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Ushering in 2015 in Montenegro and Dubrovnik

So yes, the restaurant we dined in for the night before NYE was special. It is obviously the best restaurant in Budva. Before the night was out they had offered us a table for NYE which was great.

So…NYE dawned as the 30th had ended. The wind howled all night, fiercely!! It was absolutely freezing. I went out in the morning and wandered around Budva for a while. Then I met Ham and Az and we went for lunch at the first place we’d booked for NYE. That was nice although only moderately good food. So after a leisurely meal we braved the elements once again only to find that the wind had stopped. It was fabulous…suddenly it was cold but fine so we did a bit more wandering before going back to the apartment to start drinking!! Our host gave us half a bottle of Rakja (or something like that) …i.e. a fierce local spirit and we had bought Prosecco and red wine. We sat about until it was time to go to dinner. We had a lovely meal and then hit the main square where it was ‘all happening’….it was full of people, a loud band and lots of good will. Only problem was that I mislaid Hammy and Ariane. I had a fine time, got lots of kisses from random strangers but I really upset Ham. No doubt he’ll fill you in on his senile old mother who makes life difficult!!!

Next day, hangover (Hammy) not withstanding we headed off to Lake Skadar. This was an adventure we were all looking forward to, staying in an Eco Resort no less. We headed odd to the Lake and had a drive around it…it really is gorgeous and so very pretty. Then off to the resort…fortunately we decided to get there early because we arrived to find it totally shut down. They not only took our booking but also sent reminders!! There we were in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to stay. Bugger!!
So we took a deep breath and headed for Dubrovnik directly. We had a booking at the Hilton for 3 nights and they had a room for us for the 4th night. This was my luxury treat for the end of our holiday that grew from 2 nights, to 3 nights, then 4 nights…but it is gorgeous, in a perfect position and definitely luxury. Amazing breakfast!!!

I’ve been out this morning exploring Dubrovnik while Ham returned the car. Now we’re off to forage for food.

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Today we found the snow

Ooooohhh, so cold! We went off driving into the surrounding mountains today and finally found our white wonderland! Not far out of Budva in the surrounding hills we crossed the snowline. We went on to Cetinje, a charming town but covered in snow (not literally) and rather treacherous to walk around in. We did our best for a while. The highlight was seeing a lovely gentleman in a Santa suit coming towards us. He was real!!! A real long white beard and the closest thing to a real Santa I’ve ever seen!! He walked up to us and I thought he was going to object to us taking his photo…he didn’t, he handed us a lolly each and went on his merry way….how special was that!!

We then found a place to eat…nothing special, just a Pizza place and then headed off back to Budva given the slippery roads and the early descent of darkness. Oh so cold walking back to our apartment. We stopped on the way and booked a table for NYE dinner, back past the square where they are setting up for an NYE happening, then home to warm up before we venture out again to dine tonight…in what we are told is a very nice restaurant. I’m now having a warming glass of wine, Ariane is rugged up in blankets and Hammy is snoring!

Ciao for now!

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Kotor to Budva

More time in beautiful Montenegro. It really is just lovely. Yesterday morning after a yummy breakfast at the hotel we wandered around the town of Kotor. Ancient little town with all that entails…narrow streets, cobblestones….you’ve heard it all before but I must say it is one of the more lovely towns I’ve seen. It is a walled city, small and charming. It is surrounded by a moat and then a river. There are the ruins of a castle on the hill which we didn’t climb, probably would have been blown off the top if we had. After our little passeggiata we got in the car to head towards Budva. We detoured to go up a mountain which was to afford amazing views. But we got half way and the wind was howling something frightful so we decided that the view from half way was good enough. We got out to take a photo and really nearly got blown away. The snow on the mountain was being blown off!!

So off we headed towards Budva. We were early so we decided to go to Sveti Stefan which is a very pretty island (which is now a hotel island). We walked around but the island/resort is closed so we couldn’t go there. Still it was very pretty, lovely coast. You can see why this is so popular in summer. It might be closed up now but at least we have it to ourselves instead of sharing it with millions of Russian tourists in the summer. We found a nice place for lunch overlooking Sveti Stefan. We are getting very used to eating in empty or nearly empty restaurants.

We arrived in Budva in the afternoon. It is a big resort/ concrete high rise town but fortunately with a delightful harbour and a lovely, lovely old town. We are staying in the old town just seconds from the harbour….perfect!!! This time we are in a 2 bedroom apartment which is very nice. A bit of room to spread out!! The owner is lovely and full of advice. We hear that it is ‘the place to be’ for NYE so seem to have landed on our feet which is good. A bit embarrassing to say that we went out last night to a Chinese restaurant and had lemon chicken etc!!!!!

We’re going to do a bit of exploring about the place today….nearly 2015!!
Love for now