Stunning Struga
We walked into Struga almost daily. It was a beautiful, 40-minute walk along Lake Ohrid on a wide, perfectly maintained sidewalk/boardwalk to get to town. It was also almost exactly 10,000 steps roundtrip to walk to the closest edge of town where the library was located. The walk also gave us the opportunity to interact with some neighbourhood puppy strays and an owl family that lived near the lake.
Getting a minimum of 10k steps per day has been one of my goals, and it was exceptionally easy to do in Struga. More often than not, I ended up around 20k steps per day, and on longer hike days upwards of 30k. It was a walking paradise, which was perfect for me! Especially coming from Budva where walking had been extremely difficult.
Struga is right on Lake Ohrid and Black Drin, the river that drains the lake out towards the Mediterranean Sea. It makes for the most gorgeous canal running through town, with cafes and restaurants lining both sides. We loved to sit and enjoy a meal, snack, or coffee along this river to relax and enjoy the water. There were some cool-looking black birds I’d never seen before, and we loved to watch them dive down and come up with fish to snack on over and over.
There were several bridges across the river, with the main one being where Chocoworld (more on that later!) was located. On the west side of the bridge was a pedestrian street with tons of shops, restaurants, and outdoor vendors. There were, of course, other little off-shoot streets to explore off this main street. It was an incredibly lively street that was always full of locals and tourists alike, but mainly locals. As a city of 17,000 people, we found it the perfect level of busy/lively for us, as we do not like things that are too busy and bustling!
It was also surprising to us that almost the entire town was fluent in English. There were tons of signs in English, menus at every restaurant had English translations in them, and basically everyone spoke English. Sure, we met a few people who didn’t. But honestly, we expected to be struggling with the language in this country and came prepared with Google Translate, but I never once needed to use my translate app.
I have really needed new sunglasses for a while. I broke mine in Morocco and tossed them away there. I grabbed a new pair from a random street vendor to get me through until I had time to shop around for a pair I actually liked. There were quite a few places in this shopping district, but one caught my eye in particular. I went in and tried on tons of pairs with the ever-patient owner, Valentina, helping me find a style to suit me. While there, we chatted and she gave us a ton of amazing recommendations for local things to see/do, including telling us about an English language library, American Corner!
I swear seeing that shop on one of our first days was the best thing that happened to us in Struga! We ended up going back time after time to visit, chat, let our daughters play together, and also went out for coffee and dessert one evening with her family. Sometimes you meet someone and you just click right away. That’s exactly how I felt when I met Valentina. She is just so incredibly sweet and kind and I just felt such an instant kinship with her! From the moment we met her, all four of us would say periodically that my sunglasses purchase was the best purchase of my life because I got something far more priceless than a pair of sunnies that day! All her recommendations on things to do in the area were outstanding, too! We did almost all of them, only missing a couple due to lack of time.
The library became a complete staple in our lives. We are forever grateful to Valentina for telling us about it. In this small corner of the world, it was amazing to us that there was an American Corner. The two ladies working there, Dijana and Ardita, were so friendly. We chatted with them regularly! Our girls were thrilled with all the books and that we were allowed to get library cards to borrow books to read. They also had tons of board games, movies, and other resources. The girls loved watching the 3D printer make some creations.
We were in the library 2-3 times a week to fill their voracious appetite for books. I think they easily read 10 books a week. Some were shorter, and some longer like re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Most were regular-sized novels comparable to what I read. They were never without a book anywhere we went! Some days we would just sit in there and read for a while, as it felt like such a comfortable place to be.
We were also able to start up our mommy-daughter book club we have been wanting to do. We did an April meeting with The Garden of Lost Secrets and then a May meeting with The Girl Who Drank the Moon. We baked yummy treats, brewed some tea, and sat and talked for 1.5 hours each time. It’s amazing to hear their opinions and comprehension of novels these days! Our June meeting will be Daughter of the Deep. I love seeing the readers that they are turning into.
Every Saturday, there was a market in town. It was huge and full of local farmers selling such a diverse amount of fruits and veggies. We were there weekly and quickly found our favourite farmers to buy from. They quickly got to know us and would often tuck extra little freebies in for us and the kids to try different things. The more authentic farmers formed a ring all around a covered building. The covered building was more of a typical and permanent farmers market like back home. We found the vendors in here had a large selection, as most farmers around the outside just had a few different types of produce each. But quickly learned to avoid these over-priced indoor vendors and stick to multiple farmers’ stalls outside. The exception was the little butcher shop we found here, which had the best meats and at such great prices! After stocking up on our produce for the week, we would then stock up on meat. And again, it didn’t take long before the butcher was sneaking extra sausages and treats into our bags to try, as well!
We have been to a lot of places in our lives, but there is something about Struga that just really calls to our hearts. Yes, Struga is a stunningly beautiful town, with the river, the lake, and all the gorgeous and well-maintained buildings. But it’s more than that. The people are all so insanely friendly and welcoming. You instantly get a sense of community feel, even though you know this town is big enough that most people don’t actually know each other. Their kindness is unreal. One day, coming out of a bakery, Emmeline was in la-la land and accidentally walked into an older gentleman who was on his way in. She dropped her meat-filled bun onto the ground. She picked it up and we apologized to the man, who was not in the least bothered. We sat at the table so the girls could eat their snacks. On his way out, the man stopped and gave Emmeline a bag with three new little meat-filled buns in it. I was floored. My kid was oblivious and accidentally knocked into him, yet he went in and bought her new food. We thanked him profusely, and he just smiled and walked off to carry on with his day. That is just the kind of mentality that you got from people everywhere in Struga. I am so grateful we found this small slice of heaven!
