Jablanica, my mom's hometown, is a mountain in southwestern Macedonia filled with lots of little settlements dispersed everywhere. This place has not changed my whole life and I love that. If there is one place where you can hear silence, feel peace and calmness hugging and squeezing you tight, it's here and it is amazing!
Last summer we picked up the food essentials from the Struga bazaar and headed on a long ride through steep, narrow and winding roads. Beginning with Struga, passing by Vevcani, though Velesta then Labunista. Up a very steep hill entering Boroec, a town my brothers and I like to call "pulejne city" (a Macedonian/English word combination equating to "staring city") where the locals stop and stare as you pass through their main road that leads into Jablanica.
Check out the photos!
Starting things off with Rakija (moonshine).
Na zdravje!
We spent a whole day making a Macedonian specialty known as dzomleze, a dish that takes craft to perfect. Watching each layer of the water/oil/flour concoction cook under and over wood fire. I'm drooling....
The masterpiece, dzomleze.
A hike to the very bottom of the mountain is a river called Zvezdica where the locals fish.
This bridge is true example of architectural engineering. :)
A house with a natural spring right in its court.
Hazelnuts
Handmade furniture.
How about a cup of coffee in the morning, wrapped up in a warm blanket overlooking this? Paradise.
These photos brought me nostalgia, I hope you enjoyed!
Love, Daniela
