Blogs from Montenegro, Europe
May 5th 2012
Le Monténégro, pourquoi le Monténégro, c'est où ça le Monténégro, qui donc décide d'aller au Monténégro, qu'est-ce qu'il y a à faire au Monténégro, avez-vous déjà vu le mot Monténégro autant de fois dans une phrase? L'aventure pour s'y rendre à commencé à Mostar en Bosnie. Un 4 heures d'autobus a suffi pour se rendre à Dubrovnik en Croatie, où on a passé une nuit. En passant, c'est long 4 heures d'autobus avec un bébé. On est tout pogné et surtout, on ne peut se lever comme dans un train. Quand on a Nellie sur nous, pouvoir mettre debout est un élément essentiel. On n'aime pas les autobus. Je ne parlerai pas de Dubrovnik tout de suite car nous sommes partis dès le lendemain matin à bord d'une petite Citroen C3, notre véhicule pour le prochain ... read more
May 2nd 2012
We arrive early into Montenegro. The trip in was a view to be remembered. The Boka Kotorska Bay was breathtaking. We are able to dock at the pier at Kotor, Montenegro instead of tender. That makes it easy on and easy off for all of us. This is a medievel city, the buildings are well preserved which date back to the 12th and 14th century. It has a wall around it. Cliff and I explore the back streets of town with its narrow streets and squares and we find the Cathedral of St. Tryphon. Jean and Harry explore on their own and catch us at a local bar and we select the local appetizer and local beer. It was a strange order, it had bread, olives, and anchovies. Our trip out of Kotor is exiting through ... read more
March 14th 2012
The drive from Albania to Kotor, Montenegro was another spine chilling one! This is where I invented the saying "hairier than a kiwi fruit" and Nick earned his formula one stripes. The road is pretty much single lane the whole way past the border (two hours drive time) winding up and around the mountains on a cliff face with the sea below. When other cars come you have to pull over and at times reverse. Insane. The town of Kotor is itself a world heritage site, built in the 9th century. It is impossibly beautiful! It seriously looks like something from Disneyland, with a maze of cobbled streets and tiny little lane ways. You have to enter through the old iron gates at the front. All the buildings are super cute with old wooden window shutters ... read more
January 5th 2012
Yes, yes. I know what you're thinking, you've never heard of Budva right? Well, the truth is neither had I just a week ago! For the record I'm sure the guys are fabulous, but if you'll indulge me for a moment I'd like to comment briefly on the women. I arrived on New Year's Day in the middle of the heaving celebrations, with people flocking from all over the Balkans to ring in the new year in this picturesque Adriatic city. I stepped out for a stroll when the earth shook to it's very foundations. So then, what's the story morning glory? Oh that's it, suddenly it dawned on me that never before have I seen such beautiful women! Finally there's a city to rival St Petersburg, and the ladies promenade here like they've just stepped ... read more
Montenegro - Jazzy and Bumerish (RECORDINGS NOW ADDED!)
