Today was our last day in Macedonia. Everyone was a little tired so we agreed that they would pick us up at our hotel at 10am. I still got up a little earlier and spent a little time shopping at some of the small stores around our hotel. I also walked over to a Turkish Bath that was near our hotel. I think this building was around 800 years old by I am not sure. I am really curious what the inside of a Turkish bath looks like but I didn't have time to go in. I have included a picture of the Turkish Bath in this post. The Turks ruled Macedonia during the Ottoman Empire and their influence is all around. Turks are mostly Muslim and the population here still has a high percentages of Muslims. I have heard their call to worship several times throughout our stay. We have also seen a number of times. Many of the Orthodox churches have the scars of the Ottoman empire. They thought if they got rid of the Orthodox churches that the Christians would suddenly see the error of their ways and become Muslims. Of course that never works so many of the churches took to the hills. They also defaced some of the frescos in the Orthodox churches which is a shame.
We had decided that we would spend our last day with a minimal amount of work and a trip to an old Monastary. We swung by the office and took care of a little business and said our goodbye's to some of the people at their company. Then 7 of us took off for a tour of the Monastary. They had turned this really large cellar in the Monastary into a restaurant and we planned lunch there. The Monastary was high in the hills over looking Skopje. We got to travel through a new part of town and finally saw some neighborhoods that were made up of houses. It was raining today and when we got to the Monastary there was so much fog that you couldn't see the city. There were supposed to be beautiful views of the city from our top of the hills.
We arrived at the Monastary and decided to look around inside before we ate lunch. It was locked so they had to get an old gentleman who cared for the place to come and let us in. Unfortunately this is another place where you can't take pictures inside. The guys unlocked the doors and led us inside. It was fairly small with really high ceilings. There was an altar at one end and the place had fresco's painted on just about every inch of the walls and ceilings. I guess you can still rent out the Monastary for weddings which I thought would have been awesome. The Monastary was built in the 1100's. The caretaker had turned on some music that was of the Monks singing traditional songs and chants. It really added to the atmosphere of the place. Some of our friends gave us some of the history of the Monastary. There were frescos that had the eyes rubbed out on their faces. They explained that thousands of years ago blind people believed that if they rubbed the eyes on the frescos they would have their sight restored. I am guessing they were a little disappointed. This was a really neat place to be. You could just feel the history.
One of our hosts brought 2 thin candles for each of us. There was an Orthodox tradition that you would light the candles and stick them in the sand of these round circular places. You could light the candles for a loved one that had passed away or just for good luck. After that I bought a couple of post cards that showed some of the art work inside since we couldn't take any pictures.
We then proceeded to the restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was really great. It was in what used to be the cellar for the Monastary. It was a really big room built with bricks and rock with wood beams going across the ceiling. It had lots of little things on the walls that tied it into the history of the Monastary. There was also a nice fire going in the corner of the room that made it really warm and cozy. We had another traditional Macedonian meal that included tons of appetizers and a main course of meat. The meat was lamb, pork, and beef muscle in a thick sauce. I actually really like the meal. I had been growing a little weary of the food here. Not that it is bad or weird or anything it is just that they used spices and seasonings that are different from home. I am missing the food back home. They also took these pieces of bread that resembled a half a hamburger bun and the waiter toasted them right on the fire which I thought was a nice touch. We all spent some time reflecting on the week and it was a nice moment. I feel like I have made some new friends. Of course they asked me if I wanted some of the local liquor call rachia(sp?). I really don't care for this liquor. I answered "no thank you" and they all chuckled and said they were really asking me just letting me know it was coming. They showed me some mercy and my glass was much smaller than theirs. This really was a feast for lunch, much more food than I am used to eating in the middle of the day. As I sit right now I am not really looking forward to dinner because I could easily skip that meal. So far our hosts have paid for every single meal and drink we have had. I told them that we would really like to pay for the meal and let me know in no uncertain terms that it would be insulting to them if I paid. I was glad I said something because I had planned to sneak away and give the waiter my credit card. I really didn't want to hurt their feelings and looking back at it if I would have snuck away they wouldn't have been happy at all. We spent a long time just chatting and enjoying the experience. We wrapped things up with a cappuccino and a yummy hazelnut crepe with local honey for dessert.
After lunch we went back outside and I was pleasantly surprised that the fog had lifted a bit. It was still there but you could see the city below pretty clearly now. We took some time for pictures and to admire the view and started our trip back down the mountain. On the way down we stopped at a big parking lot with a great view of the city. We noticed a car parked off in the corner and from the look of the steamed up windows someone was enjoying a different view in the parking lot. Some more pictures and it was time to head back to the city. We split up and some of the guys went back to work. We were dropped off with one of our hosts named Miska and he took us to a few shops too look for souvenirs. We had an idea what we wanted so we made quick work of the shopping. Our host walked us back to the hotel and left us to our own devices. I had decided that a nap was out of the question today. I need to get to sleep early because we have an early wake up call tomorrow.
I was feeling stuffed from lunch so I decided to walk back across the bridge into the shopping area. I wanted to get a brightly colored luggage tag for one of my bags. Seems like a pretty simple thing to find, right? Think again. There were 2 big malls in the area and lots of shops lined the streets. The fact that I couldn't read the sign on the stores made it pretty difficult to find the right place to shop. I walked all over the place and couldn't find what I wanted. I even went to 3 different stores that specialized in luggage they didn't carry anything close which I thought was a little strange. I found that I didn't speak the language caused me some problems in several of the stores. I guess everyone doesn't speak english after all. Anyway, I ended up at a grocery store and found some stuff to make do. One of my bags is plain black and whenever I go to the baggage claim it seems like there are lots that look alike. The last time I flew someone else grabbed my bag thinking it was theirs and I had to chase them down. I think I have the problem take care of though.
It is time for me to head off to diner and hopefully an early return to the hotel. We have to leave the hotel at 5 am to make our flight so I figuring that will mean a 4:15 wake up call to take a shower and get my things together. Keep your fingers crossed for us that our flights go more smoothly on the way home. We go from Skopje to Zurich to Frankfurt then on to SF. We seem to have plenty of time between flights. I have had a good time but I am looking forward to coming home.
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