Slip and Slide! Croatia Day 2,3, and 4

The second day in Croatia was pretty awesome. My friends and I were signed up to visit Montenegro through SAS. We left around 8 A.M., and the trip leaders were a little crazy because we had to have our passports on us. They are really controlling over our passports, but I guess that is because you can’t get back on the ship without one. So, we left on the bus and started the drive to Montenegro. We crossed the border without any trouble at all. It was 95 at 9:15 A.M. today. Pretty great on a bus. The air wouldn’t go up to high, so we were sweating a ton too.

So, we got to the Bay of Kotor after about two hours which is gorgeous. It is surrounded by these amazing mountains, and there are two small islands in the middle of the bay. We drove all the way around the bay which took a while since the roads are super small, and we were in a huge bus. We eventually got to the town of Kotor which is also enclosed by city walls just like Dubrovnik. We had a tour guide tell us a little about Montenegro and the town’s history. They speak Montenegrin which involves using TWO alphabets. Crazy huh? Also, they have the largest average height in the world. Megan fit in really well! Haha. Everyone was really tall, including people back in Dubrovnik. Anyways, we walked around the small town and looked inside of this really cool church. The church is one of the few Catholic churches in the area because most people in this area are Orthodox. The church has two towers side by side that don’t match because they ran out of money half way through building it. Pretty funny. The inside of the church is really beautiful. It is a like red/pink color because of the coral in the region. They also have these frames filled with silver pieces that were given to the church as thanks for bringing husbands, sons, and fathers safely home from sea since most of their jobs had to do with being at sea.

The city is also cool because it is naturally protected. On one side is a river, on two of the other sides is the ocean, and on the other side is a mountain range. I got some gelato there to cool me down, then we loaded back on the bus. I wish we had more time to wander around, but that is one of the downsides of SAS trips. RUSHED.
Once we were back on the bus, we began to head up the mountain because the next town we were going to see was on the other side. Going over this mountain, in a tour bus, was NO small feat. We definitely almost died like 15 times. The turns were super sharp, and the road going up was basically a one lane road. Anytime we came face to face with a car, they would have to go backwards up the mountain until there was room for us to squeeze by. One car that was going backwards almost shot off the back of the mountain! We almost went over the side a few times, and it was super scary. We eventually got to the top where we found a very small town. I have no idea how anyone could possibly live up there, but I guess they are self-sufficient. We stopped for a quick break there, and the town was called Hjeguse. I got a coke, and we took some pictures in front of the beautiful background of the mountains. One of the professors on the trip bought some cheese, and I had a bite. It was so delicious. Definitely made there. One kid on the trip was trying to split logs with this homemade ax. He failed, and it was hilarious.

We got back on the bus and headed to the actual city we were trying to see called Budva for lunch. Lunch was included in the trip, and we were served bread, soup that was really good, peas, potatoes, and this ham/steak dog thing. It was really good except for the peas. They were cooked in some weird sauce. We walked around the little town a little which was a beach town. Everyone was in a bathing suit. It was still super sweaty. We drove back to Croatia and along the way saw a ton of soccer fields. The funny thing was that they let sheep go loose on the field as lawn mowers! So cool!

We got back, showered, and headed to the Old Town for dinner. We were in Dubrovnik during their Summer Music Festival, so there were people everywhere doing traditional dances and playing traditional music. We saw a group of women doing a traditional dance which was really cool. We ate nearby, and I had seafood risotto. We also got free wine with dinner. After dinner, we walked around a bit, and I bought a beer from a newspaper stand. Their cheap beer is really good, and you can drink it on the street which is awesome. We went shopping a bit and ran into our friends Sircon and Eric. We got gelato with them and then people watched for a while which was interesting. After that, the guys took us to this rocky edge of the town with a great view of the moon, but it wasn’t so peaceful with a bunch of screaming natives and a creepy girl and guy doing some kind of drugs. So, we left and headed back to the boat to end the second day!

On the third day, we decided to relax. We went to the beach on the other side of the Old Town. There were a decent amount of people there, but the water felt great. It was SO hot. Yet again. The beach was also rocky instead of sandy, but it was nice. We relaxed for a while then decided to go parasailing! I ended up going alone because we could only go in groups of two but it was great! The view of the coast was amazing, and I had a great time. We went to lunch after that and I got shrimp risotto. They really like risotto here. We got gelato from a different place, and the people there were really cool. They were flipping the gelato upside down and one guy would throw scoops in the air and catch them in the cones. I also had my Pitt hat on, and the guy working there asked if it was Brad Pitt. Haha. Pretty funny.  After that, we headed back to the ship. The boat was anchored out in the middle of the ocean because a cruise ship had to dock where we had been, so we had to take the lifeboats out to the ship which was interesting. On our way out there, we met the onboard foreign student from Greece which is our next stop. She was really nice and is going to show us where to get handmade shoes in Athens!

We had dinner on the ship, and then went out for the night. We headed to this bar called Sky Bar. Candice and I split a bucket of Sex on the Beach which was delicious. We ran into a bunch of people from SAS too, but it was still fun. We then went to this club which had free cover for the night and danced. It was a really cool bar made of all the same white stone as the rest of the city. It was huge too and played some pretty good techno music. We stayed there for a bit and got back to the boat around 2 P.M. It was a really fun night.

Our last day in port was really fun. Megan and I went to this rocky cliff that was down a hidden staircase on the side of the main road leading to the Old Town. We went swimming in some pretty deep water and lay out for a bit. Okay, so funny story. The roads in Croatia are SUPER old. So, of course, they are worn down. When you look at them, they look like they have a slick glaze over them, and this is how it is everywhere in the city. So, as Megan and I are walking back to the ship, I slipped about 4 times. Literally almost wiped out. Oh course,Megan was laughing at me, but I didn't fall! So, I was pretty proud of myself. The problem was my Old Navy flip flops. Literally no traction.

On our way back to the ship, we stopped at this little hole in the wall place that smelled delicious, and we had heard good things about. It was AMAZING. The funny thing about it though was that I ordered a kabob, and Megan ordered a chicken sandwich, and we got the same exact thing! It was fresh lamb cut off one of those big rotisserie things. There was also lettuce, corn, and this amazing sauce in it too, and they were all shoved into a pita. It was so good. Definitely the best food I had in Croatia. After that, we headed back to the ship and used the internet for a while. Then, we were back on the ship and on the way to Athens! Yah! Sneak peek on our plans for the next few countries: Greece- riding donkeys! Bulgaria- bungee jumping! Morocco- camel riding and ziplining! WOOT WOOT