John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 4 - STARI BAR & SHKODËR, ALBANIA


Stari Bar

After breakfast, we will drive to Stari Bar, which is a time capsule dating from 1878 when the town’s old quarter was abandoned. The steep but pretty street leading up to Stari Bar is filled with small shops and quaint cafes.

Please note: for Stari Bar we recommend suitable walking shoes, as the main street is steep and can be slippery. If you choose to enter the old fortress, the terrain is uneven, with loose cobbles underfoot. We then continue to the Albanian city of Shkodër, where we will have a guided walking tour, followed by free time.

This evening there will be dinner in the hotel.[i]

[i] This was the itinerary that tour manager Andrew had posted:

Day 4 - 08.30 Depart for Stari Bar, and Shkodër, Albania - PASSPORTS REQUIRED
Comfortable shoes are recommended if you are going to climb the Incline to the fort at Stari Bar - it is short, but cobbled, and there are some very uneven surfaces in the fort. Free time after in Stari Bar. Then on to Shköder in Albania, with a local guide. Return to hotel 6pm approx. Dinner is included in the hotel this evening.

Janet was up at 4.30am and dragged me out of bed at 5am, saying that she wanted to go home and wanted me to go on-line to find a flight. I was insistent that I could not, or would not, do that, despite my having said when I was feeling at my lowest that I wished I hadn’t come and wanted to go home.
 Her own report of this is: “I slept for about two hours; I lay awake for quite a long time before I dropped off. Then I tried to work out in my head what to do. Finally I decided that the only option was to go home as soon as possible because there was no way I could endure another night of ‘that’. I really would have a breakdown.… So at ca.5am I got up,… washed and dressed, and woke [John].
 “Finally, I managed to come up with a ‘cunning plan’. I did not want to get home: I have enjoyed the tour so far and want to continue. I don’t want to go home yet. I don’t want to leave this room or hotel. Most importantly, I do not want to lay any more shit on Andrew or interfere with the rest of the group and spoil their holiday. Nice people. We will stay out of the hotel between 7.30pm and 11.00pm. We will reserve a table for two at Riva at 8pm for the next four nights. Sorted.”
 I shaved and showered, etc. I checked e-mail accounts (05:01–05:04 BST…)… Then I was doing this and that. I looked up in Wikipedia: “Montenegrin language” (05:22 BST), “Serbo-Croatian phonology” (05:25 BST), “Montenegrin alphabet” (05:27 BST), and “Dzhe” (05:32 BST: the Cyrillic letter «Џ» used in Macedonian and varieties of Serbo-Croatian (including Montenegrin) for the sound /dʒ/…). After a few minutes, it occurred to me to check in Wikipedia that the birds we’d seen flying in such abundance outside were indeed “house martins” (from 05:51 BST): “Western house martin” (05:52 BST); “Swallow” (05:55 BST); “Swallow (disambiguation)” (05:56 BST); “Barn swallow” (05:57 BST), etc. (to 06:01 BST).
 “We went for breakfast at 7am,” Janet wrote, “then departed Petrovac at 8.30am. (Today: hot and sunny.) We arrived at Stari Bar at ca.9.15am. I attempted to go around the site but it was too treacherous, so I returned to the main drag and sat in a café until [John] returned.” My only contemporary writing at this point is “Back on board at 11am”, i.e. a note of our rendezvous after the visit to Stari Bar for our onward journey to Shkodër, Albania.


Our starting point and places visited today, as plotted by Google Maps “Directions”
(Click on image to enlarge.)


