Day 12 and 13

Due to the hectic nature of last two days, and because today is a travel day (to Bar), the blog will resume in a few days. It will include a summery of the Montenegro trip, plus updates on our current situation in Sorrento. Thank you for your continued support.

DAy 10 and 11: Show Prep and Opening

Day 10

AB got up at 6:00 to get ready to make her 7:00 interview. It was a morning show that carried a television feed, ala Howard Stern. We’re hoping to get a tape/copy of the show. She said she thinks it went well, BK said it went well, and BC saw it on t.v. when he was flipping channels this morning. When she returned we went to have cappuccinos with Z and BC at the Hotel Podgorica. Sat on the back terrace, which over looked the river. Went back to the apartment to pick up the kids and drove to Masha to meet with someone from the American Embassy in charge of cultural affairs. NM watched the kids, and was joined by Z and BC, while we had our meeting. B joined us and we discussed issues surrounding both of our shows. There was a considerable amount of discussion about the Caravaggio show that pushed our event back. Still trying to figure out a way to get to that one. Will look into flights from rome on the 18th. NM, Z and BC took the kids to the park, and after the representative left AB ordered a salad (her favorite from the first visit) and I had the chocolate cake, which was seven layers of ganache and light, spongy, cake. Might go back for another before we leave. Met everyone in the park and walked over to see the Narcisso painting again. That room was a welcome relief, so climate controlled, an oasis on a brutally hot day.

Drove BK escorted Z and BC back to the hotel and I drove everyone else home. Ran some errands with BK, hoping to get my phone set up for Europe. Took G to the city center to look for more playing cards, evidently everyone needs their own set now. The kids are shuffling away. Went to Carine for the internet. Picked up Z and BC, and relaxed at the house in the late afternoon. N was happy because he had some people to play table tennis with. PI played chess with Z. Hung out with NM in the studio, and had a generally pleasant afternoon. Turkish coffee, bread and cheese, some Nik’s.

Went to the gallery to set up the show. The frames were all done, and the pieces looked great. Helped AB lay everything out, there was just the right amount of work. Left her there to finish up for the night and drove NM, M, and BK home. Picked up some pastries on the way back, settled on the cheese and apple. Went to look for Z and BC in the center, was a little late meeting them at the appointed spot. No sign of them, but who could blame them. Lots for both of them to see. First time since they came in that the lack of phone communication proved to be an issue. Brought AB the pastries and went home to our neglected children. It’s hard to give them the full attention when the show is the priority at the moment. P was asleep, and G was reading the out loud book to himself. AB came home about an hour later, almost finished.

Day 11

AB had to be ready by 9:15, two interviews this morning, one at 9:30 and one at 10;00.
The 9:30 was canceled after they arrived due to internal issues at the studio, the second interview went off fine. G and P and I went to Hotel Podgorica to watch them on T.V., BC and Z had cable. We were unaware of the cancellation for the first one and surfed the channels for a half an hour. Saw the second one. We may have a copy to post of it in the future. AB did well, but made it difficult for BK by answering the questions in multiple sentences. He did what he could to translate.

Lunch with BC, Z, and AB at Masha around noon. It was along lunch, longer then we wanted, and AB was late getting to the gallery. She was chastised for it. BC and Z walked to the gallery, a long hot walk, with a less than ideal view of the city. AB hung the rest of the work and I ran an errand with BK and B. Drove BC and Z back to the hotel, and AB and I went home to see to the children, it had been four hours since we left them at the house. NM had fed them, although P had eaten very little. Charged our computers and took them to Carine to use the internet, and get P some food. Pizza of course. I picked up the phones, supposedly they are ready to go, just need the SIM cards. Hung out at the café for a while. Repeatedly panhandled by gypsies. That’s what we get for sitting on the perimeter.

Shuttled AB and P to the show, came back at got G. The opening went well. AB was introduced by a representative from the US Embassy. She had to say a few words, and NM translated for her. Good sized crowd, even with the World Cup starting this evening. It was hot, very hot, in the gallery with all the people. Drinks were served, a wide range of alcoholic beverages, had a straight vodka with BC and Z. AB was interviewed by a woman for the radio. All in all a good evening. Late night dinner at the Hotel Podgorica with BC and Z. AB had the vegetable risotto, I had the penne with porcini and truffle. Just the right amount. Tomorrow, a drive to the coast with BC, Z. and G. Possible snorkeling. AB is going to take it easy.

