I woke up at 6 am this morning - the house was silent - so I stayed in bed. But I was still awake at 6:30 so I got up and got dressed. I decided to take a walk so I didn't wake anyone up. I walked over to the large gate into the yard, but it was locked shut. I walked over to the small gate closer to the house but I couldn't open that one either. I looked a little closer and found the latch to the gate on the outside of the gate - I opened it no problem and headed left. I remembered that the local church was not far from Tina's house - the roads are a bit twisty so I wanted to walk where I knew I wouldn't get lost. Of course I was looking through the gates into the houses I was passing - every house has a gate, a grapevine with table and chairs under it, and plenty of flowers. There were window boxes with mostly red flowers - many geraniums. There was farm equipment in some yards and chickens and roosters in other yards. I imagine that many families have plots of farm land or perhaps they rent plots of farm land. Every single house had red peppers - some still in the ground and some in varying stages of drying hanging from porches or clothes lines.
Entry to the local church - unfortunately I don't know what the arch says or the name of the church.
There were fading zinnias in the church yard - I didn't see too many of those flowers in the gardens.
The church with the local school in the yellow building beside it. That big pool is used on the 19th and 20th of January to celebrate the Epiphany - in the Orthodox Church this holiday celebrates Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan - unlike in the Catholic Church where it celebrates the Magi reaching the Baby Jesus. In the Orthodox Church a cross is thrown into a lake or a pool if there is no lake. Men and boys jump in the lake to try to be the first to get the cross - that means he will have good luck.
I walked home then - I guess I startled Violeta when I arrived home - she had been up and didn't see me go out - everyone seemed surprised that I went out walking without telling anyone. It was after 8am by the time everyone had coffee - I had my Barry's tea and a slice of bread with that homemade plum and honeydew melon jelly. We got ready because we were going into Bitola to the market and would stop for breakfast.
JB drove in - Tina's brother came with us - they would do the marketing. We parked near the Old Bazaar and walked through it to the covered market - we passed the above bakery - that's all fresh bread!
Red peppers are so popular in Macedonia - they are hanging everywhere in the market. JB told me that because it was Saturday that the merchants were trying to get rid of as much as possible because the market is closed on Sunday - so prices are a bit lower on Saturdays. The fruit and vegetables smelled fabulous!
After the fruit and vegetable shopping was done, Ilce took the groceries to the car and would then meet us for breakfast.
We walked through the market looking at the shops which sell everything!
We stopped at this shop to get John and myself some outdoor shoes. I think I said before you take off your shoes/sneakers in the entry way and then put on a pair of slippers when you walk inside the house. JB and I would put on our sneakers/my sandals each time we went outside so we each bought a pair of slip-on shoes that we can wear outside in the yard - like when we go out to drink coffee or just to relax outside under the grape vine.
Bitola clock tower - just outside Magnolia Square.
The clock tower was built in the 1830s. Legend has it that the Ottomans gathered 60,000 eggs from villages around Bitola to make the mortar to built the tower - not sure if that is true but everyone says it! The bells and musical mechanisms have been restored several times - in 1936 by the German government in gratitude for the German cemetery for the German soldiers killed in WWI.
We met Ilce and headed up to the 8th floor of the Hotel Belvedere in a glass elevator for breakfast.
View of the clock tower and mosque from the 8th floor.
View of the Russian embassy near Magnolia Square from the 8th floor - it is the light beige building in the center of the upper part of this picture - its architecture is famous.
I was surprised to learn that soup is a very common staple for breakfast - I had been thinking of the vlogs where there are plates of cheeses, fruits, eggs, yogurt, toast, pastries. But we were here for soup! There were a couple other choices - some kind of omelet with feta cheese. I got the chicken soup, the other 3 got the beef soup, and there was a 3rd option - fish soup but it was a little too early for me to have fish soup! The bowls were already on the table - then a waiter came out with a big bowl of soup and ladled it into the bowls. He came with my chicken soup first then brought the beef soup and a basket of bread. Ilce asked for what looked like garlic in some milk/cream - he added it to the soup. The chicken soup was very good but very salty so I ate the noodles and chicken and left most of the broth.
The restaurant was getting ready for a wedding.
There is the Russian embassy in the middle.
Outdoor cafe near Magnolia Apartments
Looking down the Main Street - Marshall Tito Street but called Shirok Solok - it is lined with shops and outdoor cafe.
Difficult to see that this cafe is full of people drinking coffee or soft drinks - it was a hot sunny day so everyone wanted to sit in the shade.