Map of Stari Bar, copied from the blog of Adria Line DMC travel agency, Budva
(Click on image to enlarge.)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:16:56
View of the walled city from near the parking place, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:16:56 (detail)
View of the walled city from near the parking place, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:20:42
Model of the walled city of Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:20:50
Model of the walled city of Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:20:56
Model of the walled city of Stari Bar; (bottom left:) northern corner tower, and entrance to the right of it


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:23:12
Proceeding along the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:24:28
About to continue up the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:25:04
Continuing up the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:25:54
Continuing up the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:27:30
Continuing up the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar alongside the north-western city wall


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:29:40
Stari Bar: northern corner tower, and entrance to the walled city just to the west of it (“17” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:30:28
View north-west from the entrance to the walled city: Omerbasha Mosque, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:31:30
Entering the walled city of Stari Bar; (above the arch:) relief of the winged-lion symbol of the Republic of Venice

The above photo is the last one on which Janet appears till “10:28:52”. My route, as illustrated in the photos that follow, can be traced more or less with reference to the above map of Stari Bar, which I found in the blog of Adria Line DMC travel agency when I was writing up this account.


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:31:30 (detail)
Relief of the winged-lion symbol of the Republic of Venice


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:33:02
Customs office, just within the gate of the walled city, Stari Bar, with a second winged-lion relief on the wall


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:36:10
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:37:06
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:38:06
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:38:54
Walled city, Stari Bar: (left:) Chapel of St. Mark (not labelled on the map); (ahead:) Gate (“6” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:40:22
Walled city, Stari Bar: (left:) St. John’s church (“7” on the map); (right:) Palace (“8”)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:40:52
Walled city, Stari Bar: (left:) Clock tower (“12” on the map); (right:) Turkish bath (“13” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:41:06
Walled city, Stari Bar: Palace (“8” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:43:20
Walled city, Stari Bar: Turkish bath (“13” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:43:30
Walled city, Stari Bar: Clock tower (“12” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:46:46
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:48:46
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:49:38
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:50:56
Walled city, Stari Bar: Clock tower (“12” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:52:54
Walled city, Stari Bar: St. Catherine’s Church (“11” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:53:32
Walled city, Stari Bar: St. Catherine’s Church (“11” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:54:36
Walled city, Stari Bar: St. Catherine’s Church (“11” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:54:54
Walled city, Stari Bar: St. Catherine’s Church (“11” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:55:24
Walled city, Stari Bar: Clock tower (“12” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:56:38
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:58:08
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:58:18
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:59:06
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:59:32
Walled city, Stari Bar: looking towards “new” Bar on the coast


Sunday 10 September 2023 09:59:46
Walled city, Stari Bar: view of the Islamic Cultural Centre (Selimiye Mosque)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:01:00
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:03:38
Walled city, Stari Bar: St. John’s church (“7” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:04:08
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:04:18
Walled city, Stari Bar: Gate (“6” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:04:38
Walled city, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:05:06
Walled city, Stari Bar: (ahead:) Citadel (“4” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:05:56
Walled city, Stari Bar: Citadel (“4” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:06:26
Walled city, Stari Bar: Citadel (“4” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:06:44
Walled city, Stari Bar: proceeding up to the north side of the Citadel (“4” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:07:30
Walled city, Stari Bar: north side of the Citadel (“4” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:08:44
Walled city, Stari Bar: Aqueduct (“5” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:08:44 (detail)
Walled city, Stari Bar: Aqueduct (“5” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:08:54
Walled city, Stari Bar: Aqueduct (“5” on the map)


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:11:08
Walled city, Stari Bar: tour manager Andrew Dick and some of the Riviera Travel group, about to descend from the Citadel


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:19:44
Walled city, Stari Bar: theatre (and toilets), not far from the entrance/exit

The question, after I left the walled city the way I’d entered, was “Where is Janet?” I expected her to be at one of the several cafés on the pedestrian street, but which one?


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:25:54
Returning down the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar: looking for Janet

I eventually spotted her at a table outside a café on a corner.




Sunday 10 September 2023 10:28:52
Returning down the main pedestrian street of Stari Bar: found her at Mèrâk

Judging by the bill that was issued with her order, she’d been there ca. ½-hour.


Bill from “Merak”, printed “10:00:51”

I ordered a fresh orange juice.


Bill from “Merak”, printed “10:31:26”

Till now, all the Coke Zero cans and bottles had had “Zero sugar” on their labels in English (not Serbo-Croatian шèћер/šèćer), but the one that Janet had here had “Zero sheqer” on it, because it was from Albania.


