It’s just after 7, our last morning in Virpazar. So many birds are singing, tweeting, chirping and making sounds i have no good words for. No words are as good as the bird sounds themselves. I’ve enjoyed the barn swallows and sparrows that perch on the utility wired right next to the porch. I often feel they are in part here to visit me specifically although i do not believe that to be true, unless indirectly. Perhaps God or What Moves us moves the birds to stop by for a visit even if the birds themselves have no particular interest in visiting me. In any case, I’ve loved sitting on this covered terrace, listening to the birds (and a horde of frogs at night, and saw some kind of lightning bug one night, different from those in the U.S.), and watching the always changing light on the surrounding trees and hills. Apart from the town itself i find this area around Virpazar to be exquisitely beautiful and nourishing and peaceful. To give a fuller honest description i must add that cars do pass on the little road in front of us fairly often, and sometimes small noisy trucks and motorcycle go by, but often there are many minutes between cars. The other human made sounds we hear occasionally are from the trains on the other side of the valley, but they are very infrequent. But mostly this is a quiet peaceful place and I am so grateful to have been able to stay here at such a reasonable price. Normally Nikola charges 70 or more euros. We booked it for 45 but ended up giving him 50. While food here in restaurants is closer to (low end) American prices, lodging prices are still very far behind. For our sakes we are glad about this because it makes our travels here very affordable. We don’t travel much in the U.S. because the costs of food and lodging are so high.
Before we go we need to pack and clean. Also, Marko has invited us to breakfast which is so kind. He will make us p….. the fried doughballs that are a traditional food here served with jams, Nutella, homemade cheeseor any other spread one might want.
Since we were not staying with Marko we had not expected our time here to include socializing because we know his priority is his own paying guests, but he has gone out of his way to meet with us three times as well as provide Jim with a free bike. And then we also had a nice long visit with Ljiljana, so our time here ended up being social, which we appreciate. But I’m also grateful I had a couple days with no activity other than walking to dinner.
On the one hand I’m feeling sorry to be leaving Montenegro and Serbia behind. We love the culture of these countries. Even though Croatia is gorgeous and people generally polite and pleasant, they don’t exude the warmth that the Serbs and Montenegrins do. On the other hand I am starting to tire of all our moving around, eating restaurant food every night, and keeping track of getting cell cards for each country and finding ATMs with fair rates. If we could stay another few weeks I’d be happy to but only if we found a comfortable place or 2 to stay put for a couple weeks.
In past years part of me looked forward to going home to my familiar bed, yard and surroundings. But now that Callie is gone and Cedar is no longer there the pull to home is not as strong. In addition, going back to our divided citizenry and political turmoil and craziness in the U.S. right now is not alluring. And once home we will again be faced with the nagging issues around where and when to move.
But my predominant feelings every day on this trip have been ones of delight, gratitude, awe, amazement and happiness. I am grateful that my inheritance has allowed us to come on this trip and the previous 7. What a gift!
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Parting breakfast at Marko’s was pleasant. He modeled his favorite hat in the world that he got in Vietnam a couple years ago. He also told us about how when he was 14 he and Nikola (owner of the place we stayed) and another friend climbed up the sheer crumbling face of the cliff behind the house. Beforehand Marko assured his friends there was a path up the cliff. It wasn’t until they were on the cliff, grabbing onto clumps of grass for support, that he realized they all could die. He said that was the last time in his life he lied to anyone.
also, when we talked with Ljiljana we asked if there was a story about the weird mural on the side of the restaurant. She said yes. The former owner of the restaurant (who died 2 years ago and was a good friend since childhood) was a very big man with a (physically) big head. People nicknamed him Barrel because he was so bulky. He loved telling stories and people always gathered around to listen when he started talking. He had a good sense of humor. He paid an artist friend to paint a mural on the building representing himself and his friends. He liked to lounge and sleep more than work. His friends who had various jobs would fall under his spell (at least that is the gist of what I got from Ljiljana’s explanation.
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