Whistling in the Dark

We are now in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. This requires that we somehow traveled from Podgorica to Belgrade. You know the saying: Getting there is half the fun. It's pretty close to true. Getting here was fun. Was it half? I'm not sure of the exact fraction (it could even be irrational), but it was fun.

We took a train. This train starts in Bar, Montenegro and then comes to Podgorica, from where we embarked, and then travels through Montenegro and Serbia (and for a few kilometers the train is in Bosnia, but it never stops there). The Bar to Belgrade train is considered one of the most beautiful, most scenic train routes in all of Europe. Poems could be composed about the lofty mountains and the graceful valleys. And we got to ride this magical path.

Was it beautiful?

I don't know.

Why don't I know?

In the off-season, which includes the winter, the train only runs at night. It leaves Podgorica at 9:20 PM and you sleep on the train, arriving into Belgrade somewhere around 7:00 AM. So those mountains may have been as lofty as tales claim, the valleys could have possessed even greater grace than words can impart. But I didn't get to see to any of that because of the awkward orientation of the Earth, placing its bulk between myself and the major light source.

And still it was fun. We got a sleeper car which slept three people. This was a tiny little cabin. There were three beds, one above the other above the other. Syarra generously took the top bunk, which isn't a full length bed. Somewhere around the thigh, it changes from bed mattress to metal rack, but there is a cushion you can place under your ankles and feet to keep them above the metal. I had the middle, which is full length. Alrica had the bottom which is easiest to use, but has the least space above you. Also with the ladder in place which allowed Syarra and I ingress and egress, it became something of an obstacle to Alrica's easy access in and out of her bed.

Our Sleeper Cabin

And still it was fun. The train rocked and moved, and when it hit a curve, you could feel the curve. Einstein would explain that throughout the trip, you knew you weren't in an unaccelerated frame. Most of the journey, I slept. Though I did have to wake for border control when we were leaving Montenegro. I expected to be awakened a second time for border control in Serbia, but that never happened. I'm not sure what this will mean when I try to leave Serbia in less than a week, but I suspect they won't stop me from going away. Plus any border control officers will be able to see the stamp that tells them when I left Montenegro. So that should establish I haven't been in Serbia for longer than is allowed.

I'm not entirely sure what made this journey fun. It wasn't the WC (the bathroom) which was passable but not pristine. It wasn't the mattresses or the pillows, both of which were passable but not plush. It wasn't the corridor outside the cabin which was passable, but you had to squeeze to pass others. It wasn't the interaction with my fellow passengers as there wasn't any such interaction. I guess it was just the adventure.

I would love to redo this trip someday in the summer, when one could ride in the day and see some of the spectacle. But even at night, it was novel for me to sleep on the train. Wow, did that rocking lead to some crazy dreams. I can't really remember many of them in detail. I recall that one of them involved Melissa Taylor directing Murder on the Orient Express, an ancient Greek pillar which had fallen over, and an announcer voice-over, but I can't piece together how those things connected. I can only assume that the train experience led to the Orient Express reference, and who knows how brains work from there.

On a less enjoyable note, we left Podgorica on January 2. But on January 1, there was a mass shooting in another city in Montenegro, a city called Cetinje. This was a tragedy on a national scale. It was unprecedented, even though Montenegro has a huge proportion of gun owners. It shocked the nation.

Both January 1 and January 2 are national holidays in Montenegro. This is perhaps their biggest holiday of the year. It's secular, so all the various religious groups can enjoy it together. But after the tragedy, Montenegro declared a three-day period of mourning. The super festive Podgorica New Years Bazaar (Montenegro's version of a Christmas Market) was shuttered and a makeshift memorial for those who died was erected in its place. Even though this was one of their most celebratory times, the country cut the party short and mourned.

Being a holiday, Parliament was not in session, but immediately some of the politicians spoke about enacting some sort of gun control. As I said, Montenegro has a lot of gun owners, they are ranked third for the proportion of the population who own a gun. Yet, after one mass shooting, they are considering what to do to assure it never happens again.

The U.S.A. is ranked first for the proportion of the population who own a gun. If we declared a three-day period of mourning after each mass shooting in our country, we would probably be in a continual mourning state. And we never enact anything to try to keep it from happening again.

I don't know what the solution to gun violence in America is. But becoming so used to it that we merely shrug and say, "Just another Wednesday" is not a solution. Have we become so inured to the deaths of innocents, the deaths of children? Maybe we have.