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:47:34
Refreshments at Mèrâk, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:51:20
View of the walled city from near the parking place, Stari Bar


Sunday 10 September 2023 10:51:34
View of the main pedestrian street from near the parking place, Stari Bar

We set out, ca.11am. Ca.12.05pm, we joined a long traffic queue to the border of Albania.


Sunday 10 September 2023 12:20:16[v]
In a long, slow-crawling traffic queue on the approach to the border crossing from Montenegro to Albania

[v] The original file-name of this photo was “2023-09-10_13-20-16.JPG”. In my notebook, though, I wrote: “One photo, ‘13:20’ [is] really ‘12:20’ CEST. Only that one [is] wrong: e.g. ‘10:51’ really [is] ‘10:51’.” I don’t know how this happened.

Sunday 10 September 2023 12:50:26
Waiting at the Sukobin–Muriqan border crossing from Montenegro to Albania

Janet wrote: “Then we headed for the Albanian border: it took nearly an hour to be allowed through.” The bulk of that time was spent waiting in the traffic queue up to the crossing. At the crossing, the driver provided a list of our names and passport numbers, in the hope that this would suffice and that we would not be boarded for a full passport inspection; and, indeed, on that basis we were allowed through.
 According to my notes, we were “through [the border crossing at] 13:04. Andi joined us.” Janet’s account continued: “Our Albanian guide Andi (very pleasant fellow!) gave us a ‘history lesson’ (also very comical!) then we reached Shkodër and left the coach. We had a guided walking tour.”
 Neither Janet nor I can remember exactly where Andi joined us, though: whether just on the Albanian side of the border; or at Kompleksi Çeliku not far from there, where we had a comfort stop. There was a souvenir shop, but we only bought a bottle of water there.


Comfort break at Kompleksi Çeliku (image from Google Street View)

Andi told us about Albania or, as they call it (I noted), “Shqipëria”, that there were (as I also noted) “territorial losses after World War I”, and that Albania was “no longer [the] second poorest [nation].” I didn’t take any further notes as he went on to talk about life under tyrannical dictator Enver Hoxha when isolationist and repressive Albania was regarded as the “North Korea of Europe”, and thousands of dissidents were executed, and tens of thousands more were imprisoned in forced labour camps. He pointed out several concrete domes as we passed them: bunkers that in his paranoia Hoxha erected to protect against the foreign invasion that never came. A problem with Albania’s application to join the EU is the prevalence of organised crime and corruption — with ex-members of the disbanded secret police the Sigurimi finding new avenues for their skills!


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:37:54
Passing Hotel Illyria on the outskirts of Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:39:20
Crossing over the Buna River on the outskirts of Shkodër (looking east)


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:39:40
Rozafa Castle on the outskirts of Shkodër

In Shkodër we passed many identical-looking, Communist-era, five-storey apartment blocks and other similar structures.


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:44:00
Heading north-east along Bulevardi Mehmet Pashë Plaku, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:44:30
Heading north-east along Bulevardi Mehmet Pashë Plaku, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:46:44
Continuing north-east along Rruga Marin Biçikemi, Shkodër


Part of Shkodër, showing locations visited or seen, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral (lower right), Ebu Bekër Mosque (upper left), and “Sofra”

The coach dropped us off outside the Roman Catholic cathedral St. Stephen’s, which we visited. Till we saw a large portrait of Mother Teresa there, we’d assumed that she was Indian, not Albanian.


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:49:36
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Rruga Marin Biçikemi, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:50:06
Entering St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:50:36
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:50:58
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:51:16
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:52:06
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:52:18
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:53:14
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:53:44
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:54:08
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:54:24
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:54:52
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:57:06
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër: portrait of Mother Teresa, to the left of the altar 


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:57:56
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër: memorial, to the right of the altar, to 38 martyrs killed between 1945 and 1974 by the Communist régime and beatified in 2016 


Sunday 10 September 2023 13:59:16
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër: Stations of the Cross: “III. Jesus Christ falls for the first time.” 