Pictures to be downloaded soon.

Day 9: The Return and Budva

AB and I got up early to move the car before 7, the sun was up at 5:30 and we had no clock except for G’s watch, so we would doze and check his watch every so often. He had complained of a pulled muscle or a cramp in his abdomen during the night, and we’ve seemed to identify it as a pulled, or strained muscle, we’ll give it until tomorrow.
After moving the car and buying our four hours of tickets from a kiosk that wasn’t a kiosk, AB and I had cappuccinos at one for the four competing pizza places on the lower square. A nice moment for us without the potential of bickering.

After we returned G and I went down to see the man at BMTA about the diving issue. I just wanted clarification. He started in with the spiel about not hearing from us and I relayed the events of Monday where the female employee told us we were all set for Tuesday at five. He said she worked on the other side of the Bay now, interesting, and called her. They had a lengthy conversation, and after hanging up he said that he was unaware that we had arranged things with her. At first he said he had not talked to the instructor who would be leading us on the dive, and said that when he saw us standing outside his office last night he thought we were just trying to get out of the sun…at 5:00? (Why else would we be there with our dive gear?) As we were ending the conversation he said that the instructor had called him and asked if we were still on for the dive, and he said he hadn’t heard from us so he canceled the appointment that had been made. Didn’t bother to call the girl who arranged it, nothing. Coward.
Do not use BMTA, useless.

AB did a stalwart job packing while we were gone. We decided to take the ferry at the narrow on the way back, very efficient, and only four Euros. Had to sit behind a tour bus that kept its engine running for the trip, but it wasn’t a problem until we had to get back into the car when we were exiting. The traffic was fairly decent to Budva, we were going to take the twisty road out of Kotor to Cetinje, but there were some low clouds and we wanted AB’s stress meter to remain low. We settled on taking our chances in Budva for lunch. If it proved difficult we would move on, if it was easy we’d stay. It was easy. Just followed the road until it ended, ignoring all the Parking signs, and ended up in a lot as close as we could get to the old town.

P wanted pizza, but we wanted something different, and as a compromise got P a slice and ate at the Budva Juice Bar, which doesn’t sound that special, but it was oh so good. Unfortunately there was no pizza margarita at the take out place and P’s slice had mushrooms, which meant a minimum was eaten. We on the other hand had a delicious lunch, the best of the trip so far. AB ordered the Orange Spice (orange, carrot, ginger), and G and I ordered Super Citrus (orange, lemon, grapefruit, lime), both very refreshing, and very much missed on this trip up until this point. P ordered a coke. AB had a wide selection of salads to choose from and she settled on the Oriental (listed as marinated soya with shredded cabbage, peppers, onions, cucumber, carrots with sesame seeds and in a sweet soya dressing). She was please with her selection. G and I ordered sandwiches, which came on homemade bread, much like a foccachia, dark and olivey. G ordered the the Classic (ham and cheese with a house sauce that was spicy with lime and garlic, AB and I dipped into that). I ordered the Juice Bar Club ( local prosciutto, local cheese, egg, and seasonal salad). Very satisfying. We finished it with a house carrot cake, really subtle, great texture. Espresso with milk to help with the drive to come.

After lunch we walked around the old town, it is very compact, shady narrow streets, lots of shops. AB climbed the stairs to the top of the old walls, and though P was resistant we walked the perimeter of the town on the path on the ramparts. P was having a little bit of a meltdown at this point, we think it was a combination of not eating enough, a coca-cola crash, and a Dramamine letdown. It was actually quite unpleasant, and her misery threatened to overwhelm the post meal enjoyment. We cut our losses and headed back to the car via the waterfront. Budva is quite beautiful and we’re hoping to come back again to take full advantage of the resources.

The climb out of the town to Cetinje was steep and rapid. No traffic in front of us made it easy, and, even with the anger in the backseat, fairly pleasant. The view of the coast was spectacular, and we enjoyed it until we wre swallowed up by a cloud and could no longer see it.

When we returned to Podgorica BK and NM had arrived. I taught Penelope how to play solitaire. Both her and G have been working hard on their card skills, honing their shuffling and fanning skills. G and I drove to the airport to pick up Z and BC, whose flight ended up being delayed from Beograd. We filled the car up for the first time. 560km on one tank of gas. 50 Euro for 41 liters. Dropped Z and BC at Hotel Podgorica, dropped G and P at the apartment, and drove with BK, NM, M, and AB to the gallery to meet B. AB made framing decisions, and I mulled over options for my small pieces that will be showing later this summer, and CD’s pieces on paper.

