Relaxing along the Adriatic sea in Budva, Montenegro, and tales from travelers

I spent nearly all day at a cafe in Montenegro, relaxing and looking out over the Adriatic Sea.  When the restaurant owner kicked me out, and to be fair I had been there for a good 4 or 5 hours, I went to Mongren beach, which Srbo said I had to check out.  Along the way, I enjoyed the sites of the citadel built on the outlet.

Once I got the the beach, I sat in a lounge chair, ordered a salad, and relaxed some more.  When it started getting dark, I made my way to the hostel which was extremely difficult to find.  A local was very kind, called the hostel for me, and walked with me.  It was at the end of a tiny street, and by tiny I mean maybe 3 feet wide.   

At my hostel I met 2 french guys, in their 20s, who in addition to hitchhiking their way throughout Europe, are also pitching their tents when nightfalls and they are far from a city.  I asked if they had a weapon with them, and indeed they said they had knives.  One of the guys showed me a picture of their tent which was just a few feet off the side of the road.  I asked why they pitched it so close to the side of the road and he said, "I guess we didn't think about that."  Then he told me that in Albania, where they pitched their tent surrounded by mountains, that they started hearing wolves howl once night feel.  THAT is adventure traveling!  Or just plain stupidity.  Either way, they lived to tell the tale, and what a great story they have.  

He also recently went to NYC with his dad and showed me a picture of an empty suitcase which he brought.  He went with only the clothes on his back so he could take advantage of the inexpensive shopping in NYC.  I think the only thing that is cheaper though are American brands, like Polo.  

I met another couple who were in Montenegro for diving and have gone diving literally all over the world.  They've dived in the Red Sea several times.  

I went to bed early as I had a bus ticket to Dubrovnik the next morning at 7:30AM.  

Biking up cobblestone hills, amazing city views, and Serbian dinner at a kafana

Srbo left Beerfest early the night before since he had to work the next day.  He is an engineer, as well as a computer programmer.  When Valentina and I got back to her house, our feet were covered in dust.  

I woke up the next morning to sunshine flooding into their beautiful guest room.  Valentina had put my clothes in the laundry the previous night so after I woke up, I hung them up to dry.  Srbo was already up and was sitting on their veranda working.  He invited me to pull up a chair.  Valentina joined and we all had cantelope and grapefruit for breakfast.  We sat and chatted for most of the morning.  

The beautiful guest room.  Notice the picture in front of the television.  Its a painting of a dog whose job it is to guard them from TV.  They haven't watched TV by choice in months!

They decided to take me on a bike tour in the city.  They both had bikes and we walked to a bike rental place just along the Danube river so that I could rent one as well.  We biked through New Belgrade, and to Zeumen which used to be a separate city.  They wanted to take me to the top of a hill that had amazing views.  When we finally got to the top of a hill, we stopped at a nice cafe and enjoyed a glass of lemonade.

Srbo and Valentina in front of their home

Views of Zeuma 

Valentina teaches private Russian lessons and had a student at 4pm.  (She is from Belarus originally which is how she speaks Russian).  I also wanted to buy a bus ticket to Budva, Montenegro which was in the same direction as Valentina's student's house.  So we all biked together, then split off.  Srbo biked with me all the way to the bus station.  It was great exercise biking on the bridge over the Danube river.  I think we biked nearly 10 miles that day.  

On our way home, we stopped at a supermarket so that I could try pita, a Serbian cheese filled bread.  When we got home, Srbo told me such an interesting story about his life.  He is originally from Serbia, and moved to Budva Montenegro when he was in his 20s.  The war was going on at this time and after work he would just sit outside, listen to the sirens alarm, and watch kudzas being launched at enemy aircraft.  I can't comprehend how he could be in a city where bombs are dropping and not fear his life.  He said that life was very "boring" at the time, roads and bridges were either destroyed or blocked off, and he was trapped in the area he lived without being able to visit friends else where in the city.  Gasoline and food was also very hard to find. 

He had a girlfriend at the time (not Valentina) who just came back from India and brought with her a souvenir that folds into different shapes.  Because he was an engineer, he decided to make these and sell them in Montenegro, which he did and made a good living.  While in Montenegro, Valentina was there on holiday with mom, when she met Srbo, fell in love, and the rest is history!  