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:00:50
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër: the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:01:22
Leaving St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:04:08
Shkodër: Andi addresses the Riviera Travel tour group.


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:06:14
Martyrs monument by St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër

After visiting the Cathedral, we crossed the road and almost straight ahead of us was the long Rruga Gjuhadol, along which Andi conducted us, stopping from time to time to point out this or that feature. Several of the buildings were in a ruinous state. After the fall of Communism, houses reverted to their original owners: in some cases ownership was disputed between descendants; and in others, the owners had moved on and had no further use for their properties. The general dilapidated state of the area reminded us of the historic quarter of Havana.


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:07:52
In Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër, looking ahead


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:10:40
In Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër, looking back, with Andi addressing the group


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:10:54
In Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër, looking ahead


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:14:04
Corner of Rruga Gjuhadol and Rruga Murgeshave, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:14:50
Corner of Rruga Gjuhadol and Rruga Murgeshave, Shkodër: building, including church, where detainees were tortured and killed under the Communist régime


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:15:00
In Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër, looking ahead


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:16:04
In Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër, looking ahead


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:17:58
Proceeding along Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:20:38
In Rruga Gjuhadol, Shkodër, with Andi addressing the group

Finally, we turned left and went along the pedestrian street Rruga Kolë Idromeno to its end at the Ebu Bekër Mosque, where the tour itself ended.


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:29:04
Proceeding along Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:29:18
Proceeding along Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:31:16
In Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër, with Andi addressing the group


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:46:52
Ebu Bekër Mosque at the south-western end of Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër, with an out-of-date “Ramadan mubarak” banner hung between the minarets

Just as there were many cats on the streets in Petrovac, here there were many dogs. There was a welfare shelter, to which they’d go at night. Someone expressed their surprise that given this fact, there was no dog excrement to be seen.
 Before we all went separate ways for free time, I said to Andi that his name sounded like a Christian name, and he replied that it was a common name in Albania and that he was in fact Muslim.


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:49:00
Ebu Bekër Mosque, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 14:49:12
Glimpse of the Nativity of the Lord Orthodox Cathedral, near Ebu Bekër Mosque, Shkodër

“After that (it was ca.3pm),” Janet wrote, “we found a café and had a drink” — more than one in my case, for I followed up my Birra Tirana (strictly speaking in Albanian “birrë”, the singular of “birra”: brewed in Tirana, Albania’s capital) with a raki (the grappa-style drink, i.e. the same as rakija, not Turkish-style aniseed-flavour raki). A couple of tables ahead of me (or to Janet’s right) were a older guy called George from our party, a widower, and his carer Marissa. He had limited mobility so he used a wheelchair. Her husband didn’t like to leave home, so she would go on holiday with George. They were having a late lunch of spicy minted meatballs, but it was getting towards our rendezvous time of 4pm, and as we were leaving he offered me some. I had a couple of forkfuls.


Sunday 10 September 2023 15:01:48
Refreshments at “Bar Restorant ‘Sofra Shkodrane’”, Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 15:14:10
Refreshments at “Bar Restorant ‘Sofra Shkodrane’”, Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 15:15:50
At “Bar Restorant ‘Sofra Shkodrane’”, Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër


Sunday 10 September 2023 15:28:34
Refreshments at “Bar Restorant ‘Sofra Shkodrane’”, Rruga Kolë Idromeno, Shkodër

We paid in euros, but it was only afterwards that I realised that we’d been given change in leks.


“100 lekë”


“50 lekë”

We boarded the coach on the main road just round the corner from Rruga Kolë Idromeno.


Sunday 10 September 2023 16:10:58
Crossing back over the Buna River (looking north)


Sunday 10 September 2023 16:12:08
Heading initially southwards alongside the Buna River

I noted that “just after 16:20 [we] arrived in [the] traffic queue at [the] border”, that we were “at [the] border point, 16:33”, that the “driver took bottles of water [to the customs office], 16:37”, and that we were “through, 16:38”.


