Friday, 10 March 2017 to Thursday, 16 March 2017
Today the wind was at it again and we were mostly inside all day. I say we but I actually mean me. Adri, brave soul that she is, went shopping through howls of laughter from the wind as she stepped outside. She was on her way for a spot of window shopping while I was supposed to get a spot of work done… it did not go well; I continuously got sidetracked by reading and relaxing… and then some.This morning I read that the South Korean President, Park Geun-hye, was forced out of office by a corruption scandal. The article states that “The country’s Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach Park over allegations of corruption and cronyism. She becomes the country’s first democratically elected leader to be forcibly removed.”  Why, oh why, was this article not about Zuma?

It was around 15:00 when I heard a ping on my phone. It was a message from Steve and Marina who had arrived safely from Ljubljana in Slovenia at their beachfront hotel in Rafailovici, about 5km away from us. It was a long drive from Slovenia and they were knackered, we made arrangements to meet up tomorrow.

Today I also read about an e-book that was self published on Amazon called Reasons To Vote For Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide. When you open the e-book it contains 266 blank pages! I guess this is pretty funny and plenty people are buying it at $7 a pop, knowing full well its contents, or lack thereof. The comments written by some of the readers are rather humorous such as “Absolutely Riveting. Knowles clearly put in some serious leg work and every page will leave you begging for more.” There was one reviewer though that noted “I get it, I really do, but would it not be better to rather buy a homeless person a meal with that $7?” And he has a point.

It was late afternoon when Adri came home windswept and weary, shivering life a reed. It was cold and miserable outside but she warned up quickly on hearing that we will be seeing Marina and Steve in the morrow.

Saturday morning we took the bus to Rafailovici just before noon to meet up with Steve and Marina at the Aleksander Hotel where they were staying. As we approached the hotel via the promenade, we saw four arms wildly waving from the hotel’s patio on the first floor, it was a hearty reunion.

We headed to the restaurant right next door to the hotel and sat ourselves down outside on the promenade. First order of business was a beer order. The sun was out, the sea was blue, the beer was cold, we had a lot of catching up to do. Steve found my drinking boots that had been hidden for months and the first big beer was followed in quick succession by another and another and…

Steve and Marina ordered lunch of veal with chips and a seafood soup. Adri and I had just had breakfast so we ordered pancakes, one with chocolate and another with crushed walnuts and honey. The latter was especially exceptional. Marina’s soup was served with ample pieces of bread accompanied by the most amazing olive oil and garlic sauce. Man, was that good. Adri and I tucked into the accompaniments to that soup as if we had never had breakfast. Adri even had the audacity to order more of that sauce!

It was after the second beer that Adri received a cappuccino on the house; the waiter indicated that it was “gratis”. The third round of beers were also “gratis” and the sixth round as well. Thereafter we either paid for the rest of the rounds or we stopped drinking, I don’t remember…

At some stage it got dark and a bit chilly so we moved inside. The conversation continued to flow here and there and everywhere, it was so good to catch up with these two. We really appreciated the fact that they drove all the way from Ljubljana to visit us.

During the afternoon, not sure after how many beers, we made mention that we had been to Sveti Stefan when Steve noted that it sounded rather familiar, sounded just like him after a heavy workout. He will from now on and forever be known as Sweaty Steven…

It was long dark when we walked up the hill back to the bus stop which now seemed steeper than what I remembered. Everything seemed steeper. We waited five minutes and our bus appeared in a haze, or was it just me? We disembarked at the correct stop – thank goodness Adri was with me – and we ordered takeaways from Andora on the way home.

It was kak koud (shitty cold) standing there waiting for our takeaways even though we were dressed warmly, or so I thought. I was rattling like a rattled rattlesnake, I was worried I was going to fall apart. We got home and that gyro and pomfrit disappeared in quick time, it was time to rest and relax with a book… And no, I did not pass out; I just went to bed earlier than anticipated.