The entire crew went to Hotel Podgorica to work out plans with Z and BC. BK escorted them to the city center, and I took AB, NM, and M home before meeting the others for some local fast food (plentiful, tasty, just right), a couple Nik’s, and eye candy. G had gone to bed, AB was asleep (early morning television interview), and P was playing solitaire when I got home.

Day 8: Death March to Manastir Savina, and Massive Diving Disappointment

The kids slept in and were up by 8:30, we should let them sleep in more often since it’s the same time as when we have to force them to get up. Sounds were coming from what we think is the music conservatory next door. Piano, voice, flute, violin, it’s all quite nice. Much nicer then that very loud, very odd pop music that comes from the building on the opposite side in the afternoon. We heard selections from Grease, Michael Jackson, and others, yesterday and today, and they kept starting them over. We assume there is rehearsal for something. It sounds like there is currently a rehearsal for a concert coming from somewhere close by. I think it’s Baroque.

AB and I read some of the literature PI gave us on the area, as well as what we picked up from the TI. Rather then drive somewhere, and since we didn’t want to risk parking problems today, we stayed local. Read about the history of the city and the area, and have a much better grasp of the order of things historically. AB wanted to go to the Monestary in Savina, which had some interesting sounding places and P wanted to go to the beach, so we tried to combine the wishes. We walked along the waterfront armed with our TI map and passed various swimming/beach areas, giving P a full range of choices. Unfortunately there was no shade on the walk, and not having sandals, wearing long pants, and walking at a slow pace all contributed to my discomfort. That and a poorly designed map promising steps up in to the town that weren’t there, and a girl who just wanted to swim, created considerable stress. We made it to the area where we should have seen signs pointing up to the monastery, but there weren’t any. We finally cut up to Brace Grakalica, a road we were by now familiar with, and again there were no signs, and no obvious roads leading up to the monastery. Fortunately there were a couple gentlemen working on a house acroos the street. AB asked for help, and we were pointed in the right direction. Let me just say that under normal conditions the climb up to the monastery would have been pleasant, a little strenuous, but pleasant. In my present drenched condition, and in the company of a girl who had no interest in the climb, made it a little more difficult. It actually began to feel like a pilgrimage one would take where they would have to overcome a series of challenges to reach their reward. The monastery with its two churches/chapels was quite pleasant. Beautiful icons in both, and some very well preserved frescos. The graves surrounding the buildings were interesting as well. There was one more church listed on the map above the monastery, and that entailed more climbing, on much steeper stairs than anticipated. It really gave an idea of the verticality of the area. More massive sweating, cooled by the sea breeze at the top of the climb. Rather then going back down from where we came, we took the path that went parallel to the coast toward Stari Grad. Again the map promised stairs that weren’t there, and we ended up following the long winding road down to the water. P was very motivated at this point and walked ahead in an effort to spur us on.

AB and I sat under an umbrella at a café overlooking the beach while we watched the kids swim. They enjoyed themselves, and so did we. AB had an iced coffee with no ice that she said was delicious, I had a cappuccino with a mountain of foam so steep the sugar rolled off it when I tried to pour it into the coffee. The walk back was brief, as we had covered a considerable amount of ground returning from the pilgrimage. We promised P pizza, so we went up to the square to wifi while we ate. We were the only diners. P thought our waiter looked like he could be a movie star, though she denies this now. G confirmed the statement. A nice leisurely lunch, the kids split a Margarita pizza, again, and AB had the Greek salad. I ate whatever was left, and had a Tuborg on draft. Sorry Nik. G had o.j. that tasted like manderine oranges, he said it was delicious. AB and P had the usual, coca-cola. Going to have to work on that.

