September 2020 Month in Review: The Most Boring Capital Ever, How (Not) to Hitchhike Busses, and Murder Mystery Mondays

Hello from sunny Montenegro! 

I’m writing this in the last week of September here and I can’t believe how warm it still is in these parts! We just finished our trip around the southern coast and every day it was around 33 C (92 F) 🥵

For me, September has always been the first season of autumn, when we went back to school, the leaves started turning orange and falling off trees, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes were everywhere. I guess 2020 is an exception.  
(By the way, do you guys buy into the PSL hype? Let me know in the comments!) 

If last month was entirely about Ukraine, then this month is going to be entirely about Montenegro. Idemo! :) 

ADVENTURES IN SEPTEMBER: THIS MONTH IN TRAVEL

🇲🇪 Montenegro! 🇲🇪

Whew, where do I start? We were all over Montenegro this month, from the Bay of Kotor all the way to the southernmost city, inland, and finally in the capital. 

As always, here’s a little breakdown of our trip:   

Bay of Kotor: Tivat, Kotor, Perast, Herceg-Novi
Central Montenegro: Cetinje, Lipa Cave
Southern Coast: Budva, Ulcinj, Bar
The capital: Podgorica + Ostrog Monastery day trip

This trip to Montenegro wasn’t entirely “planned” per se: I was happily chilling in Vinnitsa, Ukraine (see previous Month In Review for that part) when it was announced that Ukrainians were allowed to travel to Montenegro without any restrictions. Since our 1-year anniversary was coming up at the end of August, I wanted to surprise my boyfriend and fly out to Montenegro. I guess we now have an unofficial tradition of celebrating our anniversaries abroad (one year ago we officially started dating while in Turkey).

Anyway, we started our trip with 2 days in Tivat to “buffer” ourselves up before spending a week in Kotor and then going around the country. 

Speaking of traveling around the country… Normally I like to plan everything way in advance, but this time was different. (Side note: Does anyone else do that? Let me know in the comments, fellow Type A readers!) After Kotor, I booked accommodations as we went, which meant that sometimes we would end up booking Airbnbs the day before we were supposed to leave! It was a nice change of scenery for once because we could end up extending our time in a certain city whenever we wanted to.  

Onto Montenegro! I’ve broken down this trip into each city for easy reading:

Kotor – Since Montenegro was our anniversary trip, I booked this amazing luxury Airbnb for one night. For $80! With that view! Seriously, could it get any better? Since it was Sunday and all of the grocery stores were closed, my boyfriend ran into town and found a small bakery that sold croissants, baked sweets, and more. We ended up having a picnic on the terrace overlooking the Bay of Kotor. :)

After the Airbnb, we booked an apartment in Kotor’s Old Town for one week to get some work done and get to know the city better. When I say that Montenegro’s old towns have stairs, I mean they have a lot of stairs — if you want to have a nice panoramic view of the city, you have to work for it! At least, that’s what we did every time we went down into town and then had to climb up like 150+ stairs to get back to our apartment. But at least the view was nice. 

One of my favorite things about Kotor are the kitties. That’s right: as if this town couldn’t get any more charming, someone decided to add cats to it. In fact, there’s an interesting legend that said that when sailors would dock in Kotor (it was a major trading port) the cats who were aboard the ship for months on end would jump off and explore the city. Some decided to stay and that’s how the city ended up with so many cats. There was also a cat museum but unfortunately, it was closed for repairs until May 2021. Guess I have a reason to come back later. ;) 

On our last day, we did one of the most touristy things in Kotor, which was to climb all the way up to Kotor Fortress. We kept putting it off for days because we would wake up in the afternoon (I know, I know…) and the best time to go up was in the morning because of how hot it usually gets. After climbing to the top, I can confirm that the views are amazing — and half of the fun is getting up there. What wasn’t so fun was the condition of my legs for a week after the climb (spoiler alert: jelly, in pain, and couldn’t move)

Perast – Our next stop was a 15-minute taxi drive from Kotor. 

We arrived in Perast and were greeted with beautiful weather and a lovely little city. Although we were dropped off at the wrong location, the owner was kind enough to meet us near the waterfront and show us the way to the apartment. From the moment we started walking up the stairs, I immediately got flashbacks to Kotor: Ten steps. Twenty steps. Thirty-three steps… After the second set of stairs, I dishearteningly looked past our host and saw a little gate thinking that was the end. Nope! Awaiting us at the top was another 3 sets of stairs. I’m pretty sure our host, who’s a 60-year-old sailor, has legs of steel after years of living in Perast. 

We were only in Perast for one day, but we made the most of it: in the afternoon, we walked the entire city (which wasn’t so hard when the city is literally 1 kilometer in length from start to finish ), and in the evening we rented a kayak and swam around Our Lady of the Rocks and Saint George islands. The next day we ate breakfast at one of the cute waterside cafes (which I highly recommend — they’re like something out of a movie!) and, for the first time in my life, I “hitchhiked” for a bus. 