Sunday morning I felt surprisingly okay, just a tad soft in the brain and lame in the legs. Adri went out to do shopping and this was not going to be window shopping, she warned. My numb brain did not register the implication of that statement and I sent her on her way with an “Enjoy!” She returned empty-handed though, it was Sunday and the shops only opens at 11:00. She did however bring back burek and plain white yogurt for breakfast from our favourite pekara (bakery), as good as always.

Steve and Marina picked us up at noon to go for a drive inland, to the old or original capital of Montenegro, Cetinje. At first I thought we were going in the wrong direction, I misheard Cetinje for Ulcinje, which lies further south just shy of the Albanian border.

It was great to be in a car again, haven’t had this luxury for quite some time. In Montenegro, like most countries in Europe, cars are left-hand drive and they drive on the right-hand side of the road. Today I was sitting on the left, but I was not driving. Steve had brought his beautiful Audi Quattro, four-wheel drive and all from the UK and therefore it is a right-hand drive. Steve admitted that it took some getting used to but now its second nature. I was hoping he was right.

We headed east up the mountains, the steep mountains, Adri and Marina were freaking out in the back regarding the road that seemed to disappear into nothingness just past its edge. And yes, a misstep or a miss steer would get you a few hundred metres of freefall… for free, and not with a happy ending. I was okay, “I trust Steve’s driving… I trust Steve’s driving… I trust Steve’s driving”, I kept repeating to myself. Anyways, my trust was not misplaced as he was ever the careful and considerate driver. But then I knew that, we had previously driven with them up a mountainous road back in Chiang Mai in Thailand, a wonderful trip still fresh in our collective memories.

There were extensive road works along this route and many times we had to stop to wait for the traffic light to turn green in places where there was only one lane open. It was rather slow going, but the views down to the sea below were awesome.

We arrived in Cetinje, a lovely little town although a bit scrappy at its edges. It lies on a kind of a plateau almost at the top of the mountains, surrounded by more mountains, and more… We drove around town and decided to exit on the other side. “Hon, where are we going?” Steve kept asking Marina who kept on replying “If there is road it’s going somewhere, so we’re going there”. The inevitable “Okay Hon” would follow, followed a few minutes later by “Hon, where…”.

We got to a boom that blocked our way. A few Euros later we entered the Lovćen National Park and continued winding up higher and higher to way above 1200 meters above sea level. And that’s when we came upon the wonderful Monterosa Hotel. We needed something, we were not sure what yet, but we could not let this hotel go by without at least a cursory glance inside, the setting was magical.

 

No sooner had we settled at a table overlooking the wonderful white scenery all around when it started snowing. Ah, this was so beautiful! We ordered drinks, I was not yet ready for an alcohol reset after yesterday so I ordered a cappuccino, so did Adri. Steve and Marina went for beer and white wine, seems like they have had more practice than us. Or maybe age has something to do with it?

As the snow gently fell outside we could not tear ourselves away from there so we ordered lunch. There was kleftiko and a traditional kebab dish, Beef Stroganov and chicken breast with a tangy gorgonzola sauce. The food was amazing with rather large portions served, a truly memorable lunch. It was getting late and far too soon we had to leave to start the wayward journey back down the mountain.

We wanted to continue the way we came and drive down the other side of the mountain which would lead us to Kotor but the lady at reception strongly advised us to reconsider. Apparently the road is rather bad and at some point becomes a narrow single lane road with sheer drops to hell on either side. That seemed insane! Steve and I were still considering it but we were ordered to reconsider by the womenfolk.

We had a lovely drive back home and soon enough we were deposited at our apartment building. We had no sooner set foot in the apartment when there was a power cut. Adri’s power was also cut and she fell into a deep snooze. It was just over an hour later when the power was restored, Adri’s was not, she was still happily exploring la la land.

Adri was keen to rectify her shopping mishap of yesterday and it was around 09:30 Monday morning when we left the apartment to do the deed, or deeds. Adri had seen a black pair of Sketchers sneakers that apparently fitted like a glove, her old ones had become unsneakable.

