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Montenegro Diaries: Life's a Beach in a Fishing Village

MONTENEGRO, May 11, 2008 - Well, one of the things that I had to leave on back burner because of other pressing events that happened on Sunday, May 11 (see "Out of This World"). was my intended story about a leisurely life in a fishing village.  It is about what I observed during that Sunday morning from my perch high above the sea.

Remember that guy, the Zago's restaurant owner, who is supposed to be making "the best cappuccino in the world?"  Well, when I did go there for dinner one night, I discovered that they also serve fresh fish every day.  They brought a bowl to me and had me choose the particular fish myself before they grilled it for me.  Nor did I know how the fish got into the bowl...

Take a look this guy paddling his little plastic boat to the bigger fishing boat docked a couple of hundred yards from the beach. That's my man Zago.  I was watching to see what was going to happen after he got into the boat.  I thought maybe he was heading out for a pleasure ride.

Not so!  He drove his boat back to the beach, where another man carrying a bucket jumped in.  They they drove off to the blue yonder.  Gone fishing, I suppose?

I had completely forgotten about the two men in the fishing boat until several hours later I was watching this guy on the beach who looked like a cross between Jesus and a yogi guru (left).  Suddenly I noticed the fishing boat chug-a-la-chug its way to shore.  The fat man in the red shirt jumped out carrying a bucket full of fish.  Then it dawned on me.  That was going to be today's dinner menu at Zago's!  How cute, I thought.  And how cheap.  Zago doesn't bother going to market.  He goes to sea every day instead to catch the fresh fish himself.  I saw the two men repeat the same routine the following morning, as I was getting ready to go the airport.  What a life, huh!

By the way, I did taste Zago's cappuccino that night I was having dinner in his restaurant, too.  And I think he'd better stick to fishing... :-)

Feeding Frenzy

Meanwhile, while the two men were at sea looking for fish, I lured hundreds of them to a feeding frenzy right under my balcony.

As they were driving away, I threw a piece of bread into the ocean to see what would happen.  And out of the blue (literally... maybe that's where that expression came from?) came hundreds of sardines, some a foot or so long.  They threw themselves over each other trying to get at the piece of bread.  I went back to the kitchen to get some more and repeated the experiment several times.  Each time, I threw the bread into a different part of the ocean, trying to see if the fish could smell it or sense the food by some other ways.  Sure enough they did.  It took only a few seconds, and a new feeding frenzy would begin.

You can see from the above, for example, that hundreds of sardines were vying for each piece of bread.  Now that's competition!  :-)

A Beauty Contest

Up until now, I have shared with you many different aspects of the beauty with which God has blessed this tiny country.  Now i will let you see some other examples of Montenegro's natural beauty - its gorgeous women.  But I have to say that this was just a small sampling in one morning on a single beach in a small fishing village (right).  You can probably imagine how much more there would be in bigger places, like Budva or Cetinje.  I have numbered the pictures to give you a chance to vote for the top three candidates in this beauty contest:

1. 2.-3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

8. 9. 10-11.

12. 13. 14.

So there you have it... 14 candidates in this impromptu pageant. CLICK HERE if you want to let me know who your top three picks are. :-)

Life's a beach... in a fishing village.

CLICK HERE to Montenegro DAY 5, PM...

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