Montenegro

Thursday, August 11

To go through immigration, our bus driver had collected all of our passports and handed the huge pile over to the border guards. After passing through Croatia’s immigration gate, we got back in the bus and drove a bit to the Montenegro border.

The bus driver split the pile of passports and handed it back to us, those sitting in the first row, and told us to find ours and pass the pile on. I’ve never been so grateful to sit in the front. We started to read names aloud, but bus driver said ‘no, no, no. Take and pass’. We found ours, passed the pile back, and heard as people accidentally dropped one or two and then scrambled for it under the bus seats.

At the Montenegro border we got out and handed our passports over ourselves. They barely looked as they stamped it and waved a hand for the next person.

Our bus finally approached the Bay of Kotor. We had assumed the bus would drive around the bay to get to Kotor on the opposite side but to our surprise the bus pulled up to a ferry terminal. The whole bus went quiet as we watched our driver skillfully navigate getting onto the ferry. Then he waved at us, motioning that we should get out of the bus to go stand on the deck and take photos. So we did.

It was almost 7pm, so about an hour before sunset, and the light was beautiful. It was a nice little treat for all of us cheap backpackers on the bus to get to ride across the bay for free. As we approached the other side everyone anxiously got back on, not wanting to see what would happen if we got left on the ferry deck.

We got stuck in traffic again as we entered into town but I was able to have enough cell service to maintain contact with our Airbnb host who met us at the bus station on his motorcycle. He had us follow him- he was on the bike and we were on foot- up the street so that we could see how to walk to the apartment. It wasn’t that complicated but I’m guessing that some previous guests got lost enough times so he thought it was a good idea.

He led us into a housing commune that seemed very 1980s Eastern European. Between the ugly apartment towers were recreational fields and little shops like veggie stands and hair salons. He led us up the creepiest elevator I’ve ever been in to the top floor. From the apartment’s balcony we could see out to Kotor Bay and the old town. We also had a prime viewing spot for the soccer field below us.

Our host said he wasn’t a fan of the communist architecture, but was surprisingly positive in his comments about former Yugoslavia, which was a big change from what we’d heard in Croatia.

Our host then left and we went to the grocery store. We made dinner and drank some wine and tried to find something on TV. They had old music videos (Queen) on one station. The retro apartment plus watching Freddy Mercury on screen was a mind bender and we felt like we had traveled back in time.

Friday, August 12

Our primary goal of the day was to explore old town Kotor. Kotor is teeny tiny so we relaxed in the morning and didn’t make it into the city walls until about noon. Still, in less than an hour we had seen the whole town and more.

Outside the walls of the city was a farmer’s market. We got a half kilo of mixed figs that were divine and provided energy throughout our waking. We didn’t even know there was more than one type of fig, and we liked tasting the different types: green, kinda purple, and full deep purple (the best, obvi).

We started our Kotor tour at a cute little cafe called Niente and ordered some coffees. Turns out they host live music there and make fancy cocktails so we thought about returning some night. Then we strolled through the old city.

Something I did not know but quickly realized is that Kotor has a ton of stray cats and is very proud of them. There are cats everywhere you look and every tourist shop is stuffed with cat souvenirs. At one point we even found the ‘kitty projects’ where cats were hanging out in little cat houses and there were food and water bowls everywhere. Even though they are strays, most seemed clean and well cared for.

We ducked into a couple of churches which – even though we are ‘churched out’- were interesting because they are Orthodox and have a noticeably different style than all the Roman Catholic churches we saw in Italy.

Kotor still has some sections of its old medieval wall although the whole thing is not intact and walkable like Dubrovnik. Still, we were able to walk up to one of the corners and walk along the north side for a bit. Of course, there’s a restaurant on top. The views from the wall were nice, and made us realize how high up the mountain side of the wall goes.

Then it felt like we had seen the whole town so we decided to go to the Kotor Cats Museum. It was €1 person and totally worth it. The man at the desk handed us two large laminated sheets that gave a one sentence description of every item in the museum. Though only two tiny rooms, they’ve done an amazing job collecting lots of different old things with cats on them. For example: postcards, stamps, books, celebrity photos, coins, propaganda cartoons, calendars, etc. Humans have been drawing cats onto things for a while.