Today Marina wanted to walk up the Kotor fortress walls, the trip Adri and I did a while back. Steve, currently struggling with a knee injury, was never going to make it past the second step and I was not yet ready to climb up the walls… again. And so it was that the girls decided they needed the exercise and go up those walls.

It was 11:00 when I said goodbye to Marina and Adri to catch the 11:15 bus to Kotor for a lady’s day outing. I went back upstairs and… worked… and read.

I read a great article which essentially gives a nice overview on the current state of the peace, or otherwise, in the Balkans. It notes that “Now, the Balkans are once again dicing with crisis. Borders are being questioned, ethnic tensions are bubbling up, and land swaps are being mooted as a last resort to prevent a slide back towards violence.” Let’s hope long-term peace is the winner in these bubbling tensions, the Balkans is such a beautiful area of Europe.

I also got some admin done today and was quite perplexed by one task that should have been simple, but was not. Our Diners Cards expired at the end of January so these had to be renewed. Diners issued our new cards in December and tasked CCD Couriers to deliver them to us. When I mentioned at the time that we were in Thailand, all went quiet on the other side. A manager was supposed to phone me back but of course that never happened.

Today I was told by CCD Couriers that, because the cards weren’t delivered, they were destroyed. I kid you not. I was further told that CCD would do an intentional delivery only if instructed by Diners to do so. I contacted Diners, they do not do international deliveries and thus would not give such an instruction. Now I was caught in a perfect catch-22 situation. I was quite prepared to pay for the international delivery and CCD would be quite prepared to deliver it, but Diners refused to give such instruction. Crazy, I tell you, just way way crazy.

Tuesday morning at around 10:00 Steve and Marina picked us up for a trip to somewhere and that somewhere turned out to be the Ostrog Monastery. From Budva we drove south towards Petrovac where the navigation fun started.

The Audi has a factory fitted navigation system but just to ensure that nobody ever gets lost, Steve also invested in a TomTom navigation system. And just in case there was disagreement between those two, I had my old trusty maps.me with me as well. Could we get lost? Of course not!

But we had just turned off at Petrovac and headed into the mountains when the disagreement started between Audi and TomTom. And so it was that Maps.me had to be activated to resolve the dispute between the two brotherly systems. In hindsight, both were probably correct, the one just seemed to favour the longer route, the other the more scenic one through the mountains. Because we were already on the scenic route maps.me sided with that brother.

It was a lovely drive through the mountains and we eventually hooked up with the main road that caused the mayhem in the first place. Sometimes I long back to the good old days when we relied on paper maps and a good dose of a common sense of direction. I will be the first to admit to sometimes being a slave to my maps.me, following it around without questioning, even though I sense that it is leading me down the wrong garden path.

 

We eventually reached and skirted the capital city of Podgorica (sounds a bit like Puerto Rico, but believe me, it’s not) – after passing by and over Skadarsko Lake – and headed in a northerly direction towards the monastery, still some 50km away.

 

 

 

For a while we travelled along a beautiful valley road which hugs the Zeta River valley, also known as Bjelopavlići, and the area is dotted with little houses built on their green parcels of land. This is a truly lovely spot and Steve and I already contemplated where exactly we would stake our claim.

 

 

It was not long after that that we turned right onto the final stretch of road up to the monastery, which is not for the fainthearted I might add. The first few kilometres were just fine, but then we started climbing up and up… and up. Steve driving, as cool as a cucumber, nonchalantly pointed to some place over the edge in the distance and said “Marina, look down there, it’s beautiful”. Marina, with eyes closed replied with a petrified “I’m not looking, I’m not looking, you should not be looking!!”

And still the road went up, making hairpin bend upon hairpin bend, it felt like the road was leading to heaven, and it did. We eventually emerged at the Ostrog Monastery which is built right into the rock face of the mountain, an amazing sight to behold. We entered the monastery and went up a few flights of steps from where the views are even more breathtaking.

