Macedonian monasteries: Sveti Naum

As one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Macedonia, you'd think we'd have covered this one already. Sveti Naum, near the Albanian border, is magnificent. Its grounds with its peacocks, Lake Ohrid, the beautiful 17th c. church, the hotel... The entire region is rich in monasteries, churches and caves.

The original church was built in 900 by St. Naum himself (who is buried there). Legend says that if you put your ear to his tomb, you can still hear his heart beat. His sweat and blood are what made this beautiful site possible. From the monastery grounds, you can see the Albanian town of Pogradec on the other side of the lake on a clear day.

Admission to the Church of Sveti Naum: 100MKD (approx. £1.45)

Other churches and monasteries in the area include: 

• Church of St. Sofia
• Church of St. Bogorodica Perivlepta
• St. Clement's monastery
• Church of St. Nicholas Bolnicki
• Church of St. Dimitry
• Church of the Holy Mother

There are, because of the landscape, some churches located in caves as well. St. Erasmo, St. Stefan and St. Bogorodica all built churches in the cave system nearby. In most the frescos painted right on to the ceilings of the caves have been preserved but the caves themselves went through numerous reconstructions during their existence. Archaeologists estimate that they date back as far at the beginning of the 13th c. and were used by small groups of monks looking for solitude and peace for prayer.

Reaching the beautiful Lake Ohrid is easy. There is an airport 9 km from the town and is used by the following airlines: Ada Air, Balkan Airlines, Adria Airways, MAT, JAT and Aviompeks. The easiest way to get here though is to fly to Skopje and drive. It's essential though to do a proper flight comparison to know when is the best time to fly to Macedonia.

Have you ever been? What other sights around Macedonia do you recommend?

100 things to do in Belgrade

When a recent commenter asked me to do another post on Belgrade I was sort of scratching my head about what to write about since I already wrote about how to spend a weekend in Belgrade. To be honest, Belgrade isn't a pretty city, even the locals will admit that. But there is more to a city than just looks and this is where Belgrade really gets interesting.

When it comes to the Serbian capital, it's all about experience.

So how can a traveller experience Belgrade?
Well. I've come across an epic list of 100 things to do in Belgrade, not just for tourists but for locals too. If you're thinking, "Good grief is she really going to list 100 things to do in Belgrade?" then rest assured I'm not. I'll list only 10 and then if that's not enough, you can go here and read about the other 90.

1. Gradic Pejton - visit this symbol of struggle against the New World Order and while you're at it, browse the craft shops in the surrounding neighbourhood.
2. Dervish "turbe" - left over from the Ottoman era, you can find this little marker at the beginning of Visnjiceva Street.
3. Zeleni Venac - shop the black market and live life on the edge a bit. Enjoy the bustle of this somewhat mysterious pedestrian street. 
4. Kalemegdan - the best place to buy a five hundred billion dinar note for only one hundred dinars from a Belgrade memorabilia shop.
5. Svetogorska Street 17 - home of the first discotheque in the Balkans. It opened in 1967 but you'll need to report back if you want to know what's there now.
6. Kaludjerica - undoubtedly the wildest suburban area in Europe, constructed totally without any building permits.
7. Tram #2 - skip the hop on hop off buses, take the tram instead. Like Budapest, the Tram #2 gives you the complete and "unofficial" tour of Belgrade's best sights.
8. Balkanska Street - for shopping and browsing vintage shops that haven't quite noticed that they're vintage... they just haven't changed in 30 years.
9. Salvador Dali - Hidden on the corner of Dorcol, you'll get a little glimpse at local humour.
10. Sweets - Find yourself a stool at an old-fashioned candy shop. If you're not sure what to order, taste some Turkish Delight.

Belgrade shouldn't be underestimated. Start your trip through the Balkans here, you might be surprised at how easy it is to find cheap flights to Belgrade year round. If you've been and want to add some more experiences to the list, leave a comment!

Try saying Ljubljana three times fast!

Now that your tongue's all in a twist, let's talk about Slovenia. Yes, that little country sandwiched between Austria and Croatia. It's often left out of the Balkan loop because of its historical ties to Central Europe and the lack of Ottoman influence. But if we're going to be technical than perhaps Slovenia has no place on this blog about Balkan travels but it is still a destination country in and around the Balkan region that should not be skipped.

• Postojna Cave: a network of 20 km of passages and chambers which have attracted visitors for almost 200 years. Take the "cave train" through the labyrinth. There is lighting to you can see how geology records time through its layers and formations. Guided tours last about an hour and a half.  

• Triglav National Park: "The Kingdom of the Seven Triglav Lakes is a land that does not know how to smile, so deeply serious have the natural forces designed its face and chosen its colours." (Julius Kugy, mountaineer) This national park is best known for its network of walking, trekking and cycling routes through flat valleys and rigorous mountain terrain. 

• Šempeter: Antiquity is preserved in this town in the form of  a Roman necropolis filled with 1st century tombs. The sepulchres have been reconstructed complete with columns, peaked roofs and griffins guarding the dead.

• Ptuj: This town is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to Medieval Times. It is worth a day visit to see the museums, monasteries and castles. 

• Bled: It is crawling with tourists but there is good reason why it's so popular. The island church and the mountain peaks are indescribable.