We went back to the apartment to rest up for the 5:00 dive. A brief nap, and then a walk over to Galerija Josip-Bepo Benkovic where we’ll be showing in August. Their current exhibition is Ljubomir Brajovic-Braja, who currently resides in Podgorica. I liked his landscapes. Really nice space, would love to be here to see the work when the show opens. Returned to the apartment to get our gear together for the dive and went down to the travel agency to meet at the arranged time. The only problem was there was no dive. We stood in front of the agency, watched the people working there lock it up, ignore us, and walk away. G ran the guy down, the one we originally spoke with, and he told G that we should have come by in the morning to arrange it. We were told to come by at 5:00p.m., we would be met by the dive instructor. The woman told us yesterday not to worry and plan our day accordingly. G cried for ten minutes, I was furious, I’ll be back in the morning to have a little talk. Black Mountain Travel Agency is on my list, if I had a list. Making the best of the situation, since we had our gear, G and I went snorkeling. Fins, booties, masks, and snorkels can make up for some of the pain. Saw a load of fish: Wrasse, Blinnys Tangs, Mullet, Gobys, Sea Urchins, Damselfish, etc. It gave us an opportunity to use our fins, and we swam around and through some large rocks, and hovered over massive schools of fish and coral. Take that Black Mountain Crappy Travel Agency. I got cold after about a half an hour, so we came back in. AB and P got to listen to a lot of good hip-hop/techno music while we were gone.

G had a double chicken sandwich at our favorite take out place, and AB and I split a sausage sandwich of some sort. Street meat, mmm. Ate it walking up the stairs again. Baths/showers for all. Evening stroll to see if the car was still there, further away then we remembered. Walked down to the water through a resort, nice pool area, three man band playing, trumpet, bass, and keyboard. Felt like we walked into a late Sixties hipster movie. Had cherry ice cream at Gradska Kafana with little bits of crunchy cherry chocolate candy. Tasted like Life Saver ice cream, but not nasty like you might think. G had the vanilla, AB had tea and ate P’s hot chocolate, with no slagroom. It was like a warm liquid pudding made with dark chocolate, oh so good. I ordered one too.

Tomorrow I’m going to ask the lame people at BMTA why they screwed us on the dive. Hoping to stop in Kotor to see the space we’ll be showing in later in the summer.

Day 7 Herceg Novi

The road to Herceg Novi.
The driving that went on around us was appalling. Construction sites seem like an abstraction to most, some cars passing multiple vehicles before jamming their way in between cars at the last minute. It seemed very unnecessary. We had witnessed some isolated incidents of this, but nothing on such a grand scale as today. The highway was nice, and we made fairly good time even with the slow trucks creating long lines behind them. There were enough uphill passing lanes to keep it moving. The kids are enjoying the rides so far. Budva to Kotor was quick and we took the long way around the bay rather than taking the ferry at the entrance. Again, just a beautiful drive. Granger is begging we take the twisty old road back. We shall see.

When we arrived in Herceg Novi we had an interesting time finding Sv. Jerolima church. It’s right next to BK’s apartment so it was our landmark. The roads around it are all pedestrian, no car access, and the signage was questionable so we circled. Two loops to get close. Dropped AB and P off at the bottom of Stari Grad where there were stairs with a sign to the church. P was getting sick, and puked as soon as she got out of the car. She said she held it for us. Great gal. G and I made our way up through two-way streets wide enough for only one small car that came to a dead end. I knew we were close because there was a basketball court right where PI said it would be. The problem was there was also gate, so I pulled into a small area next to it and watched a car with workers in it pass through when the gate was lifted by what looked like a random gentleman. I asked if there was parking, and he said yes and we ended up backing into the last space in the lot. Very tight. He said he spoke no English, but we were able to find out it was1 Euro per hour, 5 Euro per day. I asked if we could leave it for two days. He said “that would be a problem”. I’ll be moving it later tonight.

The apartment is very nice, and we feel very fortunate that BK and NM would share this resource with us. The neighbor came down when he heard us arrive and helped us make sure the electric and water was up and running. None of us had eaten breakfast, and after a three hour drive, and a little car sickness, we were in need of something. Unfortunately we went down the hill instead of up so there was nothing waiting for us at the bottom. This put me in a foul mood that I knew would not change until we were sitting somewhere eating. Hiked back to the top. The square on the road above the apartment had some cafes, but the one we chose only served ice cream and drinks. P wanted pizza. I don’t want to waste sentences describing the misery of this place. Just know this, after giving us a menu, an ice cream and drink menu, and sitting for ten minutes we were informed by the waitress the café had no ice cream. The service for three juice drinks and one water took about fifteen to twenty minutes. A scouting trip by me during our wait yielded four pizza restaurants in a neighboring square. Thirty more steps and it all would have been so different. Regardless I was crabby and not in a position to go somewhere else and work it off.