The Monastery was founded by Vasilije, the Metropolitan Bishop of Herzegovina in the 17th century. He died there in 1671 and his body is enshrined in a reliquary (a container where religious relics are stored or displayed, especially relics of saints) which is kept in the cave-church at ground level. We entered the cave-church for a blessing by the priest that was in attendance and also got to see the reliquary, a wonderfully blessed experience.

It was time to tackle the downward spiralling road, not something any of us were particularly looking forward too. We were halfway down this treacherous road when we came upon a wonderful looking restaurant called Koliba. A stop was called for by all, not sure whether it was for quenching the thirst or squelching the nerves. Once the beers arrived and harmony settled upon us the need for food became evident.

 

Adri and Marina ordered the boiled goat stew, a specialty of the area, with Steve fancying the lamb stew dish. As I ordered the pork skewers the waiter looked at me askew, gave me an evil eye and questioned whether I did not rather want the pork dish two lines further down on the menu. It was pork loin that contained ham, cheese and mushroom in its belly, with the loin all wrapped up in crispy bacon. I was sold.

 

The goat stews were delivered in clay pots and from the hmm and ahs I gathered that these dishes were to Adri and Marina’s liking. Steve became very quiet so his dish must have been great. My dish arrived on a large plate and was the highlight of the table. There was not one, but two of these pork loin rolls on there with ample pomfrit in the middle to keep them apart and from fighting for my attention. I parted with parts of my dish to whoever wanted and I could still hardly finish it. This was a truly amazing feast!

All the portions that were served up were huge and the wonderful and ample arrangement of breads and bread rolls went almost untouched. But that bread was too good to pass up so Marina wrapped them all up in a paper towel to be consumed later. Steve looked on as this operation unfolded and nonchalantly commented “Don’t worry, it’s a Russian thing, I’m used to it by now”. And of course he loves it because he gets to munch on those later on in the evening. Anyways, with this meal having been slunch (served somewhere between lunch and supper), there was no way there was any supper in our immediate future, that was a certainty. Burp!

The drive home was uneventful and beautiful and we were dropped off at home just before 18:00. Steve and Marina had to rush back to their hotel to take delivery of the prosciutto ham they had ordered through the girl at the Monterosa Hotel on Sunday. It turns out it was a 10kg monster that would last them for months to come.

When we met up with Steve and Marina on Saturday they came bearing gifts and tonight was as good as any to enjoy those. I unwrapped my large Union Pivnica beer from Slovenia, poured it into a large glass and man, was that great. Adri stole too many sips from my gift, so now we will definitely have to visit these two in Ljubljana sometime to partake in more Union. We then opened Adri’s gift, a bottle of Pohorski Borovnicevec, an amazing blueberry liqueur with drunken berries at the bottom. Those berries will have to stay drunk at the bottom until we finish the bottle though. And I stole too many sips from Adri’s gift, more reason to…

Wednesday, being our last full day in Montenegro, we needed to go shopping for some odds and ends like Nike training shorts for me, multi vitamins which by the way, we forget to take most days, inner soles for my shoes, Ibuprofen… You get my drift regarding the mentioned odds and ends. Adri had fitted on a great looking pair of jeans but was not 100% sure yet, so left it behind. No sooner had we returned home when she decided she was now 100% sure, went back and bought the jeans of her dreams.

We made arrangements to meet Steve and Marina for an early supper just after 18:00, which would be our last supper, for now. They pitched up a tad late. They had fallen asleep after a long afternoon drinking with a rather interesting older lady from Belgrade, who kept them well oiled and entertained most of the afternoon.

Adri and Marina shared a fresh fish, I forget the name, but as fresh as can be. The whole fish was prepared and then, in plain sight for all to see at the table next to us, the waiter deftly s deboned, filleted and halved that puppy within seconds… man, this waiter knew his stuff.

