Friday, July 25, 2014

Meanwhile, back at the lake...

The view from our hotel
Watercolour sketch
©2014 Charlene Brown

This tranquil view of Lake Ohrid (even the swans and their cygnets were dozing off – within a few metres of the shore) belies the often-violent history of the area.

Samuil’s fortress benignly overlooks the iconic Macedonian Orthodox St. Jovan Caneo church, thought to have been built in the 13th century prior to incursions by the expanding Ottoman Empire, and the lake itself, which Macedonia (then Yugoslavia) shared with Albania through many tumultuous years.