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With John Cleese “Silly Walk” decorations in Podgorica
Today Masayo and I left the coastal town of Ulcinj, Montenegro, bound for the capital city, Podgorica. My BGs were pretty excellent all day long.
View from our room in Ulcinj, zoomed in. That landmass may possibly be Italy; I couldn’t tell from maps if it was that or if we were nowhere near that close to Italy.
When I got up in the morning, I was 84. Masayo made hard boiled eggs, and we had cereal with some juice. (The juice was actually part of my low BG snack, but I thought it would be nice to split it for breakfast. Maybe the vitamins in it will help perk Masayo up.)
#bgnow 84 in the morning in Ulcinj
We checked out, and the guy who owned the place not only gave us a bottle of chilled white wine, but offered us a ride to the bus station. Great! I don’t know anything about wine, and have rarely drunk it, but maybe this is my chance. Masayo said even she would like to try a glass of it.
Us with Ulcinj guesthouse owner, and the wine he gave us when we checked out
The guy dropped us off at the station and we thanked him and went in to buy our tickets. The bus wasn’t leaving for about 45 minutes, and as we sat down to wait, a friendly cat jumped into Masayo’s lap and rested there while she wrote in her diary.
Masayo writing in her diary with a cat on her lap at Ulcinj bus station
The bus came on time, and we got on. The ride was nice, through the town of Bar and then through the low-lying areas north of Lake Shkodra, part of which lies in Albania to the south.
The bus from Ulcinj to Podgorica
Lonely little mosque on a hillside outside Ulcinj
Clouds on a mountain in rural Montenegro
Railroad tracks and Lake Shkodra, from the bus window
After a while I realized I was probably low, and checked to verify (always verify!). I was right: 57. I ate some Twix, and watched the water and the train tracks pass by us.
#bgnow 57 on train to Podgorica
In Podgorica, we had a 1.5-km walk to the room we’d booked. The walk was nice; the weather was not too chilly, and sunny, and it was the middle of the afternoon. Plus, Podgorica is very small for a capital city. There seem to be no skyscrapers or large buildings, at least in the part we were in, and there is a decided small-town vibe. It reminded me of Vientiane, Laos, a similarly small capital city.
“Welcome to Podgorica! I will try not to cut your head off! Have a pleasant visit!”
Old radios and TVs in a Podgorica shop window
Transformer statue in Podgorica, outside the building we were staying in
Picture frame building in Podgorica
We checked into the room, and I was very impressed. It was on the cheap side, as are all of our rooms, but it was really nice: a brand-new apartment, with all the furniture in top shape and all the facilities in perfect working order. It was really comfortable.
Mountains and trees view from our room in Podgorica
Arguably the best part of the apartment was the wall art in the stairwell on the first floor, which we saw each time we came and went: someone had stenciled two John Cleese figures on the wall, performing the Silly Walk. It made me laugh each time I saw it.
We went out for food at a Greek place we had passed upon entering town; it was called Giropolis. I was looking forward to falafel, which was on the sign out front.
Inside the place, we saw there was no seating; it was a fast-food type take-out place. Fine with me. But they said they had no falafel today, though they didn’t explain why. What a disappointment. Still, if that’s the biggest problem in my life, I can’t complain. I ordered souvlaki.
Back in the room, Masayo and I ate our food, and I had a beer from the minibar with mine. It was really good; I didn’t even miss the falafel.
Souvlaki in Podgorica
In the evening we walked around town a little — very little, because we were actually out looking for a small dinner to complement the late Greek lunch. We noticed some large Transformers-looking statues made of old car parts and things like that, but with no explanation. Weird.
We found a grocery store, and got some junk food. I got crackers and cheese, planning on opening the wine we had been given.
Back in the room, however, I saw that there was no corkscrew. I know so little about wine that I went online to see how to open it without a corkscrew. There were several ways — smacking the bottom of the bottle repeatedly on a wall, pushing the cork down in the wine and then getting it out with a knotted shoestring, etc.
I opted for the screw method. Using a butter knife, I removed a screw from a door hinge and screwed it into the cork. Then I pulled. A lot. But it didn’t budge.
Putting the screw into the wine cork. Nice idea, but it didn’t work
After fretting with this a while I gave up. No wine; I didn’t want to destroy the cork or the bottle. I’ll ask the apartment office tomorrow if they have a corkscrew I can use.
So I had more beer instead, and ate my crackers and cheese. Love those casual junk food dinners! My BG during all this was 163.
#bgnow 163 in Podgorica room
The dinner was small, which makes insulin dosing easy, but there was beer involved, which complicates it. I did well: at midnight I was 93. I had a small cookie to give my blood sugar some girth, and called it a day.
#bgnow 93 at midnight in Podgorica
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