Yeah, it's been a while since I last posted, in my defense it is summer here so the slow pace of life slows even more, and that includes my blogging.
As for what's been happening since my last post in May...In June I traveled and then traveled some more.
The first weekend of June I joined a group of other PC volunteers for a trip to Mavrovo National Park. The next weekend another Peace Corps volunteer and I took a trip to Sofia, Bulgaria. We caught the one daily bus from Strumica (at 3am) and stayed with a former Bulgaria PC volunteer who has since returned to continue to work/volunteer in Bulgaria. As for Sofia the city - it's interesting. It's big, so there are nice neighborhoods, ex-pat neighborhoods, and a lotta rough hoods. The great thing about staying with a local was that he knew where all the good places were and showed us all the interesting "local" spots we otherwise never would have found, such as Hambara (The Barn) a completely unmarked bar tucked down an alley that was only lit by candle light. My final opinion of Sofia is I'm glad I went, but once was enough.
From Sofia we boarded an all-night bus to Struga, Macedonia to attend a week of PC training meetings. Our meetings were held in a great hotel on the shores of Lake Ohrid, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Between the meetings all day and the socializing into the night I tried to find what I could find in the surrounding area, I really wanted to see if I could somehow make it into Albania on foot. I failed. I did make it to the border on the lake shore, but there was no crossing, merely an imposing barrier which looked impossible and impossibly stupid to try to scale. I did stumble across an amazing, picturesque village on the coast called Radozda, I was so impressed I had to cajole others to return with me the next day and share some drinks in a village cafe.
A week after returning from Struga I traveled to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg was great and terrible. The terrible parts being the travel there (I had to travel to Thessaloniki, Greece then fly to Dusseldorf, Germany then to Salzburg. Macedonia and Greece don't get along, so just traveling to Greece was an adventure), and the tourists. Holy #$%. Yeah, it was June and sure Salzburg is known for Mozart and The Sound of Music, but I was shocked by the number of tourists, easily 2:1 tourists to Salzburgians. And Salzburg is a pretty small city (150K), so it was impossible to escape the masses. Salzburg without the tourists would be amazing.
After my June wanderlust I stayed put in Macedonia for the remainder of the summer and actually did some work. In July I did get the opportunity to participate in an archeological excavation outside the village of Sveti Nikola. It was hot, back-breaking, unglamorous (you lied to me Indiana Jones) work, but it was pretty rad to be standing on the remains of a city from ~500 B.C.
Well, that pretty much sums up my 1st summer in Macedonia. Next week I'm heading north to Dubrovnik, Croatia, then the week after that I'm headed back to the USofA!
Sofia (so many things about this photo scream "eastern europe")
View of Lake Ohrid from my hotel room in Struga, Macedonia
As for what's been happening since my last post in May...In June I traveled and then traveled some more.
The first weekend of June I joined a group of other PC volunteers for a trip to Mavrovo National Park. The next weekend another Peace Corps volunteer and I took a trip to Sofia, Bulgaria. We caught the one daily bus from Strumica (at 3am) and stayed with a former Bulgaria PC volunteer who has since returned to continue to work/volunteer in Bulgaria. As for Sofia the city - it's interesting. It's big, so there are nice neighborhoods, ex-pat neighborhoods, and a lotta rough hoods. The great thing about staying with a local was that he knew where all the good places were and showed us all the interesting "local" spots we otherwise never would have found, such as Hambara (The Barn) a completely unmarked bar tucked down an alley that was only lit by candle light. My final opinion of Sofia is I'm glad I went, but once was enough.
From Sofia we boarded an all-night bus to Struga, Macedonia to attend a week of PC training meetings. Our meetings were held in a great hotel on the shores of Lake Ohrid, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Between the meetings all day and the socializing into the night I tried to find what I could find in the surrounding area, I really wanted to see if I could somehow make it into Albania on foot. I failed. I did make it to the border on the lake shore, but there was no crossing, merely an imposing barrier which looked impossible and impossibly stupid to try to scale. I did stumble across an amazing, picturesque village on the coast called Radozda, I was so impressed I had to cajole others to return with me the next day and share some drinks in a village cafe.
A week after returning from Struga I traveled to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg was great and terrible. The terrible parts being the travel there (I had to travel to Thessaloniki, Greece then fly to Dusseldorf, Germany then to Salzburg. Macedonia and Greece don't get along, so just traveling to Greece was an adventure), and the tourists. Holy #$%. Yeah, it was June and sure Salzburg is known for Mozart and The Sound of Music, but I was shocked by the number of tourists, easily 2:1 tourists to Salzburgians. And Salzburg is a pretty small city (150K), so it was impossible to escape the masses. Salzburg without the tourists would be amazing.
After my June wanderlust I stayed put in Macedonia for the remainder of the summer and actually did some work. In July I did get the opportunity to participate in an archeological excavation outside the village of Sveti Nikola. It was hot, back-breaking, unglamorous (you lied to me Indiana Jones) work, but it was pretty rad to be standing on the remains of a city from ~500 B.C.
Well, that pretty much sums up my 1st summer in Macedonia. Next week I'm heading north to Dubrovnik, Croatia, then the week after that I'm headed back to the USofA!
Mavrovo Nat'l Park
Sofia (so many things about this photo scream "eastern europe")
View of Lake Ohrid from my hotel room in Struga, Macedonia
