Villa Lux Budva

... in a different kind of place.<br><br>We had at least 6 hours to kill before our night train left for Belgrade so we decided to wander around. While we were walking to the downtown area, I kept thinking to myself, "How is this country a part of the EU?" It was really dirty, with litter everywhere. The shops and stores seemed kind of &#8220;ghetto.&#8221; We eventually found somewhere to eat (after what seemed like a really long ...

... sleep for a few hours. It was pretty anusing in hindsight but I was glad I wasnt sleeping in my normal position with my shoulder under the pillow because I have dislocated in 5 times I am quite sure it would of popped again. It was quite an amusing story to talk about mind you over breakfast. I was going to go to Kotor today but I have been totally unmotivated and lack lustere over the past ...

... you have your children and your studies now. After your children leave and you complete your graduate degree, then you can come reside in my country." After the New School discriminated against me and I was recently receiving poor grades at FDU from professors that had formerly studied and graduated from the New School themselves, I felt I wanted to leave America thinking strongly I would have more academic freedom in Serbia. In fact during my entire Serbian trip, I discovered that ...

Mountains so high, Ocean so green, Sky so blue People so...nice! Yeah, that's what I think about Montenegro. The backdrop to the coast is so dramatic and the water much warmer than that of the Agean (not sure if I already said this). Either way I'm soaking up my last few beach days before heading inland. The people here have been very welcoming and helpful, I wish I had more time to stay and explore. I went to a boxing match last night (Serbia ...

... holiday. Our hosts were incredibly friendly, waking us with gloopy cups of coffee, and chatting at every opportunity, although completely in Serbian. Surrounded by mountains, shaded from the intense sun, and full of verandas with grapes growing , this peaceful house made us congratulate ourselves on losing the tent. Hvar, Dubrovnik, and Kotor have all been preserved to remain as they were 200-500 years ago when they were built. The streets have an irresistible enchantment and ...

... felt as if it had been body slammed but the worst was over. I decided I needed a nap since I got up so early and went back to bed until 10. Pretty sad. I did not want to venture far so I just went to the beach near the old town and read Harlan Coben's Drop Shot which was interesting because it was a mystery around the US Open. I realized that the date of my original plane ticket to the US is approaching and decided to not change it and return on August 31. It will have been more ...

... the kicker is the reality that no one actually lives there - it's all souvenir shops, boutiques and loads of restaurants. Oh, and with a couple museums chucked in for free. All the same though, it was a fairly enjoyable day. The fortress in the walled Stari Grad had a fascinating old library full of vintage, turn-of-the-century books on the Balkans. A few of the ones they had were ones I'd heard of and wanted to read for years. Too bad they were all ...

... resort buildings. It was rather surreal. The main structures had all been completed: walls, floors, doors and ceilings where they were needed. But everything else remained to be completed. It was obvious from the half set up tables, some with chairs and some without, others with chairs stacked on the table itself, that when the order had come to halt construction the workers had stopped immediately doing whatever they were doing. The kitchen was ...

... to the one day cricket back home, it was still good to get a bit of sport into me. Once it was over I was ready to call it a night though, wanting to get a good nights sleep in before an early morning bus to Herceg Novi, where we would change to cross the border into Croatia and travel on up to Dubrovnik. Three days was enough time to get a taste of the Montenegrin coast, however I knew there was a lot more to the tiny nation I hadn't seen. Perhaps there would come another time.

... Scott ***** is a great photographer who takes photos of strangers without hesitation. Perhaps we'll post a link to his work in the next entry, if I can find his website. We really needed him today. We have developed a new terminology in our daily discussions. Much as Elaine had to decide whether a man was "Spongeworthy," we will occasionally speculate that a photo might be "blogworthy." It is really just an issue with photos, as they take time to upload. With text, as you can ...