After slipping down a very slippery stone street in my flip flops and seeing my life flash before my eyes, we decided it was time to get some wine. I’d read a blog that had recommended a good wine tasting in town, the Old Winery Wine Bar, so we headed there. A younger guy told us the wine tasting wasn’t until later, which seemed ridiculous (if anything, wine tasting is a day time activity!) but we said ok and decided to come back later.

We walked down the boardwalk to the ‘beach’. We found a spot to sit along a cement wall and took turns jumping in. The water was a bit dirty and the rocks were sharp. But it was cold and the scenery of the surrounding mountain and old city are absolutely stunning. We sat on our wall and read for a bit until it seemed like maybe it was finally wine time.

When we returned to the shop we discovered an older man (the owner?) had replaced the younger punk, presumably it was now ok to taste some wine. Of course the restaurant got a little busy then but the manager guy made time for us. He brought out 5 different style wine glasses- one for each of the different wines we would try.

Before pouring any, he gave us a sermon about wine in Montenegro. It was long-winded, but very interesting. His thesis was that Montenegro’s wine industry is still struggling because the country got out of the communism game just a little later than Croatia. For too long Montenegro held on to their government-run, large, industrial winery in a desert region while the coastal, grape-growing land previously owned by wine-making families changed hands and went up in value. He said that whereas Croatia has about 500 family wineries, Montenegro now has only about 50.

Whether our brains really wanted to support this fledgling industry regain its foothold in European markets or if we were just really thirsting for some wine, we found the wines to be spectacular. We were also very proud of ourselves for putting into practice all of our wine-tasting etiquette that we had learned throughout the trip. We swirled our glasses, looking for legs, and asked each other, “what notes do you smell?” We ended up getting some bottles to go and got a little discount on them.

Saturday, August 13

Carl picked up the rental car at 9am. I decided to stay in the apartment while he went to get it and I’m glad I didn’t go because it sounded very disorganized. The rental car was the cheapest we could find because the company does not have a physical building. Instead, a guy met Carl in a gas station parking lot. When Carl described it, it sounded like it was a borderline drug deal interaction of “hey, you want a car?” to which Carl said, “…yea?” Again, glad I missed this.

With the car we had freedom to go anywhere in Montenegro. We decided to check out the closest spot, Perast, another old city on the bay. The town is only a 20 minute drive from Kotor but we quickly realized that parking was going to be the limiting factor. We drove all the way through the town and passed it, before turning around to find a spot alongside the road.

Despite having to park so far away, the city didn’t seem that crowded. Perast is somehow even smaller than Kotor so in a short time we realized we had already walked all the cobblestone streets. So, in accordance with our developed medieval city standard itinerary, it was time to start seeing some church things. We passed on the €3 church museum but did spring for the €1 bell tower.

The bell tower is infested with pigeons (like the attic of our Airbnb) so it was a little gross. It also seemed likely to crumble and fall down at any second. So we walked gingerly. Luckily, there weren’t too many other people to have to pass. At each ‘level’ we had to crouch down to not hit our heads before going up the next set of stairs. But at the top, the view was worth every euro penny.

Despite the weather forecasting some rain, the skies were bright and sunny. Any clouds only made the scene more beautiful.

Then it seemed the only thing to do was take a boat out to one of the islands. There are two islands off of Perast: Saint George island which is a tomb and people are not allowed to set foot on, and the artificially made island, Our Lady of the Rocks, which is basically just a church.

The artificial island was supposedly made by locals who dropped lots of rocks and large debris (like old ships) in the same spot for a very long time to create the island. Apparently every year there is a festival and locals go out to the island and drop a rock or two, just to be sure.

We got a €10 taxi boat out to the church island and, like suckers, paid another €3 to go into the church and museum. The church was actually kinda cool and had some modern looking art in it. The museum part was awesomely kitschy-lots of little rooms with random old things in them. One room had old keys, guns, pottery, and blacksmith tools. Basically if you’ve ever seen an object and thought ‘that seems from the olden times’ they would have had it and 5 other types of it in these rooms.

We took pictures and then our taxi boat picked us up and took us back to the mainland.

We didn’t really know what else to do with ourselves, so we went in search of a lunch spot. We landed at Konoba Skolji. We ordered seafood pasta, pear and gorgonzola salad, and a traditional Dalmatian side dish of potatoes and chard. The potatoes and chard were incredibly bland and disappointing but the pasta was really nice.

Afterward we walked along the boardwalk and found a cafe to get a coffee. We went to one place that seemed like it was in a really old building that had recently been redone. The stone barrel vaulted ceilings were lit by recessed lights hidden behind the table booths. We got some coffees and contemplated next steps.