Just declaring that America is the safest, the best, the most exceptional land in the world, well, that's somewhat like saying I experienced the most beautiful train route in Europe. I don't really have the evidence to back that up.

We're all, like a night train, just whistling in the dark.

Under the Hill

Montenegro may seem like a strange name for a country in Eastern Europe. Not strange because of its meaning, which is the phrase Black Mountain. It is strange because of the language, Spanish, which is not the language spoken in Montenegro. And it may not be the language of the name either.

There are some mountains, not black exactly.

What do we know? In the local language, the Montenegrins call this country Crna Gora. (Keep in mind that "c" is pronounced like "ts", so this transliterates as "tserna gora". This phrase also means Black Mountain with Crna meaning black and Gora meaning mountain. The name comes from the many pine covered mountains which can look black from a distance. In particular, Lovćen is a mountain of national pride, a symbol of the country, and often considered the black mountain.

See the pretty red roofs of Podgorica

Where does the name Montenegro come from? That's not entirely clear. It may have been from Spaniards, but it may have come from Venetian sailors or from the Dalmatian language. Regardless of where it originates, it does mean Black Mountain and that is the one element on which everyone seems to agree.

In the Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian/Montenegrin language, you form the diminutive of a word with the suffix -ica (pronounced eetza, like the end of pizza.) So if gora is mountain than gorica is little mountain or hill. This leads to the name Podgorica which means "under the hill." If being over the hill means getting old, then maybe being under the hill means getting young. Or staying young? Though, from my observations, there are older people in Podgorica along with younger ones. Perhaps they age the same as the rest of us. Or perhaps they only aged during the time Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia. In this period, the city was renamed Titograd.

Some of the manhole covers still say Titograd (this one in Cyrillic)

There is a particular hill in the city called Gorica which has a very nice park on it. I went hiking there and saw some lovely views of the mountains that surround the valley in which Podgorica sits. Also in the park are a Mediterranean Garden (which is a lot less bloom-filled in December), the Partisans Memorial (to commemorate those Montenegrins who fought in World War II), lots of exercise equipment and fun rope bridges, biking paths, and a restaurant.

Partisans Monument

Though Podgorica has been settled for a long time, it doesn't have a lot of historical buildings. Most of them were destroyed during the bombings of World War II. Very few survived, and we saw many of those as we enjoyed a walking tour of the city.

A piece of the old fortress, not so effective any longer

One is the clock tower. It was built during the reign of the Ottomans, not originally intended for a clock. It was a lookout tower. The Ottomans built a fortress and walled city southeast of the confluence of the Ribnica River and the Morača River. They wanted to hold this land, a good place for trading, against the native Slavic people. At some point after the Ottoman Empire fell, a clock was placed on one side of the tower, though today it isn't working. Still, this building wasn't destroyed in the war.

The Clock Tower (from the clock side)

We walked to the confluence of the two rivers, an area called Skaline. It is much lower than the surrounding lands, quieter as you are away from the road noise, and has two lovely and very transparent rivers. Crossing the Ribnica River is the Old Bridge, also built in Ottoman times, and another piece of architecture that survived the war. The Skaline area is a favorite for the people of Podgorica. In the summers, they come here in the evenings after it cools outside. There are concerts or movies. Though in the summer the Ribnica is dry and the Morača has a lot less water.

The Old Bridge crossing the Ribnica River

Independence Square is in the cultural center of Podgorica. Nearby are the National Theater, the governmental buildings, and King's Park. But at present, Independence Square is home of the New Years' Bazaar. This seems to be the same as a Christmas market, but named for New Years instead.

We tried some wonderful traditional Montenegrin foods. We had podgorica popica. This is a pork cutlet which is pounded flat (like you would for schnitzel). It is then rolled with proscuitto and cheese, breaded, and then fried. Ours was served with a sauce, (I have no idea what was in it, but it was off-white if that helps.) Very tasty. We also tried japraci, which is a roll of seasoned beef and cheese in grape leaves, served in a bowl of red soupy sauce. It is similar to sarma, the Greek or Turkish rolls, but the leaves are darker.

Today is New Years Eve, so we are planning to go out tonight to see the Podgorica celebration, something like Times Square but on a Montenegrin scale. It should be a delightful way to ring in a New Year. And best of all, we won't be aging when we turn over to 2025, because we are "under the hill."