Sunday 10 September 2023 16:32:00
Waiting at the Muriqan–Sukobin border crossing from Albania to Montenegro

According to my notes, we:

• passed a “shawled woman foraging, 16:43”
• “passed [a] mosque on [our] left, 16:45”
• had a “loo stop at— (shopping complex), 16:52–17:03”

Sunday 10 September 2023 17:11:12
Entering a gallery on the way back to Petrovac

According to my notes, we

• “entered Bar, 17:45”
• passed a “sign to ‘centar grada’ [city centre], 17:52”

I made notes as Andrew spoke about tomorrow:

8.30am tomorrow
because [we] have to pass
through Budva
and traffic to [get to] Kotor
outskirts then walk
to [the] walled city.

Then [we go on] to Perast.

We “arrived [back] at [the] hotel, 18:21”.
 Janet wrote: “We arrived back at the hotel at ca.6.20pm. [We] went to Riva to book a table for two at 8pm, then returned to the hotel to ‘sort ourselves out’. We left at 7.30pm and took a leisurely stroll to the prom. We had a good meal. It wasn’t as busy as last night. We booked a table for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.” I had bruschette, different from yesterday’s, as a starter, and crispy chicken as a main. Janet had beef-steak salad, and fruit to follow.


Sunday 10 September 2023 20:19:42
Dinner at Hotel Riva, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 20:44:56
Dinner at Hotel Riva, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 21:02:58
Dinner at Hotel Riva, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 21:18:48
Dinner at Hotel Riva, Petrovac


Bill from “Hotel Riva”, printed “21:36:58”. Three “Nikšićko točeno” are shown, but I’d only had two, so the waiter wrote “-4€” under the total.

Janet continued: “It was just after 9.30pm when we left, so we had a promenade to the mole. Plenty of people about — including families. Lots of small children. Very pleasant: pity I was so tired.… It was a lovely evening — especially the al fresco dining experience. We’d never done anything like that before. Very special. We returned to the Ami at 11pm. Silence. Bloody noisy elsewhere, though!… I was in bed at 11.50pm.… It had been a super day…”


Sunday 10 September 2023 21:55:40
Walking to the west side of the bay, Petrovac

Because of perspective foreshortening the Ami hotel appeared to be just behind the Riva, whereas in fact they were separated by over 300 yards. I tentatively ventured up steps to the “castle”, but didn’t proceed any further because of the darkness and lack of handrails.


Sunday 10 September 2023 21:57:16
View back over the bay, Petrovac, towards Hotel Riva and beyond it Hotel Ami Budva Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:00:52
Small harbour at the south-west end of the bay, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:01:42
South-west end of the bay, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:02:44
Steps up to the Castle at the south-west end of the bay, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:03:18
Steps up to the Castle at the south-west end of the bay, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:05:50
View over the harbour from the Castle at the south-west end of the bay, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:06:52
View over the bay from part-way up the ascent to the Castle, Petrovac


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:10:52
Returning from the west side of the bay, Petrovac

We sat and watched a little cat for some time.


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:26:46
Returning from the west side of the bay, Petrovac: young cat, seen on the way…


Sunday 10 September 2023 22:43:14
Returning from the west side of the bay, Petrovac: young cat, seen on the way, for which someone has dropped a few morsels of food

Answering to Janet’s “We returned to the Ami at 11pm. Silence. Bloody noisy elsewhere, though!” were my notes: “[We] arrived back at [the] hotel just before 11pm. There was intrusive loud music [in the environs], though not from the in-house entertainment — for which we fulfilled our goal of leaving before it started and returning after it finished.”
 “Had to delete three days from [the] SD card,” my notes say; but I can’t remember why. I transferred 121 photos from the camera’s SD card to “Documents” on the Samsung computer (23:16–23:19 CEST), then copied all four days’ photos onto the SD card as a backup (23:20–23:22).… After Janet vacated the bathroom (23:46), I got ready for bed.

[Monday 11 September 2023]