Travels with Louise-Budva and Kotor
By LOUISE HUGHES

Kotor Bay

I find it easy to wake up early when traveling a lucky thing as Ginny is up at five. I am a lifelong night owl usually. Today we wanted to go back through "Kotor" and really see beautiful "Budva" and Macedonia. There is a very unique resort south of "Budva" also, in between Montenegro and Macedonia lies Kosovo which belongs to Servia and is the poorest and least educated place and I did not hear the name until the war but it was on the map. No one there mentioned it.

The coast drive was glorious and I drove slowly knowing it was our last time. There it is, the Bay of Kotor it's incredible, so I took more photos and drove on to "Budva" which is on a narrow peninsula sticking out into the sea like a giant finger. Sadly, it was almost demolished in the violent earthquake of 1979. Even the massive walls were in ruins and rebuilding is slow. It can never be the same but to us it is absoutely gorgeous and I drove every little street. The hotels are large and are popular year round as the weather is great. We had seen the views on our return from Titograd so did not drive up again.

Sveti Stefan

Budva is the most popular resort in Montenegro and very easy to see why. An interesting bit of history is that of a tiny medieval church of "Sava" where in years gone by both Orthodox and Catholic worshipers shared the same altars. Sounds fine to me! More Kodak moments in every direction. Stark mountains everywhere! Then the striking road to "Bar" which is different from the rest as the mountains turn green and the beaches are long and lovely, interspersed by cliffs and craggy headlands, then we arrive at "Bar" where a ferry goes to Italy, Greece, and even Dubrovnik!

We first come to "Novi- Bar", New Town then "Starjbar," Old Town. There is little of interest in Stari Bar as it is industrial and busy port but it has a great market each week which unfortunally we missed but the town itself is a ghost town and most of it still in ruins. Good photos of the ruins and the mountains. Everywhere! But "Sveti Stefan" is a d i f f e r e n story-it is a dreamlike tiny island, linked to the mainland by a causeway and had no permanent residents. The houses are all expensive rentals and the gorgeous residence of the former King and Queen in now an e x c l u s i v e hotel with a first class r e s t a u r a n t casino, night club and a pool carved from rock and more. The town once was an outpost for pirates. After that, it became a fishing village and when that declined the people emigrated to the USA!

After the second World War they converted the little island into the "Hotel Town" which it is today. We were allowed in to walk around for an admission fee so we did. The Little Houses were once the fishermens homes and are renovated beautifully with a few now duplexes to make 110 rentals. A truly delightful place.

As this excursion did not take long we thought we could make to "Ohrid" in "Macedonia" so we could boast of having been in all of the Provinces! What interested me was "Tito's" recognition of Macedonia as independeant within the Yugoslavian Federation thereby giving their language (already spoken), a written status for the first time. The greatest attraction of this area along with the huge lake is the melding of people, peacefully, Macedonians, Greeks, Albanians, Serbs, Muslems, Christians, and Atheists! Sounds about right to me!

We walked along the Promenade, which ended ended at a really cool 500 year old tree! We were starving, so we went to a pretty open air terrace

I had a town map. Need I mention that I visit all tourist offices? There are a great many shops here where the various goods are handmade right in the shops but we were getting tired. I wanted another day here but forgot our overnight duffles! Actually, I goofed on research and common sense as Albania is close with cool choices of original articles. I wanted to kick myself as some people at the restaurant said the evening promenade is terrific as the towns people dress in native clothes and there is always music and dancing.

Also, the mountains here are over 6600 feet high! I want to drive up there!

Oh, well, we had a full day with an immense diversity of sights. I'm happy but disappointed that I had not read about this area. The dinner was a delish fish-chef's choice, no English menu, but yes, I had my phrase book. After some delightful dessert and a nice Rose we walked back to the car. It is a wonderful drive home to Libertas, but sad as probably we would never see any of it again.

Of course, Goran was it his desk and waved us over. He is proud of us!