Hotel Splendido Kotor

... is a nice town&#8212;even in the rain. There are a lot of little churches all over Kotor. There weren't very many people out in the rain and in the old town there is very little green space so the water was puddling up in a lot of areas so of course we got our feet soaking wet. <br><br>Today is Jeff's birthday so this evening we had a birthday party for him. While we were out, the crew decorated the main salon and dining ...

... get the last bus to Ulcinj and only wait 15 minutes. Once there, I find out that there is a 6 AM and noon bus to Albania. I don&#8217;t want to get into Tirana late at night (also given that I don&#8217;t know how/when to make connections) so I decide to find a room near the bus station. It is dark when I arrive and signage is terrible. I eventually follow a homemade sign for a SOBE. The owner spots me immediately and rushes out to make the sale. I am escorted to an OK ...

Kotor -- September 7<br><br>We got up early with the hopes of checking out Dubrovnik without the crowds, but even at 7:30am there were many tourists milling about. We grabbed some cappuccino before returning to the hotel to pack up, check out, and head back to the bus station. The bus station is a good distance from the Old Town, and our cab driver was a bit nuts and we nearly collided with several cars en route!<br><br>Upon arriving ...

... so pretty in all my travels, and I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. <br><br>Kotor is an ancienct walled city built between 8 AD and the 18th Century right on an inlet from the Adriatic Sea. I crossed a short drawbridge to the city walls, walked inside one of the gates and was treated to narrow alleys paved with marble and tall buildings with tile roofs. Just amazing and again I will let the pics speak for ...

<br> I&#8217;m sitting outside at a bar in the old town of Kotor, Montenegro. The cobbled street is quiet and feels quite spacious compared to the narrow lanes that lead from my hostel to the bar. The local beer is so refreshing after my climb above the city, but I&#8217;ll get to that later.<br> After we left the ship that had been our mobile home for 8 days, the three of us took a taxi to our hostel. After the 6km drive away from the city we incorrectly though boardo had dropped ...

... hour ago!" "Oh, ****ing hell" I declared, more loudly than I ever thought I would in front of two Montenegrin coppers (you just don't see that kind of thing coming). I looked down at my watch, yup, he was right. Bollocks. "You must spend night in Podgorica" "Ahh, ok, where are there hotels?" (**** you, I'm not spending a night here-I'll hitchhike, or jump onto the back of a freight train, either of those is better than this ...

... by this, leading us over the barricades after talking to the workman and showing us a break in the enclosure where we could view the mosaics. Even though we could only see a small part, it was clear that they are in remarkable condition. From there we drove to Kotor Bay, and marvelled at the spectacular fiord - ragged mountains with sheer sides, deep blue water frothing with the strong winds that were blowing. We stopped at an old mill that ...

... passed more cows and along our ride, we constantly made stops, picking up people who work in Zagljak along the way. The van got so many people in it, several had to stand inside and the driver had to often downshift to 3rd or 2nd gear to get us up a mountainside. But eventually we made it up to Zagljak. A little info on Zagljak for you. It is the city on the highest altitude of the Balkans, located in the heart of the enormous ...

... I left. I met some great people staying there, and what's more, I managed to finally trade away the Bulgarian currency I had been carrying around for the past 8 months! I did take a couple of excursions out from the hostel during my time there. A couple of times I hired kayaks with various others and paddled out to and around Sveti Nikola, a large island protecting the bay of Budva, with a couple of nice, quiet beaches on which to relax. I pity the ...

... beautiful waters of an inlet from the Adriatic, we wondered what it was about this place that was giving us a 'funny feeling'. Families were picknicking and sunbathing on concrete plinths jutting into the clear water of the wide bay, the mountains rose steeply all around and the air was fresh with the scent of pine and flowers. But something kept nagging away. We entered the walled town of Kotor and encountered our first tourists since Sarande in ...