Monday morning, August 29, 2011
We have now been in Montenegro almost a week, visiting our friend Adriana, her husband Nikola and their very active 3 year old son Karlo. Last Monday morning we took a 45 minute flight from Belgrade, Serbia to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Nikola met us and drove us directly to the resort city of Budva on the Adriatic Sea where Adriana and Karlo were waiting for us. We stayed in a modern apartment in the same building as an apartment owned by Nikola's parents and where Adriana, Nikola and Karlo stayed.
Budva is a very popular tourist center with many hotels and apartment rentals (both modern and older), outdoor waterfront restaurants, souvenir shops and crowded beaches. Although the locals appreciate the influx of money, they bemoan the loss of the slower pace of life and all the development.
Because of its location, Budva makes a good base from which to explore the lovely coastline filled with beautiful bays and beaches surrounded by the rocky limestone cliffs that come right down to the sea. We spent two days exploring the dramatic large Boka Kotorska Bay (which is sometime called the southern-most fjord in Europe, 15 nautical miles long) dotted with smaller bays and towns. Many towns were partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1979 and have been rebuilt. Most now have an “Old Town” section with stone buildings and very narrow cobble-stoned streets (we would call them alleys). Tivat is now home to the new Porto Montenegro where an old military base and shipyard is being converted to a modern basin for mega yachts with exclusive hotels and condominium. We enjoyed admiring the huge yachts and sailboats. Kotor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of this area has been inhabited since prehistoric times and has been ruled by many different entities: Ancient Romans, Ostragoths, Saracens, Serbians, Bulgarians, Venetians, Ottomans, Hapsburgs, French, Russians, Austria-Hungarians, Italians, Yugoslavians. Perast is an old small fishing village at the head of the bay which does not allow cars.
On Friday we left Budva and drove south along the coast to Adriana's home town of Ulcinj where her mother and two sisters live. The entire coast is very Mediterranean – narrow winding roads, cliffs, blue-green water, small towns nestled in coves with small beaches. Ulcinj has not been “discovered” by tourists as much as Budva so seems more “natural”. Once again, we are staying in an apartment, this time it is directly under Adriana's mother's apartment.
Ulcinj is known for its lovely “Long Beach” (7.5 miles) where it is possible to find much less crowded sections. Our favorite is called Bora Bora and is adjacent to the more developed (and therefore crowded) Copacabana. Karlo especially loves the freedom to run around unhindered.
Here are the links to two new photo albums:
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