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Published: April 5th 2010
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BAR Day 70
This night train was a bit hectic. When I got on the train I gave the ticket man my train pass as well as my bed reservation ticket. He took them along with everyone else. In my bed area was another older women from Serbia heading down to her weekend home in Montenegro and another Serbian man going to I don’t know where. Neither of them spoke any English but I managed to chat with the women through basic words and miming. Her name is Vjera and she has a son that works in New York, a daughter that lives in Belgrade, and two grand children (my age). After miming for a while we both went to sleep to be woken by the ticket man telling me that I didn’t give him my ticket for my bed reservation. I am 100%!c(MISSING)ertain he took and distinctly remember him looking at both my train pass and ticket before folding them up and putting in his pocket. But I decided it was better to appease him and go through all my bags in search of the ticket that he had apparently lost. Vjera tried to help me by
asking him to look in his office again but he was adamant that I had lost the ticket not him. After we went through all my stuff and I asked if he could possibly look in his office he left and returned saying that he couldn’t find it but it was ok. I think he did find it but was to stubborn to admit that he was the one that misplaced it.
We woke in the morning to the beautiful mountains of Montenegro. Vjera and the other man kept pointing out the different things to take pictures of. The sights were really amazing. The mountains are so huge and you feel as though you are right in the middle of them. Prior to arriving in the capital, Podgorica, the train passes through the lake Skadar, which was really beautiful. Apparently it is the largest lake in all of the Balkan countries as well as the home of the largest bird reserve in Europe with the most species of birds. On the opposite side of the lake you can see Albania. As we arrived in the Podgorica station the man who shared the car with us was leaving but when
he left he gave me some gifts: a can of coke, a jug of choco milk, 5 euros, and 3 serbian dinars. I tried to politely refuse his kind gifts (especially the money) but he refused.
With just Vjera and I left in the cart we spent the last hour of the ride with her pointing out the best things to take photos of. When we neared the station Vjera told me she wanted me to come to her house for the night and that she would bring me back to the train station in the morning. I tried again to politely refuse her kind gesture but with the language barrier this was very difficult and she eventually won the battle of ‘da da da… ne ne ne…. da da da… ne ne ne… da da da… ne ne ne… etc’ (this being yes yes yes and no no no in Serbian). At the train station I helped her carry her bags off the train and we were met by her husband Radovan. She made me ride in the front seat so I could take lots of pictures.
We arrived at their lovely home in Utjeha, just 15
minutes outside of Bar. It is a lovely resort/beach area surrounded by beautiful mountains. In their home she took me upstairs to my own bedroom and bathroom and told me to come right back down, which I did. Down stairs she made me coffee and a big lunch. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t like coffee so I drank it with a smile. She was so funny unpacking her bags. They were full of food and little things here and there. She even had some gorgeous dyed Easter eggs. Inside one of the bags was a big bucket that was full of some sort of pickled green tomatoes with some fresh eggs sitting on top. For lunch we had some cheese, bell peppers in olive oil, the green tomatoes, chicken soup, and some sort of crispy chicken (looked like popcorn chicken but crispier… and may not have been chicken at all). I ate it all as there was no point in trying to explain my dietary issues with the language barrier.
After lunch Vjera and I went for a walk down to the beach. I think she was glad to have my company as
it seems Radovan’s knees are bad and he doesn’t like to walk but Vjera loves to go for walks. The views are absolutely stunning. I can’t even begin to describe the landscape. After our long walk we returned to Vjera’s house and she told me to go have a nap. So I did.
Vjera came to wake me up for dinner and surprised me with some flowers she had picked for me to put in my bedroom. We had the same as lunch but she kept telling me to eat more. I was so full! After dinner Vjera and I went back out for another walk up the hill side to get a nice view of the coast. It is so amazing to see the mountains upon mountains that line the coast. I could look at it a million times and still be stunned.
After dinner I had a shower and then Vjera told me to go to bed, lol.
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Vjera I like her.
Vjera, I can hardly wait to see pictures of her - I smile thinking of how wonderful she is and how she obvisouly was tickled pink by you and took you in. Black mountains from the train view looks very eerie....... but i just love all the views and landscape are lovely.