Published: November 19th 2011Europe » Montenegro
November 12th 2011
Montenegro (podgorica, budva, Podgorica) Arriving in Montenegro we landed on this big bus station, wee weeing has to be for free in my honest opinion, but I am doing it nomatter what! Borek is nice, staff of bus station not nice to Charlie but to dandelaion! Next stop: budva! Budva is pretty nice but seems to be also a little bit touristic, when there is off season it just feels a little bit like ghosttown! Charlie got some mandarines of a tree which were yummy yum. After getting some stuff from the supermarket we sat on some green and enjoyed having travelled to another country. Suddenly my personal friend Stephan appeared ( a 48 year old guy who wanted to help us out) he told us which hotel should be good to sleep and we got ... read more
Montenegron vuoret ja kanjonit - Durmitor ja Tara Canyon
Published: October 20th 2011Europe » Montenegro
October 19th 2011
Durmitor ja Tara-joen kanjoni Albaniasta palattuamme olikin sitten aika jättää Budvan kaupunki taakse ja jatkaa jälleen matkaa. Olimme nyt kolunneet lähistön merenrannat ja matka jatkuikin sisämaahan ja Montenegron vuoristoihin. Maassa on 5 kansallispuistoa jotka kaikki sijoittuvat tavalla tai toisella vuoristoisiin maisemiin – me olimme nyt matkalla niistä suurimpaan – Durmitoriin. Kun maassa kerran riittää vuoria on myös sopivien ajoreittien valinta aina vähän siitä kiinni, että minkä vuoren haluaa ylittää tai mitä laaksoa pitkin kiinnostaa ajella. Nyt reitti alkoi samaa tietä josta olimme edellisenä iltana palanneet ja suuntasimme kohden Podgoricaa. Matkan edetessä maisemat muuttuivat entistä mäkisemmiksi ja pian nousimmekin sitten jo oikein korkeaan vuoristoon. Majoituspaikkojen löytyminen ei ollut lainkaan varmaa vaikka olimmekin suunni... read more
October 16th 2011
Linnoituskaupungista toiseen - Kotorin kautta Budvaan Dubrovnik jäi taakse ja matka jatkui Montenegron Budvaan jonne saavuimme pohjoisesta Hertzeg Novin ja Kotorin kautta. Adrian meren rannikko koko Kroatian matkalta on vuoristoista ja karua mutta maisemiltaan silti todella upeaa. Korkeat sypressit kasvavat ihan rantakallioille ja pinjametsiköt reunustavat teitä. Montenegroon saapuessa maisemat kuitenkin hieman muuttuvat ja etenkin Kotorin lahti on varsin erinäköinen kuin Kroatian rannikko. Kotorin lahti on pitkälle sisämaahan työntynyt lahti joka vaikuttaa melkeinpä vuonolta – lahtea reunustavat korkeat ja jyrkät vuorenseinämät ja lahden rannalla pilkistelee useita pieniä ja vähän isompia vanhoja kaupunkeja. Lahden perimmäisestä nurkasta löytyikin jälleen oikein helmi – Kotorin vanha linnoituskaupunki. Kaupungin satamassa on lukematon määrä up... read more
September 25th 2011
Kotor is a short bus trip from Budva and is just spectacular. It sits on the northernmost point of a bay that stretches from near Budva almost to the Croatian border. Like Budva, there is a beautiful old town on the coast, but Kotor also has a fortress perched atop a mountain. Climbing to the fortress offers dramatic views of the city, the bay and the surrounding mountains. There were some brave locals near the top selling cold drinks. They must be in great shape hauling their coolers full of drinks up the mountain everyday. I hope they get a lot of customers to reward them for their efforts. ... read more
September 23rd 2011
After the intensely urban Belgrade, it was refreshing to fly into Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. My flight was delayed so I got in late and didn't have time to walk around the city as I planned, but the next morning I had a beautiful view from my hotel room. I caught the bus to Budva, a very popular resort town on the coast. Our minibus went through winding mountain roads navigated carefully by our driver. The old town of Budva was about 30 minutes walk from my hotel, but most of that walk was along the coast on a touristy promenade. ... read more
September 8th 2011
Severely hungover, I reluctantly forced myself out of my deep drunk sleep to go and catch the minibus outside of Ploce Gate to Montenegro. This doubtlessly put a bit of a dampener on my day which is why I generally don't drink much whilst travelling. But what was done was done - I had gone out in Dubrovnik the previous night and got hammered on buckets of vast volumes of intoxicating liquids. Oh well. The tour was going well from Dubrovnik to the border crossing with Montenegro - finding out little nuggets of information from the tour guide on the surroundings that passed us on our journey, for example, the best restaurant in the Balkans is supposedly in some woodland near the Montenegran border with a waiting list of something silly like 5 years. That is ... read more
