Bring on the Balkans (Part II)

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming, folks...

Dubrovnik, Croatia was somewhat of a shotgun visit; we pulled into the city with less than twenty-four hours on the clock to go. Luckily, the weather couldn't have been more cooperative.

Most of us were fans of Game of Thrones, so we were eager to explore the city where many of the Kings Landings scenes in seasons 2 and 3 were filmed. To get ourselves adequately psyched, I taught everyone (including the non-believers) all the complicated lyrics of the Peter Dinklage song.

Finding parking in the city was nightmarish; after 30 minutes of following befuddling signs and being diverted by one-ways, we said fuck it and agreed to pay a random man fifteen euro to park outside his home.

We lucked out again with an amazing airbnb, maybe one of the best I'd ever been to. The only downside was that we had to climb a lot of stairs to get there - and my glutes were still recovering from the previous day's fortress-stair punishment. But the view of the city's Old Town from our bedrooms made the climb worth it:

Seeing Dubrovnik from the walls that surround the old city was #1 on my list of things I wanted to do. We missed the wall tours that day, so we settled for exploring the city on ground. I marvelled at the white stone and the wide streets, all the while half expecting to bump into secretive Varys or sinister Ser Ilyn Payne along the way.

Mini history lesson: Just like Kotor, Dubrovnik has seen turmoil and change. Through the years the city has passed through many sovereign hands, all the while relying on maritime trade to sustain its prosperity. In 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia and was subsequently attacked in a siege that lasted seven months, took over a hundred civilian lives, and damaged much of the city's historic walls. For a decade after, the city underwent extensive repairs with aid from the international community. What visitors see today of the Old Town is almost all reconstructed in the original style: gleaming white buildings on wide open streets, everything protected within a six-meter thick sea wall of fortified stone. If it wasn't for the plaques and charts around that detail the events of the attack and the city's subsequent recuperation, it would be hard to tell there had been any reconstruction at all.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and continued our exploration of the town by night, a bottle of red wine in hand to keep the evening chill at bay.

The evening concluded with a late dinner involving a ridiculous platter of seafood. After we finished our meal, we washed it down with rakia, a fruit brandy that is popular in the Balkans.

The next morning, we awoke early to another perfect day. As we took the steps down back to the Old Town, we marvelled at the beauty that surrounded us. People actually live here, I kept having to tell myself. This isn't an elaborate theme park in Disney world. This is real!

Our roommate was feeling particularly adventurous and commandeered a wee rowboat. He took it for a lap around the harbor as the rest of us cheered on (and hoped its owners wouldn't appear!).

Rowboat returned, we made a beeline for the city wall tours, the first of which opened at 9 AM. Our flight that afternoon was at around 2 in the afternoon out of Podgorica - about a three hour drive away - and we still had to get gas and go through two border controls. So you bet we moved along those walls!

We cut our wall tour a bit short and made a dash back to the car. The journey back to the airport was interesting, to say the least. Our poor rental car was really put to the test as it bore the weight of all five of us and our luggage through the hilly countryside. Most of the windy roads were single lane so we were constantly looking for good passing spots ("go now go go GO!"). And on top of it all, the car's off-brand GPS stopped working so we were retracing our route based on memory, cached Google maps and a healthy dose of optimism. We had a couple of teachable moments (pulling up at the wrong airport in Podgorica, then once we arrived at the right one, our co-worker realizing she'd accidentally bought the return flight for the day before) but in the end, through a series of small miracles, we all made it on our plane, let out sighs of relief, and promptly fell asleep.

Bring on the Balkans (Part I)

Fact: Montenegro is gorgeous.

I admit I knew almost nothing about the country other than that some of Casino Royale was filmed there. I simply visited one weekend on a whim with some adventure-thirsty friends. 

As our plane made its descent into Podgorica airport, I peeked out the window and glimpsed a windy green coastline, a vast blue sea, and rugged snow-capped mountains looming all around. That's when I said to myself, hot damn, this is going to be amazing.

We piled into the rental and sped off towards Budva. Along the way, we stopped to stretch and admire the natural beauty around us...and to take a group selfie, of course.

Getting to Budva took about two hours. We immediately made a beeline for the beach.

Rocks were skipped. Fun was had.

For dinner, we chose a restaurant right next to the water and along the boardwalk, which ended up being the perfect people watching spot. It was the off season so we were the only tourists around. The locals seemed happy and relaxed - walking their dogs, chatting in groups, drinking wine. I was grateful to get a glimpse into life in Budva when it wasn't swarming with foreigners on vacation as it is in the summer months.

Following my Italian colleague's lead, I ordered fish soup for a starter. And oh boy, I sure am glad I did. The soup was ladled out of a steaming pot and aroma filled the air with tomato-ey, fishy goodness. Though we had only ordered two portions, there was enough for everyone to try some. The verdict: fish soup is delicious.

My entree was fish, cooked very simply to enhance the fish's freshness and natural flavor. A few cats wandered by our table for scraps. Among them was a tiny tortoiseshell kitten who was blind in one eye...talk about a heartstring tugger. I tossed him pieces of my leftover fish until he had eaten his fill.

After dinner, we drove to the town of Kotor and settled into our airbnb, which was conveniently located right in the middle of the medieval Old Town. Old Town by night was absolutely beautiful (I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures) and wonderfully preserved. No wonder it is a UNESCO world heritage site.

We explored the narrow streets, oohed and aahed at the lit-up churches, and had a run-in with a frog (or was it a toad?) that we encountered along the way. After a few hours of wandering about, we eventually ducked into a bar and nursed a few nightcaps before heading to bed.

The next morning was an early start, for there was a mountain to be climbed and a fortress to explore!

The fortress of Saint Giovanni has certainly seen its fair share of history. It was forged as early as the 6th century and reconstructed again and again as different groups came in and left their mark in Kotor - the Byzantines, Ottomans, Bulgarians, Austrians, Italians, French, and even the Axis forces during the second world war. If that wasn't enough drama, the fortress has also gone through and been rebuilt from seven earthquakes dating as far back as to the 1500s. In spite of all the turmoil it has seen, the fortress still stands atop the city of Kotor and overlooks its bay. Seeing it in the off season was a treat. Not only did we not have to pay the usual fee that is charged to visitors, we had the whole fortress to ourselves.

On the way down, we encountered a pomegranate tree and reaped the rewards of our find.

We spent the last of our morning wandering around in Old Town, this time seeing it by day.

At one point, the boy bought a really, really large slice of pizza...

He devoured the whole thing. I was slightly alarmed but mostly impressed.

At last, it was time to leave and head onwards to the next adventure. As we left the country, we enjoyed stunning views of the coastline and mountains as we wound through the Bay of Kotor. Pure magic.

Montenegro was an absolutely underrated gem of a country. And Kotor was one of my favorite places that I've ever visited. All the thumbs way, way up.

Next up on the blog: adventures in Dubrovnik, Croatia!