 Slovenia may be small but there is a lot to offer. The capital, Ljubljana is located in the approximate middle and its the best place to station yourself and then take day trips outside to the different regions. Grab a cheap flight to Ljubljana from practically anywhere in Europe and you won't be disappointed with your choice. The city is quite small of a European capital making it totally accessible on foot or on bicycle. The best places to eat are around the university faculties where more than 50 000 students are studying. There is more than enough choice when it comes to cafes, bars, bistros and restaurants. The pace is laid back and definitely addictive.

Some first thoughts on Turkey

I put it on my list of resolutions so I figured I would start to think about this possible vacation destination Turkey. From what I've read so far is that Isanbul, being the capital, is the easiest place to start from. Finding out if there are cheap flights to Turkey was easy and its a good option since the buses and trains can be slow and have hold-ups at the border. In particular Sultanahmet where some of the city's major sights and monuments are located near each other. From the main square, the Blue Mosque and the Haghia Sophia are both a stone's throw away. There are thousands of years worth of history in this square kilometre alone, its incredible even though I live in Budapest at how much this area is saturated in politics, culture and world-changing events. You can just breathe history here. From here it is easy to explore the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar.

I realize the more I travel that not only does the capital city not give a real representation of the country as a whole but that most of the really touristy sights also don't represent the capital city. They are mandatory to visit in my opinion, usually just to see what the hype is all about, but it is certain that tourists crowd the Blue Mosque and that they outnumber the locals at the Grand Bazaar. I like to get to know the locals when I travel and to do this I usually have to find the more outer districts of the city and lose myself in neighborhoods where English-speakers are harder to find.

Balkinology, a travel site, suggests taking a walk along the south shore of the Golden Horn from Galata Bridge. Checking out Fener and Balat will be helpful too in getting a more realistic and cultured impression of Istanbul. The city walls were built in the fifth century and it is possible to trace them along the outskirts of the city. I can't even imagine how long it took to build them and by how many men.
Another site I think is a must-see especially for art-lovers and architect admirers is the Church of Saviour in Chora which has frescoes in classic Byzantine style.Thinking about travelling again is exciting, especially to a location like Turkey which is really geographically close but can feel so exotic at the same time.

Adventure trip to the South of Croatia

I have to admit, this was not as much a 'fun' holiday as I thought it would be, but nevertheless we saw some really nice places, including the old town of Korcula, and the island of Korcula itself is beautiful.

We didn't plan it at all, just decided to go on a holiday on a Monday afternoon, and bought the train tickets to Zagreb (I was so naive that really believed, there IS a discount for people under 26 in all the countries - well, in Croatia, there wasn't).

Our train left from Budapest Keleti around 14:00 in the afternoon, and we arrived in Zagreb in the evening - short sightseeing, because we wanted to catch the train that went to Split at 23:00. So, we left the luggages in the lockers (quite cheap!) and had a nice walk, admired the trams that seemed even older than ours in Budapest...



The first mistake i made was not reserving a couchette ticket for the trip, but we thought there wont be any people on the train on the last week of September...We were almost right, except that in the last moment, a couple came into the compartment, and the lady was singing and talking to herself all night long :) :)
Maybe I'm getting older and fastidious, but the dirt of the curtains, the cold and our nice fellow travellers' lullaby did not make it one of my favourite trips.

We were sooo happy to see the Adriatic sea among the hills when we were approaching the town of Split - and so disappointed again, by the Balkanic conditions that still dominating the south of this country. They might have a far better highroad system than we do, but I don not envy the poverty and the desperate need of wealthy tourists of them. Finally we fought our way to the ferry's ticket office (at least a million people asked us whether we needed a cheap hotel room in Split) and sat down to have a coffee (3 hours until the next ferry left to Vela Luka, no direct ferries to Korcula...- so a bus ride along the island was waiting for us, but i was excited).

3 hours on the ferry, which we spent mainly sleeping, because of being exhausted, then arrived at Vela Luka (the other end of Korcula island) and searched for the bus we was due in 5 minutes to depart. We asked the girl at the newspaper stand where do the buses to Korcula city depart from - she said right here, just wait. Of course we did not find any signs of bus stop or anything similar, so were quite surprised to see the bus leaving from behind us, next to the ferry station....

We sat down, already yielding to the fact that another 3 hours of waiting is in the view, when the bus came back (!) and just passed by. Tried to run after it, waving and shouting to the driver - did not help, so we decided not to take a taxi but rather have a pizza at one of the restaurants. Also called the receptionist of our accommodation that we might be late, she was absolutely understanding and said that would be waiting for us (normally she only works until 18:00, and we were to arrive at 20:00 with the next bus. (IF we can catch the small boat that would bring us to Orebic, our real destination on the Peljasic Peninsula).

Finally in Korcula, from the bus we saw a bigger Jadrolinija cruise waiting in the port, so we ran there to find out it is the one we needed, but it wasn't... (I broke my personal record of 200 metres...:) 20 minutes later the boat arrived, the steersman got out and reassured us that we were at the right place, he'd be back in 20 minutes and then he remounts to Orebic - first really good news of the day!

When in Orebic, of course we took the wrong direction, so needed about half an hour to find the guest house (and it was getting dark, so i was being quite hysterical).
Both of us were so tired that after we were shown our room and got the keys, fell asleep almost immediately, and it was only in the morning when i realised how nice view we had to the sea from our little balcony.

The weather was rather cool and windy, with couple of hours sunshine, so we had the chance to swim - but about our stay there and the way home, I'll tell you next time!