Serenity on a sunny lake with mountain views..............come here to be inspired.

Arrival at Antonio's Guesthouse is quick and painless. I check in with Antonio's parents and begin the orientation process with Antonio's father informing me of the city's layout. Antonio come in and introduces me to a girl from Latvia who I had seen in Skopje and who was on the bus. She and I make plans to share the afternoon exploring Ohrid.

Antonio sets out with us and shows us the way to the city center, just a few blocks away. We take off down the pedestrian way from there. We walk past many shops with local art and craft items. I will return. We walk the lakefront. It looks Alpine, blue lake, snow capped mountains, quaint hillside homes. We turn down a narrow path and head into the old town and up the hill. We walk past plaster and timber homes and an Orthodox monastary continuing up the hill.

The houses thin out revealing a spectacular panorama of Ohrid Lake. It is a lovely view. We continue up and enter the hilltop park area.

Skirting the lake we head to the point where the Church of St. John rests on a cliff with a most incredible view.I would journey here to pray and I am sure that many have over the 800 years that there has been a church. I must come back, tomorrow. We decide to go inside (100 dinar) NO PICS!!! That is a shame but I understand. The fresoes are amazing in that they are just barely still visible but original to the construction. They are still so impactful after the ravages of time and weather.

There is more hill and more to explore so, we continue up stopping every few feet for a possibly better shot of the church, cliff and lake.

It's hard to leave. We continue up the hill and through a forest path find a large Orthodox church with an amazing bell tower. Upon further inspection, the grounds are under excavation. It looks like a whole complex is being uncovered in front of it. We can't actually get to the church due to the excavation so we move on.

We reach the top of the hill where an impressive fortress rests crenallations and all. A massive Macedonian flag flies proudly infront. We start the path down the other side of the hill and past the upper gate to reach the Roman amphitheater. It's not in the best condition but, it is 2000 years old. I was only recently uncoverd ( 2nd half of 20th century) and is being used as a concert venue with a fantastic view of the mountians.

We continue down the hill briefly stoping at what looks like a personal sized church.

It's so tiny......so cute. Finally we reach the waterfront promenade. We walk around it's curve as the sun is setting on this perfect cloudless day. The sun is radiant as it slips behind the mountain peaks in the distant. Colors stream across like a painter has brushed the sky.

We stop at Cafe Luna on the main square across from the mosque. They serve Italian food and cheap prices and it's amazing. They are friendly and speak good English.

The sun has set and we are fed, time to head back to the guesthouse.  We meet a new guest who is from Edinburgh, Scotland. We share stories of our afternoon sightseeing in Ohrid. We share stories of travels past and future travel desires.

Antonio shares, with us, pictures that he has taken on his bike ride around the lake, today. Most of them include himself.......it's cute. He hands out postcards of Ohrid that he has made. He is proud of them and they are qute good. He's a nice guy!

Tired and sleepy, I call it a night.

I happily await tomorrow!!!