Ohrid, Macedonia: Quest for Pearls

Today, February 6, 2010 we departed from the Embassy around 0800 hours for Ohrid, Macedonia and the elusive fresh water pearl of Lake Ohrid. According to our IT member, the Italian weather station had predicted a sunny trip through northern Albania to Macedonia.Leaving behind a wet Tirana; the further into the trip the heavier the rain; the more swollen and brown the rivers; and finally as we neared the Albanian-Macedonian border, a full fledged snow storm was upon us. Gary and Mike paused outside, while Mike explained the theory of "liquid" sunshine to Gary, who, much to his credit did not appear to subscribe to this radical concept hypothesized by Mike!
None the less we pressed forward through the border checks and into Macedonia and Ohrid. As we descended into Macedonia, we passed several vehicles stuck in the liquid sunshine product on the road. Fortunately, on the return trip, the "real" sun did come out and melt the snow from the road.

Ohrid sits on the hills and flats on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid. It was deemed an UNESCO Heritage site in 1980. The city is first identified around 353 B.C.E. in Greek documents and is referred to as Lychnidos(city of light).


The Byzantine era brought the first Slavic University to Ohrid in the 9th century and the city became the episcopal center of the Orthodox Church and was home to St. Cyrill(author and creator of the) Cyrillic alphabet.

The city prospered and became an important economic and cultural center. In the eleventh century, for a short time, Ohrid became the capital of the Samuil empire. The empire was defeated in battle by the Ottomans. The victors blinded the captives and sent them home to King Samuil, who (according to legend) upon seeing the suffering of his defeated troops died of a heart attack.

We found our destination; Family Talevi Jewelers in Ohrid.The man made pearls are brilliant in color(and what a lot of colors to behold) and uniformly round. Following my directions from my jewelery expert(read wife), I selected a silver grey 41 centimeter necklace for purchase. Assisted by Gary's negotiation style, I left feeling I made a great purchase for a fair price. I discovered later in conversation with Martha that I should have waited for her to negotiate for the pearls. She was quite proud of the prices and items she purchased and reminded us several times how well she had done in her bargaining for the price.

Ohrid is beautifully laid out with main streets that end at the lake. The city has an open air market which we walked through in the snow and rain. The stalls were loaded with fresh eggs, vegetables, nuts and assorted items from the immediate area and from parts unknown.

We had lunch at a restaurant across the parkway adjacent to the lake and in a leisurely manner had an enjoyable meal; with a family style salad, humus plate and peppers, and an individual entree for each person. This was a nice opportunity to warm up, sitting by the fire telling stories.

After lunch, Mike was really tired and took a short break!


The pier was home to several tour boats that cruise Lake Ohrid in nicer and warmer weather. The was no one visible to us who was on the lake during our visit. We could see from the pier the castle of King Samuil overlooking the city of Ohrid and the beautiful homes that line the shore of the lake.


We headed back early enough to enter the mountains in the last moments of daylight. We were able to negotiate the turns and the questioinnable road surface without incident.

Back to the Embassy and back home with our treasures!