Road trip to Montenegro

We left Split, Croatia in the afternoon around 3pm which meant we only had about 1 hour of daylight left. I didn't get to see much of the coast the first day.  I won't deny that I was a bit stressed out about traveling on steep cliffs, in the rain, at night. But hubby is an experienced driver and we had a reliable car. We drove about 8 hours  along the coast and up the mountains to Podgorica, capital city of Montenegro. We passed Tivat, Budva and Kotor towns we planned on visiting on our way back. I noticed many monasteries along the way and my brother-in-law translated some of the towns we passed such as the Deaf Valley and Little Devils.When we arrived  we were tired and just wanted to find a place to rest. We saw a huge advertisement for a hotel so we pulled in and I will spare the details (not a good experience, I'm considering posting a review, what do you think? should I let it go and say karma will take care of it?)

The following day my brother-in-law had a business meeting so hubby and I tagged along. This would never happen if we lived in the States! By the time the meeting was over, it was 3pm, we had lunch and drove back in the rain to the town of Budva. We noticed the Hotel Splendid and hubby pointed out that a few scenes from the James Bond movie were shot here.

After dinner it stopped raining so we walked around town, it was nice to take a stroll since half of the trip involved sitting in the car!

The next day, we had a break in the weather. We drove first to see the Sveti Stefan Island  from the road.

 I read that Andrea Bocelli gave a concert there. Afterwards we drove to the town of  Tivat to see the construction of Port Montenegro, a marina for mega-yachts. I was surprised how pedestrians were allowed to walk around. Again, this would never happen in the States. Probably because there are no law-suits here if  you get injured? Our last stop was the city of Kotor.

When we drove through it the first time, it was at night time and my jaw literally dropped when I saw the city walls illuminated in the mountains. It was like seeing a mini version of the Great Wall. 

We walked through the Sea Gate, the main entrance to the old city.

Found our way to the entrance of St. John's Fortress

 and we began climbing the 1,350 steps 

 Half way there!

 The Bay of Kotor. In Croatia ,Montenegro is known as Crna Gora which literary translates to Black Hill. 

Our new friend

Despite the rainy weather I wasn't disappointed with our trip. Montenegro is a beautiful country to visit. I'm thankful we made it back safely. On our drive back we heard reports of snow and accidents and in a way I was glad Beli didn't travel with us and that she was safe with her grandparents. Today is hubby's birthday and his parents' anniversary. We have many reasons to celebrate! How was your weekend?

Our Lady of the Rocks Island: 

According to legend, the islet was made over the centuries by the seamen who kept an ancient oath after finding the icon of Madonna and Child on the rock in the sea. The tradition was to throw rocks into the sea after each successful voyage. Even today the tradition remains as every July 22, an event called fašinada takes place were local residents take their boats and throw rocks into the sea.