It was so sunny that I couldn't tell if I got the statue of Philip II in between the Church bell tower and the Yeti mosque. This is a much smaller statue of Phillip II than the huge one in Skopje.
Bitola was founded by the King of Macedon Phillip II in the mid-4th century BC - named in honor of Hercules with whom his Macedonian royal family of Argeads identified - Phillip lived here for some time but his son Alexander the Great was born in Pella over the present day border in Greece. Bitola was later conquered by the Roman Empire in the 2nd century BC and prospered through trade. The Roman Empire declined and the Ottomans conquered Macedonia. They called Bitola Monastir because of all the churches and monasteries. The town prospered and became the 3rd largest city in the Ottoman Empire - behind Constantinople and Thessaloniki.
After several military losses, the progressive Sultans decided they needed to adopt more Western European customs including education, military training, fashion. They invited Western European educators, military leaders, artists to Bitola. The European brought their European ways that made a lasting impression on Bitola. During this period, Bitola was the second-largest city in the European part of the Ottoman Empire. Its Old Bazaar hummed with more than 2,000 traders peddling goods from as far afield as western Europe.
At beginning of the 19th century Monastir was at the zenith of its trading history - the railway came and linked southern Macedonia with Skopje, Belgrade and beyond - French was widely spoken - there were embassies, foreign and international schools and a military school attended by Kemal Ataturk - there were 2000 households and every second one owned a piano - over 200 songs were written about Bitola.
A later nickname for Bitola was ‘The City of Consuls’ - this nickname is due to the fact that a dozen or so European countries headed up their foreign outposts in Bitola (you can still see their distinctive facades around Magnolia Square - the best know is the Russian embassy).
Magnolia Square marks the point where the River Drago divides the old Ottoman part of Bitola from the more European side of town. The square is marked with a statue of Philip II of Macedon (founder of Heraclea) atop his steed and ringed by beautiful historic buildings. Just beyond Magnolia Square, two parks unfold on either side of the boulevard.
Heading down Marshall Tito/Shirok Soko street - you can just see the French flag waving on the right.
The French and Turkish flags on their embassies.
I love the architecture of this old building. The two men holding up the balcony - the grill work and the flowers - the decorations on the walls - the top balcony and the roof line.
We stopped for coffee across the street from that building - we were halfway thru our coffee (I had the iced coffee in the glass) when Tina suggested looking at the bakery inside. You can see the result. Ilce saw someone he knew from work and left us to the sweets - and the 3 of us finished them!
JB and Ilce went to the meat shop and to get the car. Tina and I walked toward the Belvedere Hotel to meet them. Back in Magnolia Square and Phillip II.
The fountain in Magnolia Square
The 4 shields - a symbol of Bitola - behind Phillip II.
The Bitola sign - everyone was trying to have their picture taken in front of it - it is written in Macedonian.
We headed home because the festivities were going on at the monastery today and were to end at 2pm.
Miniature church - you see these around Bitola.
Ilce drove to the Monastery - Violeta decided not to go - it was too late and she had too much to do. The place was packed with people when we arrived after 1:40 pm. Ilce just drove straight up the dirt road lined with cars and with people walking up and down the street - he found a parking space right at the entrance!
Difficult to see this archway decorated in flowers with a cross in the center. A mannequin dressed in traditional costume and a fountain in the center. I'm not sure what it signified.
We lit more candles for different intentions.
There was a band set up and people were up dancing.
Even though we arrived late, the place was packed and no one seemed in a rush to leave. People were lined up to go into the monastery. There were booths selling beer and soft drinks, grilled meat, popcorn, donuts - there was a table taking donations of clothing but I don't know where they were going, there were several booths selling kids toys - like you would see at any parade or festival in the states. Tina met her best friend who had her 3 month old baby and husband with her. Ilce met his friends. JB and I walked around to the booths, watched the dancing while standing in the shade - they seemed to play one song for ages. Everyone was having a good time, and there were all the generations mixed in together. We left after an hour and a half or maybe 2 hours - there was still music and dancing going on, there was still a line to get into the church, there were still loads of people sitting at all the tables and chairs, and there were people still arriving!
We had supper when we got home. Another delicious home made meal with lots of vegetables. It was going to be a quiet night because tomorrow was a big day - they were having a pig killed at 9am and relatives from Australia were coming to lunch at 2:30. I nipped into my room and worked on my blog until I started nodding off - then I went to bed.
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