After Valentina came back home, she and I went to a kafana where we had a delicious Serbian meal.  After the meal, we took a cab to the bus station, and said our goodbyes.  Then I was off to Montenegro

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Party in Belgrade! Alcohol for breakfast, alcohol for lunch, and Beerfest party with my CS host and friends at night

When I got off the train in Belgrade, Serbia, old, dilapidated hostels on the main street greeted me.  Never did I imagine that beyond the rough exterior of the city was a beautiful, tree-lined, cobblestone street city center with one cafe after another, all with outdoor seating underneath umbrellas and hanging potted plants.  I walked up to the city center, found an internet cafe and was so surprised to find that Valentina had accepted my CS request!  I also got an reply from Ana, my old roommate from Nis Serbia, telling me what foods I should try.  I freshened up a bit in the restroom, and then went to the Republic Square where my free walking tour was to start.

The tour started at the Bohemian district, famous for its many kafanas.   Kafanas are like pubs and its very common and acceptable to dance on the chairs and tables.  And in some kafanas, you can even smash glasses if something bad happened to you and you are very upset.  

Our guide told us about rakija (pronounced rah-key-ah), an alcoholic beverage made from fruit, and in Serbia most commonly plums.  Serbs drink it for breakfast, lunch and dinner to kill any bacteria in the stomach.  It has about 40-60% content of alcohol.   My guide was amazing and actually brought us home made rakija  which she passed around in plastic shot glasses.  I could definitely taste the pulm!  It was very sweet but also had the strong taste of hard liquor.  

In front of the beautiful Bohemian district

We then went to a place dubbed the "Silicon Valley" but not for what you think.  Its called Silicon Valley because its the area where many girls who have silicone breast implants come to show off their silicone, (I mean, their body).  And a funny story, men who want to show off their cars even have been known to get into fights for parking spaces on the corner so everyone can see their car.  It doesn't matter if they live a couple of blocks away, they will still drive their car to the restaurants in the Silicon Valley to show it off.  They even started paying people to save parking spaces for them in advance.

Public water fountains

In front of a building with visible bullet hosle sustained during WWII

My guide explaining Rajakia

The fortress built and reconstructed alternatively by the conquering Ottomans and Austrians

After the tour, Valentina met me at a cafe.  We walked around the city together, and because she studied art history, and used to give tour guides as a volunteer, I had another professional tour of the city!  We stopped at a kafana where one of her friends works and had more rajika and a turikish coffee.  Not only is she very pretty and intelligent, able to tell me all of Eastern European history, we chatted about everything else.  She was happy to heal all my travels stories, and about my family's background, and my work and night life in NYC.

Rajika and turkish coffee for lunch

Rakjia served in a cone shaped flask on ice

After our lunch, we walked to her home in New Belgrade, which is across the river Danube.  We stopped for dinner at a local cafe and had pljeskavica, a Serbian hamburger.

After dinner, I took a nap.  Then Valentina, her husband Srbo (pronounced Sirbah) and I set off for Beer fest, which is a huge free annual beer and music festival.  The majority of the bands were Serbian, one was from Bosnia, which was fun to dace to music I didn't understand at all.  By far the most fun for me was at the end of the night when the Shapeshifters performed!  I probably would have never have heard this band without living in Scotland and going to so many techno and house clubs.  I love their song Pusher.  At one point I still had about a half can of beer that I didn't finish and wasn't going to.  Valentina told me I should "throw my drink".  So while everyone was jumping to the music, I spun my beer can around in the air and sprayed us all with my beer.  I was scared people would be upset but it actually made the guys cheer and take off there shirts!

When Shapeshifters started singing "New Day", I really let loose and sstarted dancing.  Valentina said to me, "Don't look behind you because there are 5 guys just waiting to make eye contact with you!".  If I could get that sort of attention in NYC I'd always be dating.

 Crowd and decorations at Beerfest

Having a great time with Valentina, her friend, and her friend's bf

A hilarious story about this guy on the and his outfit, which is from Senagal (except of course for the Mexican hat).  He was traveling in Paris and met a man.  He told the man he really wanted his outfit.  The man said, "I can't give it to you, its my clothes.".  He then offered to pay him 50 euros, and the man sold him his outfit.  He wears it every year to Beerfest and has become quite a hit!

A funny story about the guy on the left.  Hes the boyfriend of one of Valentina's friend.  A random guy came up to him, asked him something, then burst out laughing.  He couldn't stop laughing with his mouth wide open and pointing.  His gf asked him why the random guy was laughing and he said the the guy recognized him from a beer commercial he a year ago.  He asked us, "Why do you think I wore that huge beard for 7 months!  I had to disguise myself!"

And because I was the only black female in all off the festival, maybe even Belgrade, I got a LOT of attention.  I couldn't make it 10 minutes without being approached by another guy asking for a photo.  I really should have charged a euro for every picture.

Two of my good looking fans!

We stayed out until after 3AM.