We moved quickly to the other square after our subpar experience. Here we encountered a pleasant waiter, ordered the food we wanted, and were served our drink orders within minutes, and our food in less then ten. Good food and a better mood. P wanted to go to the water so we headed downhill, guessing at every staircase. We spilled out on a pedestrian/bike road and headed left toward the jetty. We found a small beach, very rocky, and Black Mountain Tourism, which advertised scuba diving. After answering many questions about our diving experience, the gentleman made a call and we were told the instructor would be willing to take us on a short dive from the beach to a rock about one hundred yards out. One hour, all equipment, 35 Euros each. I figured this would be a nice intro dive for G so we’re in. Dive leaves tomorrow at 5:00 (17:00). After wetting our feet in the water we walked further down the boardwalk, back the way we came and ascended into the town to find the TI and get information on parking. This turned out to be more difficult then one would imagine. There were signs, but it was fairly confusing, and the office ended up being a twisting series of stairs on the second floor of what looked like an apartment building. When we entered there was a sign that said information pointing to a closed, leather quilted door. The woman was very pleasant, and showed me where to park on the map, although it wasn’t all that clear. An older gentleman came in and gave some very general information on diving in the region, and after finding out we were from the U.S., (he originally thought we were Italian?), started telling us about his daughter who went to Johns Hopkins for International Studies, and how he visited Washington, and that she lived in Toronto. He’s hoping she moves home when she gets older.

We returned to the apartment, changed into swimsuits and headed back to the beach. G had left his suit in Podgorica so we had to find him one en route. He settled on a nice European style. Reluctant at first, but he looked like a natural on the beach. The water was coldish, the rocks were difficult to walk on, I went down twice (only to the neck), but the kids had fun, made sand/rock castles, and G looked at unknown species of damsel fish and what he thought were either gobi and wrasse. AB stayed dry on the shore. Had a massive burger with tons of fixings at a stand nearby, could not resist the smell. AB and I spilt it. Walked up the steep stairs while eating it. Worked it off while ingesting. Stopped at the Novito for pasta, butter, and cheese for P and G’s dinner. Another Nik, some cherry juice, Jaffe’s (not as good as Pims).

Moved the car to what we hoped would be a more permanent space, two more loops around the town trying to get day passes in zone II parking, which was advertised at 4 Euro per day, purchase tickets at a Kiosk. There are actually no kiosk’s, the passes are sold in convenience stores. After three attempts, at as many spaces, we secured our two days worth of passes. Two days end up being the remaining 2.5 hours left in the evening, and tomorrow, so said the parking police. Whatever. As soon as AB and I started walking back to the apartment from the car I was asked by this older gentleman (city worker?) to help him lift a rock into his wheelbarrow, at least that was what he was indicating. The rock was easily over 100lbs. He had gloves, I didn’t. I was dressed in grey pants and a black shirt, which immediately were covered in dust. There were two lifts actually, one up to lip of the curb which was two or so feet, and one up into the wheel barrow. Concerns about my back and hip were present, but there was no way I could explain that to him. Minimal damage, I think, aside from a nicely gouged knuckle. A metaphor for the days wroth of parking experiences.

Evening stroll to Gradska Kafana with a nice view of the dark bay, and beyond that the Adriatic. Two late cappuccinos, what a faux pas, G had his Orangina, and P had hot chocolate but she didn’t like it. We did. Herceg Novi had won a water polo match this evening, I watched it on TV earlier, and cars were circling the town with exuberant youths, honking their horns, revving their engines, and screaming loudly. We ended the evening on the square above the apartment using the free wifi. G was happy to update his facebook. He and P requested they sleep in tomorrow. We’re fine with that.

Day 6 Easy Morning and Skadar Lake

Thought about driving north to Biogradska Gora, but decided to take it easy. It was the last free day the kids had to hang out before N, I, and L had to go to school. Morning consisted of Go Fish, some soccer, and table tennis on a makeshift table. Mostly Go Fish, I sat in for two hands. T made us cornbread for breakfast, nice and warm. Turkish coffee while watching the kids play cards, followed by a Nik.