Steve likes his chips… Actually that’s a gross understatement, Steve loves his chips… When he places his food order with the unsuspecting waiter, like tonight, he would order “I’ll have the chips… with some pork chops please”.

I reluctantly ordered the squid as I am more often than not peeved off with what I am presented with, strips of tubes as tough as tyres. I have not had squid for the longest time so decided to throw the dice and order some. And man, tonight I was not disappointed. I received a generous collection of tubes, freshly prepared, perfectly done, as soft as anything… truly delicious. The dish also came with a generous helping of squid heads which I am not particularly fond of… Adri said they were just great.

A couple of beers later the clock ticked close to 21:00, we needed to leave, the last bus back to Budva was just after 21:00 and we still had a steep hill to negotiate. Tonight’s goodbyes were super sad. Not only did we say goodbye to friends Steve and Marina but also to Montenegro, a place and its people we had come to love. Montenegro grows on you quickly as Steve and Marina also discovered.

Thursday we woke up to another travel day, the last one for three months as the intention is to be in Sette for that period of time. Adri started scurrying around at 07:30 while I had coffee in bed, nothing wrong with that. We had plenty of time to kill.

We had enquired about bus schedules and taxi fares to the Tivat Airport last night when we arrived at the bus station. There are plenty busses to Tivat throughout the day with a stop right in front of the airport, rather convenient and also cost effective at a third of the price of a taxi. But then there was the possible struggle with lugging big heavy bags of luggage onto and off a small bus. We decided to take the taxi at €20 and contacted the guy we met at the station last night to pick us up at 12:10. In hindsight, the taxi was great but the bus would have been just perfect.

Milos’ mother arrived at 11:50 to take possession of the keys, we left at 12:00 and by 12:05 we were on our way to the airport. The taxi driver’s name was Knezevic and what a nice guy he turned out to be. He’s English was very good; he explained that he had English at school for eight years, then German for a few years, and then he worked at the reception of a hotel in Becici where his English, and German, improved much. He then became a clerk in a government department and then a taxi driver, and he just loves his job and also loves the interaction he has with his passengers.

On the way he told us the story of the right hand drive car with black tinted windows (reminded me of Steve’s setup, hell, it might even have been Steve) which was stopped by a Montenegrin traffic officer. Asking the guy whether he had been drinking, the slurred response was “Lots!” “Can I see your driver’s license?” “Sorry, I don’t have one”. The cop was getting agitated and ready to arrest when he realized the error in his ways; he was speaking to the passenger, not the driver. He quickly waived them on.

We arrived at the airport in good time… and then the waiting started, of which there was plenty to come. It was 12:35 and check-in only opened at 13:10. It was 13:15 when we checked in with Air Serbia which took all of about four minutes with a very efficient lady, all good. Our bags were checked through all the way to Montpellier and we received boarding passes for our first two legs, boarding passes for the Air France flight must be obtained at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

The baggage allowance was 23kg per person. Our bags weighed 24.3 kg and 22.4kg respectively, just a tad over, the check-in lady did not blink, seems like we’re getting this weight thing down pat. And this even though we were without the hand scale today, the battery was pretty much dead. All it could utter in a pathetically flickering red voice was “Lo”.

An hour before our flight we went through Customs and Immigration after which I went into the duty free shop. And there something jumped up and grabbed me, my attention that is. There, amongst all the liquor deliciousness on offer were a few bottles of Amarula, that amazing SA liqueur, a one litre bottle nogal (mind you). The attendant saw my interest and the longing in my eyes and after sharing that this stuff is made in my home country he started speaking about his home country and his life.

A lovely young man in his early twenties, bemoaned the fact that jobs are so scarce in Montenegro. “But at least you have one”, I offered. He’s very thankful for the job though, but it pays only €300 per month, can you believe that? It is simply not enough to survive on if you stay on your own so he still stays with his parents in Tivat. He walks to and from work every day, 40 minutes each way.  After buying food for €150 and then helping the family with the rent payment there is nothing left. I felt a sharp sting of sadness flush through me and thought “Man, we have so much to be thankful for”. And that does not just refer to Adri and I.

