I honestly wasn’t sure where in the world Montenegro was before coming to Croatia…

Then I was told by a few people that it’s easy to make a day trip to Kotor Bay in Montenegro, by renting a car, and it’s really worth the trip. $20 car rental for a day, sign me up! I had this waiting for me…😍

kotor bay

The two hour drive is incredible the entire way because you are either surrounded by mountains, or overlooking the ocean, or both. I rented from Avis in Dubrovnik Downtown, and I got lucky because it’s a small place, and they gave me the only automatic vehicle they had, which was an Audi. I had never driven one for much time… it was smooth, fast, and quiet – makes me want an Audi for my next car.

when you pay for the economy rental and they give you what they have

I was told by a friend that if you tell the rental car places that you’re leaving Croatia, they will charge you a 50 Euro “border crossing fee”. I didn’t tell them, so I didn’t pay the fee😂 This is the leaving-Croatia border stop…

bye croatia

First time I’ve gotten a ‘car’ stamp on my passport on this trip. The drive was like this…

roadside… how could I not get a ticket… oh wait

Yeah, I got a speeding ticket! More on that in a bit.

I was in Kotor for less than 24 hours, so I had to make the most of it. I reserved a room in the Old City, and I found a free parking spot outside of town but close enough to walk (‘found’ =cute  hotel manager told me about it…). The hotel was one of the most charming places I’ve ever stayed.

hotel in building on left

square with fountain outside hotel

All of the furniture in the room was over 100 years old. My favorite antique was the old radio that they had rewired to run off of their playlist/system. I could turn it on and listen to jazzy, classical international music😊

room!

fireplace!

antiques!

lamp:)

The first thing I wanted to do in Kotor was to climb the Upper Town Walls to St. John’s Fortress on the top. All stairs. 4.5 kms, and it’s 1,350 steps! 1200-ft ascent. My iPhone told me that I climbed 84 flights of stairs! It took me 45 minutes of fast climbing and not many breaks, and I was tirrrred. It was hard. Worth it!

The hotel manager friend told me about a secret passageway, before you get to the top of the fortress, there is a window to go through, and you can walk on a path on the backside of the mountain…

SECRET PASSAGE!

marker😂

I found my zen in this spot… just me and the goats😍 More Kotor Old Town…

zen

LAURA

MOAT!

gate at stone bridge

city wall

street

green shutters

cruise ship😟

It was very peaceful, wonderful, and perfect weather. I never knew Montenegro had this kind of natural beauty😍. Then, on the drive back… just before the border… BAM! speed trap! I guess I was going 24 kms over in a school zone…? I’m not sure. The policemen filled out four different papers, and I have no clue what any of it said, except for my name:

montenegrin jibber jabber

When I got out of the car, I asked them if they were going to deport me back to the U.S. I guess they liked that because they ended up giving me a ‘discount’ (my speeding ticket was on flash sale😂), so instead of paying 50 euros, I only had to pay 33. They were set up near the country border, and when you get a ticket, you have to go to the bank at the border to pay it, then bring back stamped copies. Kinda different, but it works. The cops were really cool, I talked to them both for a while, and then I got a picture with one of them. It was fun😝

new friend

What has two thumbs, speaks limited Montenegrin, and gets excited when getting a speeding ticket in a random foreign country? This guy.

I’m a fan of Montenegro, yes, indeed.

Next up: Buda / Pest