After a little consultation with PI, we decided to go to Skadar Lake in the afternoon. Both G and P were into it, and it was a relatively short drive. We let fate guide us on our ultimate destination on the lake, and it was waiting for us as soon as we turned off for Virpazar. A young lady who worked for the park asked us what we were interested in doing and literally ran us to a parking space in the town, moving lethargic tourists for us all the way to our spot, which she apologized for being so far out of the way. With her help we were on a boat within five minutes. 35 Euro for all of us, I gave her a 50 with the promise I would get change upon my return. A one hour tour on the lake, circling around an island structure, Grmozur (we were told it was built in the 14th century and was a women’s prison). The lake was a dream, cool breeze, lily pads extending out from the shore, in some places for several hundred meters, lots fo other flora and fauna, tons a birds, an occasional carp sighting, and no people. Perfect. AB, P and G loved it, that was all that mattered to me. P dragged her hand in the spray from the boat and Granger watched intently for fish. He said it was his favorite place. It looks like we’ll be back. On our return we were met by our original helper, who had our change waiting, AB gave her a tip, which she seemed happy with. It was well worth it for the convenience.

P had already called a food stop before we finished our cruise so we ate at an unknown café/restaurant. AB ordered a salad with cheese, and bread for the table. G ordered the chicken breast, 300gms, which came out to three pieces, and he shared with P. It came with some yummy potatoes that were either cooked in olive oil or with the chicken, and some sliced tomato and cheese. I ate the remnants, which were considerable, learning my lesson from the previous day. AB had plenty of cucumber for me in her salad, G had the tomatoes, which he never eats, the potatoes which he shared, and the bread was substantial. One more Nik and it was plenty.

I wanted to go further along the coast, and while the woman who originally met us warned us the road was “small”, it couldn’t have been worse then the one to Kotor, and the kids were up to it. AB was terrified, it turned out to be a little more intense than anticipated, but it was absolutely beautiful. Went about 10km at a crawl along steep drop offs that unfortunately seemed to mostly be on the passenger side. I had no doubts, but it was for the best that we turned around. It’s no fun when one passenger is miserable/terrified. The ride back was fairly uneventful, it was much easier driving back down. G fell asleep and AB and I went to the store after we got back. Supplies for Hercog Novi, BK has us set up in his apartment there, will stay until Wednesday. Looking to dive.

Went and shot hoops with PI, I was rusty, very rusty, but it’s been a while. PI was slow to warm up but found his rhythm. The internet has been down for a few days so we went to an internet café in the city center. It is hopping here on a Sunday night. The European stroll is in full effect, never see this in Savannah, and its roughly the same size as Podgorica. It wouldn’t work anyway. P is playing DS and G is watching the looping sea life video that is playing inside, could not get a seat outside. Drag. AB is typing away, all is good.

Day 5 The Drive

Busy day. G is resisting getting up in the morning. Two days in a row he has said he will get up when I get up. With minimal prep time on my part he has no argument. The kids got a couple games of cards in with their new friends before we left for Cetinje. Major detour on the road to Cetinje, lots of climbing. Beautiful drive, but nothing like later in the day. Look up Cetinje for specific information on location, and history, it would be too lengthy here.

P was in a foul mood from the time we left until we got some pizza in her after looking at everything. We’ve come to the conclusion that the pizza here is consistently good and very inexpensive. This is a plus since it’s 50% of P’s diet. Trying to get her to eat a Plasma cracker was a chore, and unsuccessful. Sat at a café in Trg Kralja Niklle, next to the Palace of King Nikola, watching children go wild on the very temporary looking playground equipment that was much too small for most of them. Took a nice slow stroll around the town past the Blue Palace, through the Royal Court’s Garden up to the Monastery where misery was building. It was relieved by visiting the massive contour map of the country, housed in what previously looked like a closed building. G liked it, P was unimpressed. Toured the second floor of the Billiards Hall which was dedicated to the Poet Prince. P stayed one room ahead in an effort to hurry us through, then she got spooked out by some of the portraits and stayed with us for the remainder of the visit. We decided to cut our losses and get them a meal. Pizza, as mentioned before, at Café NYC in a quiet square. Very pleasant, but we over ordered. Two pizza margarita’s and one vegetariana. Not small pies, and there was definite lactose overload for me. I topped it off by ordering Njegusi cheese. I couldn’t pass it up, it was very good but lesson learned, order pizza for the kids on an as needed basis, and watch the dairy intake. Ab went to the Ethnographic museum while we finished up. G, P, and I worked on a collaborative drawing. Took a walk in the opposite direction to work some of the food off. We really liked the feel of this town. Found our car where we left it in front of the French embassy and departed.

