Montenegro and Croatia Pictures

Montenegro and Croatia

My time in Montenegro has been extremely eventful thus far.  As you read from my previous blog- the ride to Montenegro was beautiful.  The mountains here are unlike any other.  Actually, the country was named after monte (mountain) and negro (black)…so black mountain = Montenegro.

Our first day in Montenegro was mostly spent on the wonderful little beach of Petrovac (where we are staying).  Just out from the beach, there is a little island with a church on top of it, and surrounding the beach are rocky cliffs on both sides.  

We went to our first meeting on Monday with the school of Political Science in the capital city.  The meeting was pretty interesting, but we got a little too heated when it came to the topic of health care in the U.S.  The students of Montenegro obviously favored the European way of socialized health care and the general opinion among us being in favor of privatization. 

This week has been packed full of sightseeing opportunities.  We went to a medieval city called Kotor (in Montenegro).  It was quant and gorgeous. The city is surrounded by a giant wall like most medieval cities.  Inside of the walls it looks like something straight from Italy.  

For lunch that day, we had a massive meal of the usual grilled meats, and French fries.  The café that we ate at was very cute and all and all the meal was quite nice.

After Kotor, we went to a beautiful monastery near another small town in Montenegro.  This experience was like something out of a fairytale.  So mind blowingly fantastic!  The church was on an island just outside of the town and made by sinking old ships.  Just to paint a visual picture of situation, it is located on the most perfect lake you have ever seen- situated in the grand mountains of Montenegro.

Our trip to Dubrovnik Croatia was in great contrast to many places that we have visited thus far.  Croatia is probably the closest country (that we have visited) to joining the EU.  The presence of that is felt everywhere.  Unlike Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia- Croatia lacks some of these countries ruggedness and untouched charm.  Nevertheless- the city is still outstandingly breathtaking and amazing in every which way. 

Dubrovnik is without a doubt a magnificent city, but tourism there is comparable to any great city in Europe.  I think that I prefer feeling a personal connection to the beauty of a city- instead of sharing that connection with thousands of tourist too!  

While in Dubrovnik, we took a tour of the city walls.  The views of the old city, the wall, the mountains, and the ocean were inspiring!  I ever picked up a hand painted picture of the scene for a mere 5 Euro…so worth it!

To end this entry I would like to make a comment on the meal we had in Dubrovink.  It was just great, a platter of seafood and risotto with squid ink!  Soooo good!