Hot Day in Ohrid

Thursday, July 30, 2009--Ohrid

I went out early to take advantage of the cool air at that time. I hiked to the fortress and old town at the top of a small mountain in the center of town. While there, I also saw the old Roman theater and the St. Sofia Church. The church is the location of outdoor concerts almost every night during July and August. There wasn't one last night, but there is one tonight which I may try to attend. The only problem is the late hour. It starts at 21:00.

I returned to town through the market. I was starving for fruits, so I bought 3 peaches and 6 plums. They were very ripe and delicious. That was my lunch along with a small cheese roll I had bought at the bakery.

I spent all afternoon in my room. It was just too hot today to be enjoyable being outside. Instead, I read. I finished reading The Love of a Good Woman, a collection of short stories by Alice Munro, a Canadian writer. The stories were all interesting and well written. I gave the book 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

The stores here sell an interesting appliance that I haven't seen elsewhere. It is a cookstove about the size of a large microwave oven. From a distance, that is what it looks like it is. But it is an electric heat oven rather than a microwave. And on the top of the oven are two burners--a small one and a large one--for cooking pots of food. I've noticed that many of the places renting out rooms here have these stoves out on the covered balconies. It allows a family to rent a room and be able to prepare food for themselves and eat it on their balconies.

I plan to stay one more day here in the area. If all goes well, I will travel to Bitola tomorrow to see the sights there and travel back in the afternoon. Then Saturday, I will head for Skopje, the capital of Macedonia and my last stop in this country.