terri (and Zeke)
P.S. We are halfway through our trip! If you want to buy us a cup of coffee (or champagne) we’ll try to send you a real postcard from our fall adventure. For those of you who have already done so, thank you! Your postcard from Orquevaux is either on its way or you already have it.
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Buy us a cup of coffee (or champagne) and we’ll send you a real postcard from our fall adventure.
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