Stone Dolls, Waterfalls & Stobi Halls -- A Travelogue
A couple of friends and myself decided to take a three-day tour around Eastern Macedonia this past week. What we discovered was that this small country is full of culture, beautiful landscape, delightful people and great destinations.
One of those great destinations was found after following a small sign off the side of the main road indicating an intriguing "Tourist Locality" called "Stone Dolls." Now in my head 
I was thinking it would be a shop selling small stone statues. But after traveling 3 kilometers on an old rocky dirt road behind a small village and past a creek, I had second thoughts. There were delightful four older gentlemen sitting by the river drinking Rakija and reminiscing about the old days, so we stopped and asked them about the Stone Dolls. They were quite helpful and after crossing a precarious looking bridge and rounding several more corners we came to the Stone Dolls. 
The Stone Dolls are actually some impressive rock formations that look like a wedding and guests. There's a bride, groom, best man, maid of honor, in-laws, godparents and a whole host of "guests." It was really quite fascinating. One of the rocks had a profile that looked just like the old Alfred Hitchcock profile. Another one looked like a storm-trooper. Not very wedding-ish, but still pretty cool. :)
On the way back, the men crowded around the car and asked us how we liked the "Dolls," and then invited us to sit and have some rakija! lol. It turns out they were WWII vets and they get together regularly and sit by the creek drinking rakija and reminiscing about the old days. 
Another random sign that we followed off the side of the road indicated a "Prehistoric Observatory." As the road went on and on without finding the place, we asked several people along the way for directions. One lady who insisted that there was no such place was standing just 100 yards from another sign we found up the road. Incidentally, the last one we ever saw. At another village we asked a family who had just bought some pork (still squealing and squirming in a plastic burlapy bag on the side of the road), but they didn't know. 
At a cafe/store in the middle of nowhere with a couple of donkey's tied up out front, a group of men said it was not too far away. Several miles later down a narrow and curvy road, we found ourselves at a small gypsy village, at the end of the pavement, with another rocky dirt road in front of us and a gypsy lady who'd never heard of any rocks. So, I took a picture of some random large rock on the top of a hill and called it "The Unobserved Observatory" and we drove back to the main road.
This detour was about 30 miles, but it was through some beautiful landscape with some of the healthiest and biggest cornfields I've ever seen, and we had a nice lunch sitting on hill on the side of the road under some oak trees.
Our road trip then took us through Kratovo, a sweet little village with many scenic bridges, and on to Lesnovo where there is a an 11th century monastery with an amazing wall of carved walnut and frescoes on every other surface telling various stories. We got there just about 15 minutes before the evening service, so we stayed for a bit of it. It was interesting to hear the prayers, the chant-like songs, and to see some of the tradition that goes into the practice of the Orthodox religion. Side note: Getting to Lesnovo where the monastery was was quite interesting as several people gave us several different versions of directions. Our personal favorite was the girl who motioned that we should turn left, but said "turn right."
After Lesnovo we traveled towards Berovo where we would spend the night. On the way we passed by a very old village that I would love to spend some time in, taking pictures and getting to know people. Seriously, many of the homes, barns and buildings looked well over 100 years old in style and architecture -- it was like stepping back in time. As it was getting late we didn't stop, but I will go back there again for sure! The cottage we stayed at the lake in Berovo was beautiful, the trees magnificent and the stars unending! There's just something about the mountains that make me relax deep inside, filled with peace. Kinda like that saying "waiting to exhale." At that place I exhaled. 
The next morning we took our time, going for a walk on an old dirt road to a dam, sitting on the rocks overlooking the water, watching the fish, or sitting under an umbrella on the porch enjoying the sun and breakfast. This is a place I will definitely come back to for a retreat from the city. :)
This day we drove down to the bread-basket of Macedonia that is Stumica. Miles and miles of agricultural fields full of corn, peppers, tobacco, vineyards loaded down with fruit, and so much more! We headed over towards the far mountains where we hiked up a trail to see one of the many waterfalls in the area. As the year has been fairly dry, we passed a few dried up springs and the waterfall itself was just a fraction of what it should be this time of year. It was still beautiful, though. I hear there are several more waterfalls in the area and I will most likely go back to explore them soon. :)
That night we stayed with a nice family in Dojran, a lake on the border with Greece. As we sat outside in the humid evening, swatting away the multitudes of mosquitoes, the family broke out a bottle of rakija from thier wedding -- a 28-year old bottle! It would have offended them and been rude to turn it down, so I accepted the small shot glass they offered. Oh my! At the first sip I thought I was going to stop breathing! You could probably power a car with this stuff it's so strong! They also served us some candied figs that the man proudly proclaimed that he'd made all by himself without his wifes help. Now candied figs are something that give me a retch reflex (something about the texture/flavor combination) so I swore I'd never eat them. Again, to turn them down would have offended them. So I ate them, and to my great astonishment, really like them! 
The couple was full of tales about their area, their home, what it was like before the break-up of Yugoslavia, etc. The next morning as we sat beneath the fruit-laden fig tree, the lady got goosebumps as she told the story of how the place got it's name -- from the celebration the Turkish army had-- one winter they almost crossed what looked like a great meadow/field before a local told them it wasn't... in fact it was the lake, one of the deepest tectonic lakes in the world. This is one of my favorite things to do, to sit and talk with locals, and learn about them and their culture. The next morning one of my friends decided to stay on one more day while Wendy and I returned to the city. On the way back we saw the devastation that the fires from July wrecked on the landscape. Miles and miles of charred ground and scorched trees. Thank goodness the fires are out. Now, if summer would just hurry up and end and the rains would come.
The only major stop for this day was at the Stobi ruins [pictures to come]. These ruins date back to the 3rd and 4th century. There is still archaeological digs there as well as what looks like reconstruction/renovation. It will be interesting if they build it back to what it once was. The best place there, though, is the baptistry in the ruins of an ancient Christian church. The baptistry center is about the size of a spa with steps leading down into where the water would be. The surrounding floor is decorated with the most delightful mosaics, depicting happy-looking deer, peacocks, and other decorative features. Wendy and I sat there in the shade enjoying the scene and talking a bit before heading back to the car and back to the city.
This breif trip through Eastern Macedonia was quite the adventure. The next travel-adventure I long to have is to travel to older villages and maybe sit in a small cafe on the street, have a coffee and get to know the locals... oh yes, and to finally find that unobserved observatory!
End note: when planning the trip I'd made the mistake of thinking that we would drive out to one or two destinations each day and then return to the city each night. So, in other words, I didn't pack a bag. For a lesson in how to go three days without a change of clothes, I learned a few tricks and will share if asked. ;)
