Hike to Monastery of Sv Ilija & Carevi Kuli

Macedonia is a great place to hike and explore. Yesterday I went on a hike with a couple of friends, Eli and Aubrey, up the Elenica mountain on the SW border of the city of Strumica. We started out in the town center and walked through the old (original) center then up into the mountain along a road I imagine has been here as long as people have. After about a km we leave the homes and businesses behind and enter into the woods. We met many people along the way, this is a common hike. I believe Eli ran into about 3 or 4 groups of people she knew. We also ran into a woman from Wisconsin that has recently moved here with her husband, they are working with a church. It is very hard to explain the emotions that I felt at hearing her voice. Homesickness? Nostalgia? It really took me by surprise.
We continued up, hugging the left and staying away from the steep drop on the right, because there was snow and ice along the path making it very slippery along most of the trail. We followed a beautiful stream all the way, I wish I could capture the sound it makes and attach it to a picture. Imagine a secret babbling stream flowing through dappled sunlight over ancient rocks, past patches of snow and moss, small waterfalls, cold as ice …
The St Ilija monastery is about 4 km from the center of Strumica. It was probably built at the end of the 16th century but some think it could have been built earlier. Surrounding the monastery are living quarters, we were not sure if they are privately owned or rented. There are also areas to grill and picnicThere are many monasteries hidden away throughout Macedonia.
From the monastery we continued up the mountain to a new road that comes up from the other side, it ends at the Carevi Kuli (Czar’s Towers) of Strumica Fortress. It is currently being excavated, Macedonian style, with plans to rebuild the entire structure. It has been fortified since the Roman times (1st Century BC) or earlier but the structure that is there now is from the 11th century. They have found evidence in the surrounding area of life dating back to the 4th millennium BC, an early bronze culture. It is believed that it had eventually been abandoned in the 1600’s
After meandering the ruins and enjoying the breathtaking view we took the shortcut back down the mountain and caught a cab as we made it back into the edge of the city. We decided we were just to starved to make it home to cook for ourselves so we ate at Bonita, a great place at the edge of Gradski Park. We shared a big mixed salad, vegetables place in separate piles on a large plate; shredded lettuce, carrots, shredded cabbage, tomato, olives, cucumber, white cheese. They shared a schnitzel, it was served in a big ceramic baking dish, fried breaded beef served over a bed of french fries topped with a light mushroom sauce, melted yellow cheese and slices of ham. I had pork medallions covered in a mushroom sauce with a side of french fries.
A side note … on our way to dinner we needed to exchange euros for MKD, you can do this on the street, through the car window, like a fast food restaurant. Then, since you are now heading in the wrong direction you can back up half a block, in the middle of the city mind you, so you can continue on your more direct route to where you were heading to begin with. For this whole 2 minute chunk of time I sat there with my mouth hanging open (it must have been). It felt like we were making a drug deal. Window half open, middle of the street, money exchanging hands, car running, quickly backing down the road to get out of there. When asked “How did you know he would be there?” the response … “Because they have been doing it for 30 years!” I swear I heard a “Duuhhhh!” at the end of the response.

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