Monday, September 5, 2011 Montenegro

Monday, September 5, 2011 Montenegro

Our stay in Ulcinj was delightful although the hot (90's to 100's F every day) humid weather continues to follow us. In the mornings we would go to the beach for a few hours. We enjoyed watching Adriana, Nikola and Karlo play in the water and build sand castles and moats. Linda even swam a few times. Then it was home for several hours to rest. In the late afternoon we would go up to Adriana's mother's apartment for “lunch” - always good home cooked Montenegrin food. After stuffing ourselves (it is impossible to refuse food in this part of the world) we would take off for a couple of hours of sight seeing and ice cream or a drink.

We walked along the waterfront (not as hectic as in Budva but still lined with restaurants and sidewalk cafes) to watch the sunset over the old fortress. It was interesting to watch the tractor-pulled sand-sifter clean the public beach. We also continue to admire the way waterfronts are developed for the use of people.

One evening we raced (in a car, of course) along the typical narrow winding roads and climb a steep hill to watch the sunset from the Svach Ruins. This was a place where 365 churches were built in the 8^th century by the widow of Vladimir – a tragic story of love, intrigue, power, politics and battles. The Balkans have so much history of battles, conquests, and changes of government that it would take a lifetime to learn. As someone (maybe Winston Churchill) once said, “the Balkans have produced more history than can be consumed locally.”

Another sunset was viewed from the mouth of the Bojana River watching the river water fight the sea. There is a large island there created by a sand bar forming over a shipwreck. Part of this border forms the border between Montenegro and Albania. When we were touring Kotor Bay we were very close to the border of Croatia. We still catch ourselves being surprised at how small this country is.

Naturally we had to walk through Old Town – the ancient walled fortress which now houses a museum, restaurants and many original stone houses (that are still lived in) along the very narrow, winding, steep, worn slick rock alleys. The museum is the old prison and we saw the cell purported to be the one in which the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra spent 5 years imprisoned after being captured during a naval battle in 1571. The name of the character Dulcinea in Don Quixote is a variant of the name Ulcinj.

The town of Ulcinj is built on rocky hills and the houses go straight up the sides of the hills. You get to them via mazes of narrow, winding, steep (we estimated one grade to be at least 45%) roads or stairways. Our last night in Ulcinj we visited Adriana's sister Violeta and her family. They live in a lovely home on one these steep roads (one car width wide) that look like only a mountain goat could traverse it. It was the Muslim holiday of Eid marking the last day of Ramadan so we were served cakes, sweets and nuts (this after an ample meal).

The 1 ½ hour drive from Ulcinj to the capital of Podgorica over and through the mountains was uneventful. The road is a modern highway with passing lanes on the steep grades (one was marked as 8%). A 2.5 mile tunnel through the mountains eliminates a lot of climbing. The roads skirts part of huge Lake Skadar which forms the border with Albania.

See the photos at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104998323846009190297/201108MontenegroIIIUlcinj

Next time we will report on our stay in Podgorica.