Cetinje

Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016--Kotor to Cetinje

It's only 1 1/4 hours from Kotor to Cetinje, but what an uncomfortable trip it was.  The bus was fine, but a man with three children took seats just behind me.  One boy was quiet the whole way.  The little girl talked very loudly very often.  The other boy has some kind of disability and never stopped making nonsense noises at a high pitch.  Between his noises and the girl trying to talk over them, it was unnerving.

My guest house in Cetinje, La Vecchia Casa, is a small place with each room being different.  Mine is in the main building with a window looking out to the courtyard filled with flowers.  It has a single bed, a side table with a reading lamp, a closet, a TV, and an old 1930s-style buffet.  The bathroom is small with a toilet, a sink, and a shower head; the entire floor is the drain for the shower.  The woman who owns it is Italian, and she has a young man who speaks English she pays to come and assist English-speaking tourists.  Breakfast is not included, but she has items in the kitchen which can be used by guests--fresh eggs, bread, honey, butter, and a couple of kinds of spreads. She also has coffee and teas.  Therefore, I will still have to make my own breakfast here.

Cetinje no longer has the marble curbs.  I found a couple of places that still have them, but all the streets in the city have been rebuilt, and that process included putting modern concrete curbs!!  It's an interesting city though--so small, yet with so many rather grand buildings--former palaces and embassies from the period from the late 1800s to the end of WWI that it had its independence.  By the end of the day, I had walked the distance of every major street in town.

I found a festival occurring at the local monastery which is considered to be the preeminent one in Montenegro.  School groups were here from all over the country, I guess.  Each had a performing group (or maybe more than one) that went to the stage to either sing, dance, or play music.  Many families were there in support of their groups, and there were more Orthodox priests (not only those from the monastery, but also those coming from the different schools) than I have ever seen before.  Some of the children wore native Montenegro costumes while others just performed in street clothes.  One young lady had a fantastic voice backed up by other students playing a keyboard, a guitar, an accordion, and a violinist.  While there, I stepped inside to see the small chapel and the baptismal chapel (which is covered--ceilings and walls--with murals, but is not pictured on the Internet as far as I can find), the only two parts of the monastery open to the public.  (There is another, larger chapel that can be visited with advance notice and a vetting process to make sure you mean no harm.  It supposedly has several "relics" including one of the hands of John the Baptist.)

I was bothered a bit by something I saw during the festival there.  I first noticed it with a younger priest probably in his late 30s/early 40s.  He had a young girl maybe 4 or 5 years old sitting in his lap facing him with her legs straddling his sides who was bouncing and wiggling around.  As I watched thinking that such a thing would probably never happen in the US these days, I didn't notice anyone showing any concern.  The priest had his hand on her rear holding her in place on his lap.  Then later, I saw the same priest and another, older priest both with girls in the 11-12 year old range sitting in their laps.  It seemed awkward to me, but it apparently didn't seem that way to anyone else there.

In the late afternoon, I searched for a barber shop.  I always like to get my hair cut in various countries when traveling, and it had gotten too long and was making me feel miserable.  I drew images of how I wanted it cut in back and on the sides which he understood.  He charged me more than a regular haircut, because I know it should have been about 3 Euros.  But for the 5 Euros, he gave me something I haven't had in ages--a scissor and razor cut.  First, he used thinning shears.  Then he cut the hair with regular shears.  Then he took a straight razor and pulled it across all parts of my head cutting more.  When he finished, he blew my hair dry.  But then he put a cream on it.  It's a little longer along the back edges than I like, but it is a good haircut.

I went to a burger place that was recommended and was near the barber shop.  Both the bun and the meat were 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter, and the meat was 1/2 inch thick (12.5 mm).  The meat had spices and chunks of cheese inside it.  As she cooked the meat, she spread mayonnaise on one half of the bun and a thick sour cream that looked like it came directly from a farm rather than from a factory on the other half of the bun.  She added cabbage and pickles.  She put the bun on the griddle to toast while the meat finished cooking, then she put the meat inside and served it to me steaming hot.  UMMMM.  It tasted so good.  And it cost only 1.50 Euros (about $1.65 US).

I finished reading my novel, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, today.  It's a western about two brothers who are hired killers--one rough with little conscience and the other somewhat sensitive.  It was named to best-of-the-year lists by a number of reviewers and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.  It's a unique western that incorporates some science fiction as well as some superstition.  I enjoyed the book and gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.