Oh yes, dear reader, it seems like the universe wanted to test my patience after 25+ years of calmly living on this Earth. Because Perast is a teeny tiny town (there are less than 300 people living here), there’s not really a “bus station” in the actual sense of the word. I’ve read on the internet that people either had to return back to Kotor to catch the bus, or stay on the side of the highway to hitchhike and stop the bus there. Because I’m a scrooge and didn’t want to fork over 10 Euros for a taxi back to Kotor, I decided to take the latter option. If the village grannies in Ukraine can hitchhike without a problem, why couldn’t I? 

Armed with my trusty smartphone (who said the next bus was at 11:30 am) and 4 Euros in coins, my boyfriend and I got to the so-called “highway bus station” a few minutes and waited. And waited some more. And a few more minutes. I wasn’t sure if it was the 35 + C (95 F) temperature or my anxiety about missing the bus creeping up on me, but we were sweating. Finally, around 11:45 am, our cigarette-smoking knight arrived in his silver Mercedes Sprinter and we were bound for Herceg Novi. Best of all, the (mini)bus had air conditioning and 80’s Yugoslavian pop playing on the radio. What more could you want? 

Herceg-Novi – I feel like Herceg Novi doesn’t get a lot of recognition in guide books and travel blogs, does it? Nonetheless, I really enjoyed staying in this small city at the end of Kotor Bay. 

I like Herceg-Novi because it’s the perfect mix of city life with a hint of beach atmosphere: the city is perched on a cliff, but there’s also a lovely little promenade and beaches below on the waterfront. We also found a cute spot to work with a gorgeous view of the harbor below — you can see it in the photo above :) 

Cetinje – After Herceg-Novi, we took the bus over to Cetinje, which is known as Montenegro’s old royal capital. It was the capital between 1482 all the way until World War II, when Titograd (later Podgorica) was given that honor. However, there are still little things here and there that reminded us of Cetinje’s golden past — namely, the President’s palace is here. :)

For a place that used to be the former capital, Cetinje was surprisingly very budget-friendly! There was one place near the main road where we could stuff our faces and the bill would come out to 10 Euros for 2 people — and that’s when each of us had a bowl of soup, a main, and a drink!

While in Cetinje, we also visited the National Museum — and let me tell you guys, this place is huge. When we first walked in and started to read the exhibits about prehistoric stones and animals, we thought it would end right there. But then we kept walking into another room, and another, and before you know it, 2 hours went by and we walked what felt like the equivalent of 5 football fields. It’s an interesting museum for sure!

The other “big tourist attraction” that we went to was Lipa Cave, which was just outside of the city. We met a really friendly taxi driver who drove us there, went back to Cetinje (presumably to make a few extra Euros), and then came back to pick us up. The coolest part was when we got off the little train that took us to the cave and back, our driver came out of nowhere, did a half-drift type of maneuver, we got in, and he sped off. I bet the other guests were like, wtf just happened? 😱 

Budva – In the beginning, we were apprehensive about going to Budva just because we’re not nightlife people, and even planned to skip it during our trip. However, we needed a place to break up the trip between Cetinje and Ulcinj (which would have taken 3 hours and there’s only one bus per day, but I digress) and Budva was right in the middle. After chilling there for two days, I can definitely see why it’s called the Miami of Montenegro: in the evening, the entire city gets dressed up and goes to the casinos, nightclubs, or dozens of seafood restaurants along the waterfront.

Also, it was interesting to see so many Russian speakers in Budva. As someone who knows the language, it was surreal when almost all of the waiters that took our order looked at us once and asked what we wanted to eat… in Russian. I think there’s a Russian community here, but I’m not 100% sure. 

Ulcinj – Ulcinj was one of my favorite places on this trip! Because it’s so close to the border with Albania, the city is a neat mix of Muslim and Orthodox/Catholics. One of the biggest attractions is the Seaman’s Mosque, which is right across the most popular beach in the city. 

Unfortunately we were in Ulcinj for one day, but I would love to come back. We took full advantage of our day, as we walked around the center, went to the Old Town ruins (and saw some olive trees, which is what the region is known for), and saw boats wobbling along the waves. One of my favorite moments was when we heard the call to prayer coming from the Seaman’s Mosque — I haven’t heard that sound in over three months since we left Turkey, and it was like music to my ears. I guess I really miss Turkey.  

Likewise, the beach was also really nice and we got a chance to take a dip in the water. Ironically, Montenegro is known for its stunning beaches and beautiful water, but the only time we took advantage of the country’s beaches was the one day we were in Ulcinj… For reference, we were in Montenegro for almost an entire month. 

Also, I love those thatched umbrellas that they put along the beach! It made me feel like I’m in Bora Bora or Seychelles. 

Bar – So these two travelers walk into a Bar… Get it?

Alright, that was a bit terrible, but we tacked on Bar to our itinerary after we saw a photo of the cool-looking ancient ruins of Stari Bar (Old Bar). Ironically, we didn’t get to go there. 