The forecast still predicted rain so we decided to drive around the rest of Kotor Bay to see it and to have a rain-friendly activity. Kotor bay is the weirdest shape -like an hourglass added to the landward side of a normal bay. The drive was right along the water the whole time, and it was nice. We made it back to the ferry and decided to take it across and then go a slightly different way to Kotor than our bus had.

When we got off the ferry we turned left. All of a sudden the road was much narrower. We questioned whether it was supposed to be a one way road. But no, cars were going both ways. So we eeked along, still driving along the water and through very old little towns, occasionally holding our breath while trying to pass a car by creeping to the side, or backing up again.

By the time we got back to our apartment, we’d had enough adventure. For dinner, Carl made us a yummy dinner of gnocchi and salad with Camembert and peaches!

Sunday, August 14

The weather forecast for the next 3 days predicted: 1) rain and thunderstorms, 2) sunny, 3) rain in the morning. So we decided to save hiking and beaching for non stormy days and risk our luck with a visit to the nearest lake for the stormy day. When we left the sky was partly cloudy and it didn’t seem like the weather would be bad at all.

Our first stop was Lipa Cave. This is currently the only cave in Montenegro that is open for tourists to go into. We got there a few minutes too late for the 11:30am tour so we waited for the 1:00pm tour. The parking lot is on top of a ridge that overlooks a beautiful valley. There is also a sweet little cafe. We ordered two coffee drinks and I got a little crazy and got a ‘Mexican coffee’ that had chocolate and some kind of sweet liquor in it. When the waiter brought out a huge parfait glass with whipped cream piled high, I knew I’d made the right decision.

When it was time we rode a little ‘train’ (tractor with attached cars) down the hill to the cave entrance. We got off and went to stand in front of the cave entrance. Immediately we could feel freezing cold air drafting out of the cave. They should get a big pipe and funnel that air down the hill to the cities that need it. Grateful for bringing a sweater for once, we bundled up as best we could and walked in. There was a huge group of us, yet our guide did a good job keeping us together and explaining things clearly.

It was a small cave and not the most magnificent that we’ve seen, but it was still cool. The cave ring formation was new to us. This is when water drips off a stalactite into a pond below and the drop creates a splash of drops around it, creating little circular dams of calcium.

After the tour we got back in the car and continued on our journey. We headed toward Skadar Lake with a planned stop at a scenic overlook on the way. The overlook spot is on a cliff and we had to take some sketchy switch backs to get to it. The road was barely wide enough for us, and we held our breath turning every corner in case we confronted another car and had to squeak by.

We finally made it, and the view was breathtaking. We ate our packed sandwiches while looking over the lake and the surrounding mountains.

Then we drove down to the lake, toward Virpazar, the most popular town along the lake. Immediately when we pulled into town a man stopped us and asked if we wanted to go on a boat ride. We said yes and followed his instructions to park in the free parking area.

Then we met a man in a cafe and he gave us a rundown. I’d read about boat tours of the lake that will take you far into the fingers but it was already late in the day so we agreed to the tourist version of the hour out on the water and went with it.

We followed a young guy to his boat- it was a small, shallow hull with a wooden deck and a canvas canopy. We motored slowly out of the marina and then up a narrow bend before getting into the open lake. The guy explained some things about the lake, like that carp is the tastiest fish caught there and that there is a special pelican that lives there that we probably wouldn’t see. He pointed out some ruins on land that used to be an island before they built a highway through it.

There were tons of birds and lake plants and it was beautiful seeing the big, dark mountains looming just past the lake’s edge. Our driver took us to a ‘beach’ in case we wanted to swim. It was late in the day, not that hot anymore, the water looked full of algae, and we didn’t have swimsuits. So we passed. There was also a restaurant on this tiny lake beach so we got a couple beers and sat on the beach chairs to enjoy the quiet. Then we motored back to the shore, to the mainland.

We decided to go back to the apartment and have some leftovers for dinner to prepare ourselves for the next day’s adventure.

Monday, August 15

We woke up at the same time as the pigeons, had some coffee, and walked over to the old town. Taking advantage of the clear weather, we decided to make Monday our hike to vistas day.

