Day 68 Beware of the Tourist!

Monday 28/05/2018 Guest House Don-Lux Vuka Kneževića Pljevlja Room 4
Our plan today is just to wander around Pljevlja and see what it has to offer....
from a quick glance it has rubbish around and graffiti as well, but once we dug a little it held some true delights.. like Belgrade there were cafes abounding so it is here also... at every turn we found another cafe...

We started out in the markets at the back of us under the rusted tin roves... to be honest it was confronting and John felt totally out of his comfort zone being here... for there were eyes upon us at every move... this would be the process for the rest of our wandering the township.

After the market episode we headed on a north bound path.. so glad we did, so pretty following the path where it came to a fast flowing crystal clear stream.... somehow we ended up following an elderly lady in red along the path, I am sure she as concerned we might do something to her... but we kept going and so did she..
Up past a massive sports arena we are supposing is used for Soccer.... it looked like it could hold over a 1,000 just in the seats we could see....

Continuing on it became more and more beautiful with the reflection of trees and mountains in the emerald green waters that you could see had come from melting mountain snow. We are in the Alps here and I would say there has been plenty of snow!
As we wander along you can feel all eyes on you here, I have been very careful how I take my pics in this place, in all my travels I haven’t felt as uneasy taking pictures as this place... I get them but they are done very conservatively not to drawn too much attention to myself! Although it’s hard when you know they know your the stranger in town.. I said to John I think we should have hats that had an Aussie flag or Kangaroo on it! Once they know your from Australia they seem a little better...The Americans and even the English aren’t like that much....

There was a coffee shop over looking the stream and ponds so we had a cuppa, again all eyes checking us out. Then set off back to town, through a park that said it had mini golf 🏌️‍♂️...... we found it in pretty bad shape over grown and under trees... so didn’t look like it had been used for years...... back around. A few streets, past homes that from the outside they look like they are falling apart but I think they have to be ok inside.... past another 2 mosque’s must be a big Muslim faith here... but no one wears they Hijab 🧕 or scarfs over their heads at all... the women all dress very western here....

We did notice though that the men all go out together in the afternoon, drinking smoking then about 30-1 hr kate the women and children come out, then about a hour often that they all gather up the Main Street.... LOAFing as John says..... it’s very much about socialising...

We headed for a restaurant upstairs to get lunch and a drink... we thought we could people watch sadly up there... however they don’t serve food 🥘 only drinks... ok so we have a drink 🥃, but instead of people watching we became the object of the people watching.... I did see some everyone from young to old..men shake each other hands, women also kiss on both cheeks and watching the little men in the making shake hands too was very heartwarming...It’s showing respect to each other...

Once finished we left enough of the eyes on us!

We headed up to have lunch in our little restaurant had lunch, but I ordered a stuff drumstick, thinking it was a chicken drumstick... turns out to be a big pierce of veal topped with their ham, very string flavoured and cheese then another big piece of veal... huge and well I just couldn’t eat it.... I find beef 🥩, heavy pork, lamb and veal that isn’t thin of very small pieces I just can’t break down in my stomach, it actually makes me unwell... so I just didn’t eat it. I knew that would be an issue they always take offence when you don’t eat the food in many OS countries... I felt terrible and the waiter wasn’t impressed... John often helps out or we buy something to share, but today thinking it was a chicken drumstick I thought they will be no worries 😉 so we didn’t share and his meal was huge so he couldn’t help even if he wanted to..... so I just had to take the cranky look of the waiter.... sometimes I am telling secrets I stash it in my bag in a plastic bag and dispose of it later that way I don’t get them upset. But I didn’t do that today hence the Evil look! So with that we paid, finally saw a boot maker across from the restaurant so asked him if he could fix my shoes, they are cracking badly sadly.... and John tore the outer layer if his new ones.....no the man looked at mine he couldn’t really Speak English but we managed, can’t be fixed... John ran over to our room at the hotel and got his, yes no worries, pick up at 0830 in the AM, how much I ask, €2.... I looked at him and repeated €2 I think he thought I thought it was too much... I was in shock how cheap it was... I laughed and said excellent... which made him happy... at home it would cost for the same job around $15-30 depending on which boot repairer I take it too...... I hav found a young guy in Rocky who is cheaper...but they are few and far between.

So up the street we go to have a look at the church, discovering more shops tucked here and there and cafes here and there as well, in odd spots but they all seemed to be used... found the church, again no seats just open floor 4 seats at the back of the hall, like the other big Serbian Church I went to in Belgrade... interesting I will have to google what they do!

We headed back towards our home past more buildings that from the outside they look like they would cave in like the shop across from the church that had no roof.... but I think inside they must be sturdy...
A rest for the arvo, then off to dinner, last meal here and yep I had to stash as the waiter was concerned we were taking a bit... they must eat and go... they usually drink and sit a long time, but eating it’s quick...

Off to check out the outside of the Mosque 🕌 as I didn’t get to today as I planned..l but it was locked so it was just the outside... them to see if the twins folk were out again or was it just a Sunday night thing..... yep all out very busy LOAFing with each other..lol kids having a ball with little motorised cars, bikes etc....they do it in the community square, yesterday as well as today.....Only little tots zipping around while their parents stood by chatting....walked up the street around the block home actually saw a sunset today. Bonus... then back to our room, big drive tomorrow to Montenegro 🇲🇪!En savoir plus