Day 19: Morning in Albania and Afternoon in Montenegro- Old Castle and Beach

(Though if the two were flipped it would be fun little alliteration)

5/25/22

This morning in the monastery, we had a traditional breakfast with fresh caught trout, fully intact, head and all.

The snack that smiles back... oh my.

I managed to learn how to cut and de-bone such a fish. It was definitely an experience, but maybe not something I would order later. 😅

Despite the bizarre fact I was having fish for breakfast and that it was staring right at me, it was very tasty.

Then, we hit the road toward the Albanian border. It was now I realized I hadn't found a Kosovo magnet :(

I have been collecting magnets on this trip because they have some really cool ones. You'll get to see the final collection, it's gonna be good. I'll have the most memory-laden and cultured fridge in town. :)

Customs to enter Albania much smaller and less stringent- a friendly border.

We had zero problems entering.

Much to my chagrin, everything is virtual/scanned nowadays and I don’t have new stamps in my passport. I was looking forward to a collection of new stamps.

Albania is less developed than Kosovo, but still very beautiful. We stopped at the nicest place we could find on the road, which was still a run down gas station with empty shelves, broken glass on the floor and a bathroom around back, which I was relieved to see. Small problem- there was no toilet paper and as they say here, I had a "big emergency." Luckily my advisor carried some toilet paper, and I went back to the little hole in the ground and did my business. Soap to wash your hands also seems to be a luxury some places lack, which definitely introduces some contamination potential... Luckily I got my hands on some hand sanitizer from a colleague.

Then, in Albania, we visited an old castle: Rozafa Castle, near Shkodër.

Due to its strategic location, the hill has been settled since antiquity. The main church in it is the most intact. When the Ottomans came, they turned it into a mosque.

It is very rugged and beautiful, situated at the top of a mountain, but see for yourself!

We explored and enjoyed. My colleague said the ruins gave us a blueprint of the castle, and I couldn't agree more.

The legend of the castle follows the immurment of Rozafa. The brothers building the castle couldn't get the foundation to stay, and a wiseman told them they needed to sacrifice one of their wives and build her in. The one to be walled in would be the one who brought them lunch first (yikes, even punishment for being subservient? oof) and Rozafa was the one. The other two brothers told their wives what was going on.

Mateo, I know you'd be as crafty as possible to ensure it wouldn't be me in the wall. 🤣

The castle is named after her in honor of her mythical immurement (yes this is a word and I am horrified it exists because that indicates how often it happened), and the legend says she requested to have one eye, one breast and one arm so she could see, feed and hold her son.

Apparently, after her sacrifice the castle stood!

---

Then, we reached Montenegro. Another uncomplicated border.

As soon as we crossed, the change in development was apparent, and we enjoyed this at the highway rest stop/restaurant.

We had a late lunch at the nicest restaurant, grocery and gas place. We don't have places like this in the US, but I saw one in France and was impressed and this one blew me away too. We went up to the counter and got some good, hearty, hot food.

Our destination was Petrovac.

We are staying right next to the beach, so as soon as we got to our rooms, we dropped our bags, threw on bathing suits and promptly went to lay out on the beach. By this time, it was early evening, but still oh so nice.

We are on the Adriatic Sea, and this is my first time swimming in a sea. It was just as salty if not more than the ocean. The beach was small round pebbles- I will get a photo soon. It acts like sand, but doesn't stick to you like sand! What an advantage.

As I'm sure you can guess, I am eager to soak up the Montenegrin sun!

Ćao for now!