We arrived in Kotor with pouring rain and we are held hostage inside our hotel room. We decided to brave the rain and eat dinner in a nearby restaurant inside Old Town Kotor. On every trip, we always bring an umbrella and thank goodness we did! God is a genius, awaiting to surprise us with an unexpected encounter. Inside the nearby restaurant, I saw one of my flight attendant batch mates from Poland (she was with her friend) and we got the shock of our lives - of all places, we are at the same restaurant, same town and at the same country? What are the chances of that to happen? It was destiny! So the rain turned out to be on our side, we ate, hanged out and talked about the past years of our lives, and drink (just them of course!) the night away with the sound of rain, still pouring. On a side note, the funny part is, I already messaged her that we are going to Poland and would love to see her and she said she will take us around. 

The next morning, we all decided to go around Montenegro together with our little rental car. The Bay of Kotor is beauty upon beauty. Situated in a picturesque landscape of the bay and blackish mountains, lies the small town of Perast. Perast has a proud seafaring history. Just off shore this small but quaint town, are two islands that are as magical as it sounds. The smaller island is called St. George's Island, it is an island that is formed by a natural reef and houses the Benedictine Monastery. You cannot visit this island but you can only marvel it from afar. Boats from Perast to the other island called Our Lady of the Rocks Island, come to and fro this island. It is built during the 15th century. According to the legend, some local seamen found the icon of Madonna and the Child on the rock at sea and every time they have a successful voyage they laid out a rock each time on the bay until it finally became an island. 

St. George Island

Our Lady of the Rock Island - the only island tourists can visit. 

God knew how to amaze us even more on this trip with more spectacular views. 

This is Old Town Kotor perfectly situated on a dramatic setting - the tiny town surrounded by walls, is at the corner of the bay and surrounded by the steep mountains. The Old Town, like I said is tiny but its like a maze, wander around and discover the streets -little coffee shops, hidden piazzas, churches and restaurants will pop up your way.

Eating around Montenegro is quite expensive compared to other Balkan countries like Belgrade and Serbia. It is almost as expensive as Dubrovnik, probably because its near the Adriatic Coast and its a fun day trip from Dubrovnik. Overall, Montenegro is definitely a must stop while visiting the Balkans and do not scratch it off your list, we almost did (story will be on another post) because its worth it. 

On this trip and as we discover the off-the-beaten countries in Europe, specially Montenegro, we can't help but wonder on how much we still need to discover the unknown. For now, we are happy and blessed that we are able to discover "a road less travelled" country, the beauty and romance that is Montenegro.  

When we woke up in Dubrovnik and we heard thunder, we couldn't believe how the weather changed so quickly. We had sunny skies and great weather on the first week of our trip and all of a sudden its raining! Of course, weather changes is something you should always expect in a trip so when we arrived, we just decided to stay in our hotel room and eat dinner later on. The drive from Dubronvik to Kotor is around 1.5 to 2 hours, depends on traffic. The stunning view of Bay of Kotor greeted us while driving in towards the capital of Montenegro. Montenegro, the name itself means, Black Mountains. Stay tuned for our next post about Montenegro. A name that conjures drama in itself. 

Categories: Europe, Montenegro, Balkan Road Trip