The first hike started in the ‘back’ of the city, on the mountainside. If you go through the gate before 8am you can avoid the €8 fee to walk up the wall to the Kotor Fortress. We made it through at 7:40am. The path switchbacks, back and forth, with stone steps and a gravelly ramp. Immediately we got cool views of the old town below us.

We trekked to the top, grateful that hiking at that early hour also meant cooler temperatures and fewer people. At the top we explored the old fort a little bit but didn’t spend long because it seemed like it might crumble away beneath us and that some people had used it as a bathroom. We took some panoramic shots at the top and then hiked down, politely smiling at all the suckers who had woken up too late and paid to do the same hike.

We walked back to our apartment and Carl made us a hearty eggy breakfast. Then it was off to the next adventure! We left the apartment at 10:30 and were proud of ourselves for having already done a hike by the time we’d normally be leaving for our first activity of the day. We took the windy road up and out of Kotor toward Lovcen National Park.

Our Airbnb host had told us about a cafe with a great view and a family run restaurant near the park. So we stopped at the cafe to admire the view. They only had packaged bottles of chilled coffee but we decided to get a couple to pay rent for a table with a great view. The coffees were bad, but the view was probably the best view of the city.

Then we drove further up the mountain to the restaurant recommended to us, Kod Pera na Bukovicu. We were told to get ‘ham and cheese’ which means prosciutto and cheese. The cheese from this town, Njeguski, is well known in Montenegro. We were also told about Medovina: honey wine.

We walked into the tiny room where a man seemed to be taking orders and asked if he was serving lunch yet. He said ‘only ham and cheese now’ so we said, ‘perfect! We want just that’. We also asked for the honey wine. He seemed a little surprised so we added, ‘just to try!’ He smiled and motioned for us to sit outside.

He brought us a platter with two types of prosciutto, cheese, olives, bread, and two small glasses of honey wine. The prosciutto was really, really good. The cheese was weird. It didn’t have a lot of taste and the texture was very light like solidified foam, or like a damp sponge. The bread also had a weird texture. The honey wine was delicious but there were literally 10 bees swarming around me that got even more excited when I lifted the cup to my lips. So it made for a challenging meal.

As we ate, a tour bus arrived, answering my question of how this tiny place could stay in business. As they sat down to eat the same things as us we noticed there weren’t as many bees buzzing around them, and they continued to swarm us. So it was totally personal. We finished and left, mildly disappointed.

But, the next activity exceeded our expectations so it all works out in the end. We wanted to see THE Lovcen mountain so we drove up and up and found ourselves at the pay booth to enter the area for the Mausoleum of Petar II Petrovic-Njegos. We hesitated, but figured the views would be worth it, so we paid and drove up.

The views were worth it and the mausoleum itself was actually a really amazing building (of course we had to pay another fee to go in). We started up the stairs into a huge domed tunnel that led us all the way up the hill. At the top of the mountain, the tunnel opened up and we had 360 degree views. It felt like we could see all of Montenegro from up there.

Then we entered into a courtyard and walked toward two columns that were statues of carved women, something surprisingly rare in the architecture we’d seen around the world. Past the columns was a room with a nice, modern statue of Petar II. In the basement lies his creepy crypt. Carl started Gregorian chanting random Italian words that sounded really cool in the hollow space but people were shushing each other too so I elbowed him to stop lest people think he is part of the show.

Walking out of this building leads to another path on the other side to a round terrace on the mountain peak. There were incredible views in every single direction. It was a magnificent monument to a man who we didn’t even know he who was. We googled him later and Wikipedia taught us that Petar II was an influential prince, writer, and philosopher who helped shaped ideological views for Montenegro. It would’ve been nice to learn something about Petar II there, but we were happy enough to see the impressive monument and views.

It was only 2pm and we had accomplished so much. Feeling hot, we decided it was beach time. We drove down the mountain and then northwest to a beach called Plavi Horizonti which is actually on the ocean coast and -has sand!

At the beach we found a nice spot (in the sand!) and laid out our towels. We had missed soft sand beaches after a month of going to rocky beaches in Italy and Croatia. But then the sand got everywhere, as it does, and as we re-applied sunscreen to sandy areas we realized why Europeans like the rocky beaches. The water also wasn’t as clear, but it was calm and actually a little warmer and less salty than the bay had been. We read for a couple hours, taking breaks to cool off in the water, and then headed back to town.

