As I type this, I feel so at home, so comfortable, so at peace. And I am so grateful for the respite! Even if these feelings only last tonight (and they might - they are feelings, not Truth or Reality), I am content and will be fine for the rest of the trip.
Today has been such a wonderful day. We left our apartment in Skopje and drove through the mountains. Once outside of Skopje, it is significantly easier to see why people love Macedonia. The country is absolutely gorgeous. The mountains are lush and today the clouds gently crowned the mountains peaks. I was able to share the front seat and therefore had a fabulous view of the landscape as we zipped past. Our route took us past Lake Mavrovo and the mountains surrounding it. (Interesting fact from Wikipedia: Lake Mavrovo and its National Park contain three distinct Alpine mountain systems. Thankfully, we did not hike these mountains or I think I would have died - they were huge!) I really enjoyed the scenery as we passed through Mavrovo and I recalled driving past Lago de Yojoa in Honduras; I had the same unexpected initial view and was overwhelmed by the lake's natural beauty. Again, I am not an outdoors person in any way, but I appreciate the lake and mountains because they aren't common vistas in my daily life.
Our first stop in the day was the Monastery for St. Jovan Bigorski (John the Baptist). This was my first visit to a monastery. For those of us not wearing skirts, the females had to put some on from a selection provided by the monastery. Those with bare shoulders also needed to cover up and any male wearing shorts needed to put on pants (again, the monastery provided a selection). I was glad I wore a dress and didn't have to bother with putting on and taking off a long skirt.
The monastery is up in the mountains and is beautiful. There was a fire last year and the cafeteria burned so they are now charging an entrance fee in order to rebuild. The monastery's focal point is their church, originally built in 1020. The iconostasis (a partition - very ornate - separating the sanctuary from the "holy place") was hand-carved and is one of three carved by a pair of brothers. I really wish I could have taken a picture of this iconostasis because it was INCREDIBLE! There are over 500 carved figures and the pillars are each one piece of wood. I found a picture of a small section of the iconostasis. This picture shows the two carvers and is about the size of my palm. 
We left the monastery hungry and drove past the town of Debar, hoping to find some place tasty to eat. Instead, we drove out of the town and away from food... umm... yeah. Thankfully, just before we did a three-point turn-around, we saw a sign for a restaurant. The initial sign advertised delicious food, but the sign before the little turn-off advertised fish. Again - ummm... The restaurant was right on the lake and while it doesn't look like much in the picture, it was a very nice place (and the skopska salad was absolutely delicious! Definitely my favorite shopska since I've been in Macedonia). After lunch, we drove (theme of the day!) some more - our destination being the springs in Vevčani. Unfortunately, it began raining as we pulled up and unloaded everyone from the van. The springs were pretty and the water was so clear, but it wasn't warm enough to be that wet. On our drive down from the springs, our van got stuck on the tiny streets. A tractor and a tiny car were parked too close together and the our van could not pass through. Josh, doing what any driver would do, laid on the horn in the hopes that the driver of either vehicle would come out. No such luck. A random pedestrian passed by and signaled that he would find the driver(s). A young guy (about my age) came out and following him came an old lady leading a goat on a leash! It was too random and too funny! The goat hopped along down the road as the old lady walked it - I wish I had taken a picture!
And then we arrived in Ohrid and my soul found a place to rest. Ohrid is an old city on the shores of Lake Ohrid. The lake is split between Albania and Macedonia - more on that in another post. It is beautiful, hilly, and amazing. We are residing in the old section of town where the streets are cobblestones and we walk past really old churches every time we leave our rented rooms. (Ohrid does have 365 churches so it would be difficult to not walk past a church.) Our rented rooms (we have two) are right on the water so the views are amazing and we can hear the lake lapping at our deck every morning when we eat breakfast outside.
Anne and I took a brisk walk while the others unpacked and settled in. She took me to one of her favorite spots - Kaneo. We climbed up just as the sun set. Words cannot describe how beautiful it was and how overjoyed I was to be in Macedonia at that moment. Thank you, God, for allowing me to come and for getting me through the past four weeks so I could fully appreciate that moment.
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