No, this isn't fake....its Montenegro!
A couple months ago, Joelskie and Strauss booked a weekend to Montenegro via Dubrovnik and asked Erin and I to go. Erin really wanted to but in the interest of saving money for our move, I pressured her out of it. Little did she know that I ended up booking and surprised her on her birthday (17 Aug). Lets just say I'm a good hubby! So we departed on Friday afternoon and were joined by a friend of Strauss', Lio, or Doc, a welcome late addition to the weekend cast. Lio's flight got in a few hours after ours, so we took the opportunity to have a pizza dinner in Dubrovnik and check out the beautiful city walls in the moonlight, having dinner with this view in the old harbor.
Lio got in and we made it to Kotor at about 11pm, tossing our bags into our room before heading out to the stone pier to share some Croatian wine we picked up in Dubrovnik. It was pretty hot so we followed it with some night swimming.The next morning we were all at it bright and early, departing from our hotel Palazzo Radomiri which in the "suburb" of Dabrota, a 45 minute walk from Kotor's old town. The walk was a little longer than expected, but with the beautiful views of Europe's southernmost Fjord, who would complain! The views were stunning (see first pic above for what we were dealing with).
Kotor, a UNESCO heritage town (along with the surrounding fjord or Boka Kotorska), is a beautiful town that is frozen in Venetian times with narrow alleys pressed against rugged mountains on the most inner part of the Boka. We wandered around the town and then took off to ascend the medieval footholds that formally protected its residents from outside threats. We didn't realize how high the climb would be. Below is about 1/4 of the way up at a small chapel. We thought we were almost there at that point, but persevered in the pounding heat to the summit of the peak which dominates the medieval town.
You can see the beautiful orange-tiled houses beneath the ancient ramparts. The boat you see below is 305 feet, the 17th largest private yacht in the world owned by a Mexican mining kingpin.
The view from the top is indeed spectacular. We felt worse than we looked.
Following lunch at Caffe Pizzeria, we made it back to our place for a quick dip to cool off before heading to Budva, a similarly dated walled town directly on the Adriatic that is succumbing to over building faster than its neighbor, Kotor. Directly outside the beautiful old town are some pretty dodgy buildings. However, when inside the walls and on the beach directly outside the walls, the scene is serene. 
After taking a dip in a nearby beach, Erin and I walked the walls before heading back to Kotor. The walls are nice, but not quite as cool as the hike to the fortress in Kotor or the walls in Dubrovnik. But still, 16th century walls are 16th century walls, they were pret-tty cool!!
We had a little happy hour of a few Nikšićko's on the hotel pier before dinner. The sunset is beautiful overlooking the mountains across the Boka. But who even needs the pier with water like this!
We had an unforgettable dinner at Stari Mlini (old mill) which is about 10 minutes drive down the Boka away from Kotor. The restaurant boasts an amazing setting on a stream connecting the mountains and the fjord and the restaurant has its own holding pond for their speciality, Trout. Our table was right behind one of the mills, overlooking the stream under an old wood 'canopy'. Below is the stream with a table straddling it...not a bad setting!
We had some incredible fish that night before going back to Kotor to experience the nightlife. This is at Cittadella, a trendy bar on the town walls that had a great setting overlooking the ramparts, which were lit up at night. We had a couple drinks there, then one in the main square before Joel, Erin and I followed the locals to Maximus, where a popular Serbian pop singer was playing that night. I think the three of us were the only ones who didn't know the songs. Note for single men looking for beautiful women...go to Kotor on a Saturday night:-)
We got in at about 2:30am and had a nice nights rest. We had a very average breakfast at the 5-star hotel next door, not very 5-star if you ask me. We then relaxed and swam for a while before taking off and Strauss realizing he left the car lights on, hence no battery. We tried to push start the car to no avail, but got a good workout. After an hour or so we got the cables, started the car and headed towards Croatia. We stopped in Pearst, another UNESCO village on the fjord, with two cool island churches. We drove on and had another hour in Dubrovnik before returning to the airport. Joel and I did a Dubrovnik power tour, walking the walls, getting a bite to eat, and having a beer at Buja bar before heading to the airport. Despite being a new and little country, Montenegro is a great getaway with all you can ask for, good food, warm water, medieval walls and passageways, fortresses, history and good company. All you need to do is make sure you have good company!!!
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