Exploring Ulcinj, Montenegro’s very own “Riviera”

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Today we finally got out to see more of the real Ulcinj. My BGs were excellent all day, except for breakfast time. The beach, along a little inlet in the sea, was full of big, strong waves, and a neat old path led up the hill to the weird Old Town area, where it was raining but which offered endless nice views of the sea and the dark clouds.

After the big pizza and high BGs of last night, my blood sugar in the morning today was 222. Masayo made scrambled eggs again, and we also had yogurt plus the pastries I bought last night. I took a big shot.

After a while of relaxing (I try to avoid walking around right after a Humalog shot when I can), we headed out down the steep roads to town. We came across a small church surrounded by some really interesting trees, with winding trunks full of ancient holes.

We went all the way down the road to the beach area; a sign called it the “Ulcinj Riviera”. It lay at the end of a small inlet, into which large waves were crashing. I guess the tide was coming in. I checked my BG on the beach, and it was exactly half of what it was at breakfast: 111. From 222 to 111, do I get an award of some sort for that?

We stopped at a place called Star Caffe to eat; they had a second floor dining room with tables along a big window so you could watch the Adriatic Sea. I ordered fish sticks, and they came with the tasty flat bread like we’d had a couple days ago. The food was good, and I was transfixed by the giant waves crashing on the shore and on the concrete walkways near the inlet’s entrance.

After lunch we walked to the edge of the inlet to see the waves up close for ourselves. They splashed high over our heads; it was really cool. But it had started to rain, and since it was sunny when we left the room, neither of us had an umbrella.

We saw some stone stairs going up into a tunnel, and followed them up. They led to the Old Town section of Ulcinj, which is an area full of stone walls and seafood restaurants that must be hopping in tourist season, but which seemed rainy and abandoned today. We liked it though; it wasn’t clear which way to go to get out, and we kept getting lost in little dead ends and alleys, but it was all very nice and fun.

Finally we found our way to the other entrance, which is just outside the church we’d stopped at halfway down from our apartment. We climbed back up the hill and made it into the room wet and happily tired.

My BG at 7 pm was 133, and it was time for dinner. We had leftover pizza from last night that Masayo heated up in a covered frying pan (no oven here), and we also had some crackers and yogurt and the rest of the pretzels. A true hodge-podge meal.

I handled it well though: at midnight I was 134, just one point higher than I had been before dinner. I’m so glad my dinner control has finally been fixed (apparently) after months of struggle. All it took was psychologically allowing myself the larger doses that I clearly needed, without getting unnecessarily paranoid about getting low. If I get low, so be it! Just check, eat some chocolate, and move on. Not a big deal.

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