Day 7 - Valentine's Day with Buddha...I mean Budva

At the crack of dawn (8 AM in lazy-ass-student speak), Steve pokes his head into my room and announces that we're going to Budva today.

Budva. My head still busy extricating itself from the realm of sleep, I could've sworn he told me that we're going to see the all mighty Buddha today. I don't care how many millions of Asians worship him -- I need my eight hours at all costs. Kaput.

I squinted at him, hoping my serious case of bedhead would be sufficient enough to scare him away. It didn't. Man, what I wouldn't give for a few more minutes of la-la land.

Turns out Budva's a seaside town situated on the west coast of Montenegro, meaning we were taking a little field trip today. Apparently he wanted me to meet some of his business contacts there.

Well, hell yeah! Who was I to pass up a trip to the much-acclaimed Montenegrin coast??? Sunny beaches, yawning grottoes, snow-capped mountains...this was the stuff that tourists eat up!

We had fun watching how our bus driver to Budva lazily steered up the narrow mountain road with one hand, the lion's share of his attention taken up chatting with an attractive young woman sitting next to him. Man, was he skilled! We only had three near-accidents and two close calls with gravity. Awesome.

In Budva, we immediately headed to the convention, where Steve supposedly met the American ambassador the day before. He wasn't there today, but I did meet Marco, from whom I bought a straw portrait of Tivat. I must confess -- I can never resist a starving straw-weaving artist with a sexy Italian accent.

It wasn't until we were wandering around later did I come to realize how passionate the locals are about politics, even in the tourist trap of Budva. Apparently the Kosovans are the only ones around here who still believe they're independent from Serbia. If you cross the border from Serbia to Kosovo, they won't even stamp your passport, since they don't recognize Kosovo as an independent state!

A quick spin around Old Town (yep, you guessed it -- the oldest part of Budva), the most touristy part of town, led us to the beach, where we could see the Adriatic Sea up close and personal. Holy crap! I can't believe that if I hop on a ferry sailing due west, I'll find myself in Italy! ITALY. Home of the Romans and sun-dried tomatoes. Mmm...sun-dried tomatoes. Mental note to eat some here before I fly back in April.

On the beach, we randomly ran into a couple of Steve's friends from Podgorica...Nikola and Anna...who saw Steve first sleeping on the beach like a hobo. Small world, huh? Not surprising, since Montenegro's barely the size of Connecticut. It's even smaller than Kuwait, the Armpit of the Arabian Peninsula. Pfft.

But look at this dog! Isn't he cute?? He was following me around all day, tracking me like a homing device. Awwww! We rewarded his stalkerish efforts with pieces of our meat and onion pastry. He was happy. I was happy. Don't you just love happy endings?

We had another hosteler that night, Chris. In fact, he heard about Steve's hostel from Isaac, who stayed with us a couple nights ago! haha. Our first American backpacker. I've never been more glad to see another American tourist here!

More to come! Meanwhile, enjoy these pics taken of the Adriatic coast and some random-ass trivia/trivial info about Budva!

1) Budva is referred to as the "Montenegrin Kuwait," because of its immense number of millionaires, compared to its uber-small population

and for Christine:

2) Budva has the distinction of being the smallest town to host a concert of The Rolling Stones

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Part of trip: My Stint in Montenegro + Surrounding Areas

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