I had read about a restaurant on Kotor Bay called Restaurant Galion that was a bit fancy but enabled great views of the mountains, bay, and the city wall creeping up the cliffs. We were able to get a table easily, inside, which meant it would be harder to see the city walls light up at night but that we’d have AC and Carl wouldn’t be chewed alive by mozzies- so we took that as a win.

We had lower expectations for the food because we hadn’t been that impressed by food in Montenegro. We got an appetizer and two mains and a bottle of wine. The waiter was overly nice (I miss that sacarine American hospitality) and he recommended we get a bottle of wine from Serbia, slightly pricier but better. We said what the heck and got it. And it was a good choice. It was a red blend that smelled like damp, dark soil. It was dry but still smooth. We loved it. We are still learning wine and we don’t know how we would’ve picked this one out on our own, so props to the waiter.

Before the appetizer they served bread with sides of dill sauce and olive oil. The bread was the same style as what we’d had earlier on the mountain so we were skeptical, but this loaf was much better. And the oil and dill sauce were great. Our expectations were being topped when they brought the appetizer- gravlax with beetroot chutney and dill sauce- and then we were speechless. Carl literally looked like he had a stroke, he stared at the plate, expressionless, like his brain couldn’t compute how good it was.

For mains we got a steak and a shrimp risotto that were pretty good (not as good as the app tho). Our waiter was very intent that he be the one to pour the water and wine for us, which helped to stretch our meal time a little longer. We savored and enjoyed. Best meal of Montenegro.

Tuesday, August 16

We woke up to the sounds of rain and thunder. It was nice to have a lazy morning. We watched some poor souls play soccer in the rain as we sipped our coffees on the balcony. The forecast expected the rain to stop by about noon so we got ourselves together and set out for the old town of Budva. We figured we could walk around the old town while the sky still threatened and then go to one of the beaches nearby once it cleared up in the afternoon.

To get to Budva proved harder. There was a huge traffic jam almost all the way from Budva, up along the coast. Google told us to go up the mountains and around, but as we did that we ran into other cars turning around and finally a taxi man told us ‘no, not possible’. So we turned back around and joined the masses. It seemed everyone else also thought that no one would be going toward the beach on a rainy day.

Impressively, Carl spotted a parking spot next to a restaurant parking lot, way up on the hill overlooking the town. He grabbed it and we later realized it was likely the last spot for a while. We followed a ramshackle path between apartment complexes, down the hill, to the old town, which sits right on the beach.

We walked around the old town and paid to go into the Citadela Fortress. The ticket advertised views, a library, museum, and a chapel. The views were nice, the library was real, but the museum was literally just a room with 8 figures of wooden ships in it. One woman asked us where the museum was (we said we didn’t know) and later found us to say ‘that room is it. Not what I expected!’ Indeed.

The town was teeny and full of tourist shops so we got tired of it quickly. We took a break at a pub and ordered some beers, a burger, and a sausage. Everything was good and cemented our idea that burgers are one of the best things to order in Croatia and Montenegro.

With the skies a brilliant blue, we figured it was a good time to beach. We found an entrance to the beach through an old door in the city walls and stepped out to find the area with chairs and umbrellas to be surprisingly empty. We rented two chairs a couple rows back from the water.

We went to jump into the water and immediately realized why all the other rocky beaches had been considered so nice. The walk into the water was treacherous. Smaller pebbles turned into much bigger rocks that were small enough to be picked up and tossed by the strong waves but large enough to hurt when they hit you. Then the big rocks that didn’t move were covered in algae and it was impossible to find safe footing.

I normally like to wade into water slower than a grandma who doesn’t want to get her hair wet, but that wasn’t possible here. Carl ran past and dove in, swam out and back just in time to come back to the shore and see me with both feet and both hands in the water, doing an involuntary bear walk to keep from falling over. So I had to dive in, and I dove right into a mucky spot, with sticks and a mask floating around.

Once I swam out further though, the views were amazing. I could lay on my back in the ocean and see the old, medieval city walls glowing in the sunlight and the dark, shadowy mountains looming in the distance. It was so pretty that I really wanted to take a picture but bringing a phone out there would’ve meant certain destruction.

Back on land I realized it was my mom’s birthday so I ordered an Aperol spritz to toast her from many miles away. I hoped her day would be as good as mine was going.

After 6 the sun snuck behind the nearest large mountain and it all of a sudden didn’t make sense to be on the beach anymore. So we packed up, drove home, and feasted on homemade charcuterie boards. The next day we’d leave Montenegro to go to Greece.