Greetings and a very merry Christmas from Montenegro
It has been a hot minute since I put out a blog post. Every time I went to hit ‘publish’ something would change and render my update inaccurate, incomplete or completely moot. But I think (???) we are at a place now where I can commit something to writing…so here it goes.
We are enjoying Christmas in Montenegro. (Where? Yep, another place I had never really heard of, little lone could have found easily on a map a year ago).
We left Maelstrom at the Orikum marina, rented a car and an Airbnb to enjoy (in no particular order): heat, a king size bed, and a change in scenery.
It has been wonderful:
breathtaking scenery,
an amazing walking food tour of Kotor hosted by a lovely local who shared the rich and long history of this ancient fortress town (thank you Marina),
a private Lipovac wine tasting in Ovtocici (thank you Pavle),
and a super cute little villa with a killer view.
Montenegro is an unexpected delight. It is bursting with history and tradition. Our little a-frame wood cabin here in Dobro Voda rests on top of jagged limestone crags, looks down 217m at the Adriatic Sea and gifts us with the most extraordinary sunsets I have ever seen. There are monasteries, mountains and wild goats. It is rustic, wild and charming - all at the same time.
The food is a mix of Greek, Italian and Turkish. It is delicious. Their traditional squid risotto is so black from the ink you can’t let it come in contact with your front teeth or they will be stained for days. Luckily for me, my years of extensive practice avoiding the same thing from red wine made this no problem at all.
They speak Bosnian, Serbian, Montenegrin and Croatian - basically dialects of the Yugoslavian language from before Yugoslavia was broken into a bunch of pieces. They celebrate both the Catholic and Christian Orthodox Christmases on December 25 and January 7, respectively. They love Rakije, which is a fruit based brandy enjoyed with every meal - a local tradition I felt compelled to adopt…when in Rome. The apricot one is my favourite :)
My only regret is that we are seeing this incredible country in the winter time. While beautiful, a bit limiting for what we can truly explore. I guess it is just a good reason to come back. But for the Christmas chapter of this incredible adventure we are on, it has been magical.
So, what’s next, you might wonder?
A few unexpected events that have happened this last 7 weeks required we re-think some things. As many of you know we had to say goodbye to our best boy Tucker (thank you to everyone who sent us the nicest messages of condolences). Unfortunately, Zooey has also been having some health issues (confirmed diagnosed of canine alimentary lymphoma) so proximity to vet care and a stable environment for her have become our immediate priority. We could just stay on the boat in Orikum for a while longer, but it is a 3-hour drive to the vet in Tirana, I think we have explored every square inch of the place, and it is freakin' chilly (there are not enough socks or mittens in the world).
So, starting December 30 we have booked an Airbnb in the heart of Tirana - minutes from the vet, in a modern, actual city with the creature comforts of Calgary (mostly). We will stay there for all of January and February. We will hopefully get Zooey to better/manageable health. In early March we will get back on the boat and sail Maelstrom west for 3 months towards Tunisia. We will be able to dock/anchor all along the Italian and Spanish coastline stopping at places like Crete, Malta, Ibiza, because we will be inside our Schengen window. It will be much (much) warmer. We will have 3x the time we actually need to get to Tunisia so we will be opportunistic with weather and have lots of time for sightseeing.
It is not exactly what we thought was going to happen, but everyday life throws you curve balls all the time - why would this adventure afford us any different?
In the spirit of the holidays I focus on all the things to be grateful for. I am on the adventure of a lifetime and somehow found a person who is willing to also abandon all things normal and embrace the crazy. We take turns finding the humour and wonder in it all and so far have not found enough good reason to murder one another (although I am not going to say it hasn’t crossed either of our minds. Remember, all man-over-boards should be regarded as suspicious).
I think about my friends and family at home. Many of whom are going through lots of change too - some by their own doing, some change out of their control. But the fact remains the same, irrespective of where you happen to find yourself at this very moment: there is no guarantee of a tomorrow - so live every single day to the fullest. This life and incredible planet we call home are gifts, and I am so grateful that I have the health and the means to see and experience as much as possible. It is not perfect, but for me it really is a dream.
Tonight we will wander down to the near-by restaurant for a Christmas meal with the locals. There will be lots of food, lots of Rakije, lots of smoke (continued downside of this neck of the woods - oh well, nowhere is perfect). We'll come back to the villa for a Christmas call with Daniel and Jacob, and then head to Albania tomorrow to discover if the 'gift' requried to the customs officers to get out of the country is also reqired to return?
I will write again in a few weeks with an update on life, not on Maelstrom, but temporarily from Tirana - including what hopes to be a great big party for New Years eve.
In the meantime, much love and Sretan Božić to you all.
May you have fair winds and following seas.
Charity xo
The little cabin we are staying at in Dobro Voda (means 'good water'). Not too shabby.
On our way to the wine tasting. Fun fact: the major winery Plantaze in Montenegro produces the highest volume of grapes (Vranac) for wine in all of Europe. We elected to go see an estate winery instead.
Traditional Georgian ceramic instead of steel or oak barrels for the fermentation.
Late season wine country in Montenegro. Shares a very similar climate to the northern terroir of the Okanagan.
So happy :) although you can see my broken finger in this picture. My enthusiasm for vigorous cleaning got a little out of hand.
One of the many monestaries.
On our way to visit Kotor.
Original and untouched cathedral in Kotor - circa 809 AD - where they chose to have both Catholic and Christian Orthodox altars so that the people of Kotor could live and pray in harmony. They also legalized LGBTQ marriage a while back. Maybe some lessons in tolerance can be learned from the people here?
The main sqaure inside the walls lof Kotor. The little steeple at the front of the clock tower was the 'shame tower'. If you had done something bad you were tied to this monument, with a sign around your neck telling everyone what you did wrong. The locals would throw vegetables and shame the person into repentance.
That black risotto I was talking about. Being a pescatarian, I stayed away from the sausage, but Ron said it was delicious.
My view from bed with coffee and Bailey's on Christmas morning - not terrible :)
On Tuesday, December 17 I said good bye to my big brother and very best friend Tucker. I miss him very much but I know how much he loved me, his family and his last weeks on the boat. I will see him again one day and tell him all about the adventures I had. In the meantime Tucker, be nice to the other dogs up there and try and avoid the time-outs. Save me a spot on a warm comfy bed.
Love Zooey