Options were considered and in the end we decided to take an old Austrian roadway toward Lovcen to Kotar, which had 25 switchbacks between Kotar and the Njegusi Village. AB, G, and P each took a half Dramamine. Good call. Took it slow. The kids were very enthusiastic, and it was a relatively easy drive, no one on the road for the first ten kilometers. All that time in the south of France has paid off. Very narrow road, would be considered one lane by most. Came upon goats and sheep wandering in the road, awesome, and the occasional tour bus, not so awesome. Seriously, what’s the point. Had to back up only once which increased AB’s tension. The descent was a little more challenging, more traffic, motorcycles, and trucks, trucks? Incredible view of the bay, looking forward to going there later in the week. Headed toward Budva, P was nodding off, as was AB, and it was a long drive back. The traffic and driving was fairly unpleasant along the coast. Nice views, but unpredictable drivers kept me focused. P hit her head when I had to slam on the breaks when a car stopped in the middle of the road a couple cars ahead. The trick was to avoid the car in front while not getting rammed from behind. The climb out of Petrovac was rapid and contributed to AB’s growing headache. G fell asleep so it was solo for a while. Got a nice look at Lake Skadar as we drove across it. Trying to figure out what part of the week we’ll fit that in. It ended up being a three hour return drive from Cetinje to Podgorica via the route we took. A lot of time to be in a car changing altitude and direction.

The children were happy to see their new friends, and G participated in an intense two-on-two soccer match in a very tight area. P wanted to play cards. She finally got her wish, but then the chess came out. G gave PI a run for his money, and both players had their advisers to consult. PI was nice enough to pull the bikes out for a ride, spending a great deal of effort getting his brothers old,very small, bike set up for P, and getting another mountain bike working for G to ride. After the local street riding was complete, he took G and myself on a night ride to Gorica. I was itching to climb and didn’t care what type of bike I had. G did well to keep up on a bike with questionable gears. He will have no problem in France, and is a natural on the descent, much to AB’s chagrin, although she says that’s a bad rap. We took a detour to the city center on the way home. It was very busy, filled with people out for a stroll, had to do a bit of dodging on the bikes. Will have to take the kids down there this week.

Walked to the store with G after we returned; milk, corn flakes, water, tea cookies, and, while I couldn’t understand the packaging, guessed right on the tea.

P did 11 units from lesson 1 on the Rosetta Stone (French), now she’s on the DS, no headphones this time. G went to his room to read. AB is reading Shirley Jackson.

Day 4

Woke up to pancakes (crepes) delivered to our room by T, too nice. PI was kind enough to escort us to the gallery. Interesting drive, lots of pedestrians crossing the street in random places, occasional aggressive traffic. Cut off my first car, going with the flow. Met B at Gallery Most who offered us Rajika (a little stronger then last night), and juice and coca cola for the kids. AB unpacked her work that she shipped, it was nice to see it again. The gallery is a good space and it should be a good show. Spent way too much time cutting foam core for the embroidered pieces. P was so a bored, but G had plenty of drawing to do.

Drove to the center of Podgorica for coffee at Mawa (Masha), it was in a row of very upscale cafes. Very comfortable, very nice. B met us there and brought a guide book of Montenegro. AB and I had cappuccinos, even though it was the afternoon, the kids and PI had fresh squeezed lemonade. P needed extra sugar it was so tart, but she always wants extra sugar. Ordered pizza Margarita which was delicious. G wanted dessert, but we talked him out of it. B went to get us more information, maps, etc. from the tourist office. When he returned he escorted us to the Contemporary Arts Museum in the Dvorac Petrovica to see Caravaggio’s Narciso. Beautiful walk through the park, many playgrounds for P, who ran from one to another. Saw a great assortment of vehicles on the way over, Yugo’s, old VW’s (no punch back), a weird fish truck, fantastic. Furious I did not bring the camera. PI pointed out an And1 café. Seriously. Easy in and out at the Caravaggio, a single piece under glass with guards. Very low light. Like seeing an old friend. Looking forward to seeing more of them in Italy in a couple of weeks. Beki gave us catalog’s from the show. The generosity here is at times overwhelming. While we were gone the milk and bread were restocked in our apartment. Amazing.
Dropped AB at the gallery to square away her embroidery and took the back way home. PI’s cousins had arrived, I and L, so there was plenty for the kids to do. AB called and I picked her up. PI’s brother N gave AB and the kids a thorough tour of the house, a very thorough tour. I worked on my QR for Spring, the last bit of paperwork for a while. With the kids occupied AB and I went for an evening stroll toward the stadium to try to get up to the hill behind the house which I just mapquested, I think it’s called Gorica. Need to ride that hill. It will get me straight for what’s to come at the end of the month. Left the kids longer then expected, but they were well occupied. Ping Pong on a makeshift table, but they lost the only ball. Back to Go Fish until the sun went down, then they taught the others Hide and seek, which they referred to as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Had another Niksicko, no glass necessary.

