We got an early start this morning and visited another tourist attraction here on Lake Ohrid called Saint Naum Monastery. It's part of the National Park Galicica, so no entry fee except into the actual monastery. The parking was free for us since we got there before the money taker. :)) Pays to be early every once in a while.

And since we were so early, we had the entire place almost exclusively to ourselves. Not many tourist areas are like that! We were wandering around the grounds, which were just beautiful, and came across one of the activities that I'd read about--for about $12 you could hire a boatsman to take you around the lagoon and see where the spring water comes in. I'd read this was really something to see. This one boatsman we passed by said we were lucky to be so early because later in the day, it would be quite crowded and the price was the same whether his boat was full or empty. (His boat held about 10, not your average canoe). So we decided to take advantage of having it all to ourselves, and away we went.

I cannot tell you how clear the water was!! You could see all the way to the bottom and there were fish and ferns, all kinds of plants growing. Rich put his hand in and it was pretty cold--the guide said it was about 10 Celsius, which is around 50 degrees F. Definitely refreshing!! LOL

We paddled around the lagoon for about 30-45 minutes, and got to see the water actually bubbling up out of the ground. So cool!! Nobody else was out on the water, so for the entire trip, we were alone. So nice!

After our boat ride, we found the Monastery and went inside. No photos allowed, but it was very plain and the frescoes were all very faded. There were peacocks everywhere, and a couple of them were strutting with their feathers open. They are truly such majestic looking birds.

We decided to take the hike around the grounds to see the other chapels, and it was a little deceiving as to how far it was--looked like about 100 yards but turned out to be more like a couple miles!! It had turned quite warm and the path was through some grass--definitely glad I had on long pants. We were the only ones doing this--go figure! Haha

We finally made it back to civilization, and got a table at a lakeside restaurant. We decided to share again, because the food quantity is just too much for one person. We tried the Macedonian Salad--see the picture--didn't care for it as much as the Shopska or Greek salads. We also ordered the grilled trout, which is caught in the lake--it was delicious! The flesh was pink like salmon, so good. Dessert was a pancake filled with chocolate cream (they are big on pancakes in this area, kind of like the French with their crepes). Rich also tried their ice cream. Both were excellent.

After lunch, we drove to the National Park entrance and paid our $2 fee to enter. We drove for about 7 miles up into the mountains, until we reached a place to park and have a look. Wow--you could see the entire lake, villages, everything! It was hazy at this point due to the time of day, but still a beautiful view. We had heard there was another large lake on the other side of the mountain, so we kept going, but never found a place to pull over and have a look. We could glimpse the lake through the trees, but that was about it. We both were pretty tired at this point anyway, so we turned around and headed for home.

We tried a local restaurant for dinner, Dac--our host had recommended it. Shared an entree and had a lot leftover! Rich asked the waiter to get it to go, instead of saying "take away" which is what they say in Europe, and the waiter threw it all away!! So disappointing!

Tomorrow is our last day in Ohrid!