Blogs from Kotor, Montenegro, Europe - page 10

Les balkans en Dyane Soixante ans d'âge, des milliers de km au compteur, trois chevaux sous le capaux et quatre français pour une décapotable citroëne qui fut un jour un sommet de technologie automobile ( il parait ...). Dans un tel véhicule soigneusement décoré aux couleurs des pays traversés nous ne manquons pas de succiter l'étonnoment des habitants. Garagistes et douaniers tous nous saluent en riant ou à coups de klaxon. La dyane est précieuse pour entrer en relation avec la population, et vu sa vitesse de pointe, personne ne se sent pris de vitesse! Elle nous permettra de nouer le contact avec des jeunes du Monténégro qui nous guiderons vers l'église du village où nous dormirons et animerons la messe dominicale, ou bien avec les concessionnaires d'un garage Citroëne en Macedoine trop heureux de se ... read more

Well I am sorry to report that the weather in Budva wasn't all that much better than the weather in Ostrog and Budva really wasn't the most exciting place on the planet. It was raining in the morning so that put the damper on any plans to get out onto the water and have some fun on the water. Instead we had to shelter in cafes and drink tea and coffee and check the internet until the rain showers cleared. And to be honest that is pretty much all we did in Budva, up until about 6pm when Susie and I decided that we wanted to go for a walk. So we headed out for a walk and decided to walk left. And boy did we walk left. We walked for approx 1.5 hours and found ... read more

Before sending away my passport to the UK Home Office for six weeks, I decided to take one last holiday for some fun in the hot sun along the Adriatic coast. I only organised the whole trip about two weeks before leaving and so my first holiday since Krakow came a lot sooner than expected. It also gave me the chance to visit the second newest country in the world - Montenegro. Having gained independence from Serbia in June 2006, Montenegro only relinquished it's title as the world's newest country in February 2008 to it's Balkan neighbours Kosovo, who also gained independence from Serbia. Therefore I was intrigued to see what I would discover and experience in this new land. Montenegro also marked my personal three-o - the 30th country I have visited. Now, only 165 ... read more

Getting into Montenegro proved to be a bit of a pain in the ass for me. I went to buy the ticket an hour or so before the bus was leaving, and had to pay 83.50kn instead of 77kn, the price I had been told on two separate occasions on previous days. The lady who sold the tickets couldn't give me an adequate reason for this sudden change. The next unfortunate thing was the fact that the bus company was Globtur, a Bosnian company which holds the monopoly for the trip from Dubrovnik to Montenegro. So they can pretty much do as they please. I tried to go on the bus with my luggage, but a really nasty conductor signaled me to put my backpack outisde into the luggage compartments. So I went and did that, ... read more

Country number #20 of the trip and back in the EU.... sort of! Well they use the euro. Montenegro is the world's newest country after a referendum passed in 2006 to separate them from the union of Serbia & Montenegro. We took a bus from Dubrovnik to the town of Kotor, built on the largest inland fjord in Europe. The ride was beautiful as we wound our way down the coast from Croatia. There was an interesting whirlpool-like thing in the Bay of Kotor that looked like an underwater spring. The old town of Kotor was yet another pedestrian-only, walled Roman city (will it never end?). However, this one was quite unique as the wall was built straight up the mountain cliff immediately behing the city. On top of the cliff was an ancient Illyrian fortress ... read more