As I left this cool youngster I turned around on my heels to take a picture of my beloved Amarula. He said “Please take picture quickly, you not allowed”. Thanks youngster, I wish I could help you get a better paying job. Oh, Johan, if you’re reading this, do you perhaps have a job for this youngster in your factory in Novi Sad?

As I left, again, my thoughts invariably turned to David who so graciously brought me a bottle of Amarula back when he returned to Koh Samui after his holiday. Thank you once again David!

We boarded a 60 seater propeller job, an ATR 72, and Adri was nervous, only because she thought the flight attendant looked nervous. Of course it had nothing to do with those two propellers. Be as it may we had an uneventful flight and how nice it was to fly over Belgrade and recognize so many places from the air, we really had a wonderful time there.

 

 

We landed and proceeded to our connecting flight to Paris CDG. Just before we entered the holding area the attendant provided us with our boarding passes for the Paris/Montpellier and final leg of our journey, no need to pick it up at CDG. Thanks Air Serbia, great customer service.

As one enters the holding area you once again have to go through yet another security check. Now I was starting to get gatvol (miffed) by all the security checks and hoops one has to jump through each time one flies. Out came the two laptops, the two Ipads, cell phones zipped out of our pockets as if self-propelled, belt slivers around and off me like a snake in a hurry. Watch, oops, nearly forgot about that watch… that comes off as well. Leather jacket… off. Once I felt sufficiently naked my little conveyer belt started chugging through the X-ray machine. And so it was that I went through the human X-ray machine and then, then there was that dreaded beep again. “C’mon, how can that be?” I thought “I am totally naked here!”

Now normally you would receive a body pat down and sent on your way. But no, this time was different, very different. Out came a piece of wet paper and I got swabbed on my hands and palms, I think my forehead, on my clothes. “Is this bag yours sir?” “Yes”. It gets several swabs as well, poor fellow. I felt rather perplexed but realized that it was obviously a way to check whether you have handled drugs or explosives, with some chemical reaction that would tell on you. I have never seen this procedure taking place before, let alone on me! Anyways, I am happy to report that I was declared drug and explosive free!

We boarded and took off soon enough; our connecting time was only about 40 minutes. The flight time to Paris was two hours 20 minutes, we were told. It was not long after takeoff when the wonderful smells of food wafted through the aisles. I only realized then that I was way past hungry. We had a few toebies (sandwiches) for breakfast, some peanuts at the Tivat Airport, but now I was ravenous.

The food trolley arrived with the familiar “Chicken, beef?” Now I would normally take the chicken but Adri piped up with a “Beef please”. I was not going to miss out on anything so ordered the same, and it was pretty good. A nice full bodied red wine was poured into a plastic cup and there was even space for a coffee on my tray as well.

We were flying east to west so we were in perpetual dusk following in the wake of the sun, but as we prepared to land the sun streaked ahead over the horizon and darkness descended quickly. We landed at CDG in Paris at 19:40… and now the long overnight wait started, our flight to Montpellier was only at around 08:30 in the morning.

We were looking for a business lounge in our terminal but found none. It would probably not have done us any good in any case as in other terminals they all seem to close by around 22:00 anyways. And also, there was that small issue with our expired Diners cards…

The airport was starting to close down so we did the next best thing; we made ourselves comfortable at the open business centre in the terminal. Thirty minutes later we were ushered out of there by a friendly security guard. He showed us where we could go, essentially in the public area which turned out to be the departures hall.

There were many people there trying to catch some shuteye, like us. There was a mini Replay supermarket which we happened to enter minutes before they closed for the evening; it was now around 23:00. Armed with a ham and Emmental cheese baguette, two coffees and water, we were ready for whatever may come, fortunately nothing came. Our saving grace was that there is free wifi available throughout the airport, and what a blessing that turned out to be!

And so the long night started…

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