I think the more I travel, the lazier I become. We were planning to go to Stari Bar but couldn’t properly catch the right bus. We were at the bus stop on time, I swear! The bus, however, wasn’t. After that, we CBA to find the next bus or catch a taxi, so we called it a day and went to work at one of the local coffee shops. That was our trip to Bar in a nutshell.

Right now we’re chilling in our last city, which just so happens to be the capital— Podgorica. 

It’s our last three days before we take the train to Belgrade, Serbia, and spend a month there.

You might be wondering, why Podgorica? I try to visit the capital of every country that I travel to, and Montenegro is no exception. Although we explored most of the country (with the exception of the mountains in the north) and were fairly content, it was my travel blogger duty to at least see a little piece of Montenegro’s capital

When I was doing research and planning my itinerary in Podgorica, it seemed like almost every travel guide to Podgorica called it “the most boring capital in Europe” along with colorful descriptions like:

“I can’t think of anything there I would recommend seeing.” 

“As far as capital cities go, Podgorica has to be near the bottom of the list” 

“Meh.”

I thought to myself, surely it’s not that boring, is it? To prove them all wrong, I even started to draft a post that was titled something like How to Have a Fun Time in Europe’s Most Boring Capital. 

And you know what, dear reader? It really was that boring. I couldn’t finish writing the aforementioned blog post because there was literally nothing of interest to see in Podgorica. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and delete that draft from my Google Docs folder right now. 

I normally hate to write things like that (especially as a travel blogger), but… It’s so boring that it reminds me of a typical city somewhere in the middle of Russia or Ukraine (my homeland). There are no tourist attractions, everything looks like one big residential area, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most people skip out on it. I’m not saying it’s bad, but from a tourist standpoint, there’s nothing really there.

 LUDA’S LIFE

Compared to last month, there was definitely much more going on in September, both in travel and in my personal life.

First of all, I finally decided to learn Turkish! I’m not sure if it’s the Stockholm Syndrome from being stuck in Antalya for 4 months or something else, but I’m slowly easing into it. I already completed a few lessons on Duolingo and bought an eBook (this one, which is highly rated!) and it’s been interesting to say the least. For example, did you know that the sentence structure in Turkish is Subject – Object – Verb? So if you wanted to say something like the dog is drinking water, it would be Köpek suyu içiyor (the dog water drinking). 

Other than that, I’ve also been researching the Turkish short-term residence permit. Normally I can stay up to 90 days on my usual tourist visa, but if I apply for a short-term residence permit, I can stay for up to a year 😱

Heck, if I buy property in Turkey, I can eventually get citizenship… But that’s a completely different story.

In other news, I’ve been trying to improve my photography – I finally dusted off my camera and I’m trying to use it more often when going outside, even if it’s a quick walk to the coffee shop or to buy some souvenirs. You can see some of my “photography” in the Kotor, Budva, and Cetinje photos above :) 

This month, I also discovered Makeup and Murder Mondays by Bailey. This is my most recent obsession as I love true crime and unsolved mysteries, and you can catch me watching her videos whenever I have some free time (cooking, editing photos, scrolling through Instagram, at 5 AM, and so on).  

Finally…Next month is my birthday! I’m freaking out because, guys, it’s already October! I’m still mentally floating around somewhere in March or April! Ahhh!! 

(How many exclamation marks is too much? You be the judge) 

 

ON THE BLOG

Last month was mainly work, so you didn’t see much activity on the blog. However, this month I’m putting the finishing touches on a few posts and furiously typing up a ton of new ones! Here’s what’s in the works:  

❄️ Iceland packing post: Ahh, I just finished putting the final touches on this post today! It’s more than 3,000+ words and that’s without the section where I talk about my top 10 packing tips 😳

🗺 17 Montenegro Travel Tips – Similar to my other 17 Travel Tip posts, this one is chock-full of useful tips and advice on how to get the best out of Montenegro… and a few “definitely what NOT to do” things as well. ;)  

🇲🇪 The Ultimate Guide to Traveling Montenegro – I’m really excited about this post because it’ll be the first “country guide” on my blog! (I usually write city guides – you can check them out here)  I’m not done yet, but some of the things I already have included the best times to visit, which cities to go to, what dishes to try, practical travel tips, and tons more. 

💸 How much does it cost to travel to Montenegro? – Which will cover a breakdown of average costs for accommodations, transportation, food, activities, and more. I’m really excited about the accommodations part because you’ll get to see all of the cool Airbnbs and apartments that I booked for this trip (especially the luxury Kotor penthouse and the super cute decor in the Ulcinj apartment!) 

🏠 Guide to Booking the Perfect Airbnb – Are you noticing a trend here? I think I’m slowly becoming obsessed with Airbnb, and this trip has reignited my spark lol. This is still very much in the works, but I’ll be sharing my exact formula for booking the perfect Airbnb, every single trip. 

So many exciting posts coming up, right? I can’t wait to share them all with you ❤️

How was your September? Let me know in the comments!