Sunday, 2013/09/08

We start slowly in the morning. First of all, we have a delicious breakfast in the garden. Then we go for a walk in Voskopojë. The village is obviously starting into the tourist business. Everywhere houses are renovated in traditional manner and the streets are made new with pavement. We stroll around a bit and then visit the Church of St. Nicholas (Shën Kolli). It is one of the most beautiful buildings we have seen in Albania so far. Unfortunately, the icon paintings in the portico are covered with engraved graffiti. Hopefully, the residents will eventually have the opportunity to restore the paintings expertly. Also inside the church is very worth seeing.

While my fellow passenger is still packing, I talk to the daughter of the host family quite a while. This place and the hosts here will be an unforgettable memory.

Remark: A few years later, the hosts' daughter did visit us in Hamburg and stayed here for a few days.

On the way to Korçë we pass a Sunday cattle market. Lots of two- and four-legged friends are on the way.

In Albania, animals are still present everywhere as means of transport in the countryside. Mule/donkeys as animals for riding and transport, and horses in front of carts are very often to be seen - of course also on the roads. Cows, sheep and goats can also be found running freely on the road. Usually there will be a shepherd in the vicinity then, which in higher regions probably also remains in the vicinity of his animals for the night. The herds are - without exception - a quite small number of animals. For cows, there are usually only half a dozen, usually not more than a dozen animals, for sheeps and goats, the number of animals in comparison is only a fraction of the herd size in northern Europe. These shepherds are poor and they hardly will make their living from it. It makes us affluent northern Europeans already quite affected to see such people, but their friendliness towards us has not been lost.

The transport system in totally ddifferent to what we know from northern European countries. There are always several people on the loading area of trucks, not always these are "safely closed". You can also see self-constructed vehicles from time to time. A public approval can not be expected for such vehicles. For this reason too, the highest level of caution is required in traffic in Albania.

On our ride from Korçë to Pogradec we soon get the first view of Lake Ohrid, whose Macedonian side with Ohrid is our relatively close target for today, less than 100 kilometers.

Soon after Pogradec we arrive at the Macedonian border and then ride directly to Ohrid. We park the bikes as central as possible. As soon as we did that, my fellow rider is already approached by a private apartment landlord. Antonio, as he introduces himself later, is a nice, friendly guy who gives us a small tour of Ohrid in English on the way to the apartment, which we first want to take a look at. The apartment is very large and has a double bed and luckily also a couch, so that we do not have to share a double bed today.

Not for the first time the problem is, that we do not know exactly how to get to the parking area of the apartment with the motorcycles and we do not want Antonio to ride with us without a helmet. In the Balkans riding on motorized two-wheelers without a helmet is still normal. But as always here, we find a solution. Antonio lends himself to a friend's bicycle and then cycles ahead of us. So he has at least some sport on Sunday. Antonio lives with his family above the apartment and so I can enjoy to use his WIFI in our apartment.

Generally about WIFI / WLAN or general Internet: Many of the restaurants and bars are offering internet access via Wifi. You just have to ask the operators for the network and the easiest way is to let them enter the password. In the hotels and guesthouses, WIFI is standard and even in private accommodation it sometimes offered. In a few cases, you do not even need a password to connect to the internet. So I was often able to make a video call with Brigitte at home via Google+ hangout. This is a very nice way of communication because you can show your partner what's to see around you, or send short messages and photos. Besides, this communication is for free. Of course Skype or similar software works as well.

We stroll a bit through the streets and look for a restaurant recommended by the Italian guide at the Church of St. Sofia, where we finally have a delicious lunch.

Since it is still early, we have some time scheduled for the beach. The German of course has to plunge into the cold water of the lake. The Italian only needs some refreshment for his legs. In the sun we relax for a while.

Then we start a sightseeing tour in and around Ohrid. We walk to the beautifully located Church of St. John of Kaneo and spend time there until sunset. There I meet a Chinese with whom I try to speak some Chinese. My fellow rider wanted to hear me speaking Chinese with someone. But so far I have not found any Chinese on our trip. However, the Chinese we meet here is an individualist. He always answers to my Chinese questions in English, which is ok for me, after all, he is abroad and therefore may want to improve his foreign language skills. Therefore I also continue to talk to him in English. He is from Shanghai and seems to be quite often in the countries of the Balkans or even throughout Europe for work. On free weekends he visits places that are famous for their sunsets. Once he took 5 flights and several ferries for a three-day trip to Santorini to take pictures the world-famous sunset there. Again, he is waiting for the sunset, which is very beautiful and of which I take some photos too, but by far not as ambitious as this young Chinese guy.

We walk to the monastery church of St. Kliment and Panteleon and to the excavation area around the church, where some old mosaics can be watched. Our nocturnal walk also takes us past the antique theater, but we are not looking for the castle, because we already feel hungry again.

In search of a restaurant, we first sit down at a pizzeria. But my Italian companion reads on the menu card that ketchup is used on the pizzas. Knowing my travel companion and his culinary needs a bit and interpreting his comments, I quickly realize that using ketchup on pizzas is one of the deadly sins for an Italian, so I take the initiative to escape and we decide to visit the restaurant from lunch again, as it was very good and we remember still interesting dishes that we want to try.

In the evening, the wind is getting colder significantly and we shiver a little. It was a warmer along the coast. Nevertheless, we are late in the evening again. Fed up, satisfied and full of impressions we fall into our beds.