Looking at all the guide books, maps, etc. to plot our week. Looks like Cetinje tomorrow, and perhaps a daring drive up to Nacionalni Park Lovcen (do not have the proper keyboard for spelling some things). P is watching Fred, a uTube channel. Thank god for headphones. G is mustering up the courage to go to bed.

G says “hi” again, he won’t elaborate. We’ll give him time. AB is cooking hot dogs for P.

Day 3 Podgorica

Woke up at 8 but went back to dreamland until 10:00. P asked for a few more minutes so she could say goodbye to her friends. G dreamt of a white room full of koi. AB was resistant to getting up, very unlike her.

Easy shuttle to CDG, Terminal 2B. Overpriced semi-nasty food. No choices once we went through passport control, but no stress on AB’s part. P felt sick but was better after an apple and ritz crackers. G had a doughnut and Orangina, AB had an oversweet apple tart. Two subpar cappuccinos, very subpar. P fed a bird in the terminal. Took Montenegro airlines, it was a Fokker 100 (one of a fleet of eight), very comfortable and so far the best flight attendants. Flew over the Alps, and had a great view of the East coast of the Adriatic. Landed in Podgorica, easy airport, made my first booking mistake, the 4th instead of the 3rd, but the woman at the counter squared us away. Driving stick in Montenegro. Visualized the drive to B’s house, AB asked if I had been there before. His family is so nice, Great house, beautiful garden, brandy, Turkish coffee, fruit from the garden (I’ll get the name of it), pomegranate juice, prosciutto, currently sitting with a Niksicko (don’t have the correct keyboard to write it.)

Everything is unpacked, tomorrow we go to the gallery to take care of business. The QR needs to be sent as well, one last day of potential misery. Looking to dive this week.

G says “hi”, hoping for more input from him as the trip goes on.

Europe 2010 Day 1 & 2

Three metal detectors in one day, fun. Scan in Raleigh, the wand in JFK (difficult people working there), and an enthusiastic fondling from a nice old gentleman in Dublin.

A.M. flight from Raleigh to JFK, 11 hour layover in NYC. Took the train into the city with our packs, fortunately our two suitcases were checked on to Paris, 45 and 35 lbs respectively. Still a good deal of weight to haul around without them. Airtran to the Howard Beach Station, A train to the L train to the D train to Astor Place. D-no was home. Had a fried egg sandwich with tomato and cheese on an English muffin at Moonstruck Diner. A had french toast with meat candy, P had silver dollar pancakes, G had a Belgian Waffle. He coveted my Lemonade, and so he should have.

Walked to Soho to Kid Robot, P got something. Found a hat for the sun elsewhere. Nice not to be at the airport. D-no was a good host. Grabbed more snacks, rice cakes with seaweed, P had pizza as usual.

The train back to the airport was slooooow. Some stress was generated. Made the Aer Lingus with 15 minutes to spare (see difficult people above). Short overseas flight, less then six hours. Isolated from the family though only three rows up. Did not get out of my seat once, too much hassle. Slept for a change though. Tarmac exit, beautiful morning at the Dublin airport.. Had an hour to go back through security, which was packed, but made the plane as they were boarding the last passengers. Back row.

Plenty of time to figure out where our hotel shuttle was at CDG. We needed it. Premeire Classe Hotel , don’t let the name fool you. Comfortable, but lacking towels, alarm clock, and access (no way in or out without taking the shuttle which was an adventure.

Late afternoon RER to Luxemburg. Paris walk: Luxemburg gardens (G watched the Carp, we lazed on the lawn furniture), Left Bank (sucre crepes). Notre Dame, Isle St. Louis, Marais district (falafels, mmm), death march to Gare De Nord via Republique (Café Crème, Chocolate Chaud, Noissette). Parks and playgrounds on the way, P played in everyone, I was glad for the rest. Long wait at CDG for the shuttle to the hotel. Lights out by 12:30, later than expected.