A long bus and Budva

16/6/22

Once we left our guest house, we had stopped at the local shop to get lunch snacks for the bus and after eating a banana I had gone to put the skin on the bin. Sadly, the car park gravel was too much for my beloved Havaianas, which got cut by a rock. I was shoeless for the rest if the journey including stops since my trainers were buried at the bottom of the 22 people’s luggage in the boot!

We lost nearly the whole day travelling, because there was such a big gap between our first bus which arrived around 3pm and our second one which left Shkoder for Budva at 7.50pm. In this time, we ate lunch, sorted our second bus ticket and then waited with coffee and cake in a fancy hotel next to where the bus would come. The hotel was a dream – it had AC, comfy chairs, WiFi, cake, coffee and even charging ports – what more could we want?! We even got savoury pancakes just before the bus!

When we were waiting on the road for our second bus, a man came up to us and asked if we wanted a taxi. We said ‘no’ and he said that we should run and get our bus which was over the road unannounced and with a very small sign in tow! We thanked him and hurried on our way!! The bus driver was meticulous in checking tickets and bags and all the rest of it. Therefore the bus was delayed, everyone in the bus was ground down but had bonded and we were therefore welcomed and warned about the driver when we got on!! We watched the sunset from the same road we had left hours before when we had riven back from the mountains – arghhh! We stopped for a break thirty minutes after we left Shkoder before carrying on! I got chatting with a Turkish guy and then a German couple and we all laughed at the chaos of the bus! Most people got off in Podgorica, but we headed straight on to Budva. We arrived late and we were pleased to have the owner of the guest house waiting to pick us up. What a lovely surprise!! She brought us tea (and even offered us raiku!), and then we slept!

17/6/22

Today we were going to go for a glorious brunch and then we planned to chill at the beach. We went to a place called Garden Cafe, which made me think of Kings Heath, and we had delicious omelettes. Then we headed down to the beach, looking for anl hat for Amanda and flip-flops for me. A hat wasn’t too hard to find but there was a wild shortage of flip-flops. Apparently all of Montenegro is slider mad, with absolutely no appreciation for flip-flops!! In fact, the only other thing they sold was crocs – what is wrong with the world?!

We got sunbeds on the beach and enjoyed a few hours of sunshine with a few interruptions of thunder and the occasional thunderbolt. Eventually, the storm won, and the rain took over the beach, causing a mass exodus from the beach. I wanted to wander towards the Old Town, so we did. We headed through the gate in the old walls and into the heart of the old town. There were many pretty streets, squares and a surprising number of churches next to each other. We sat in a square and enjoyed a drink. Then Amanda had to head home to work and I wandered back through the old town and then back to sunbathe on the beach since the weather had cleared up a bit. I even got a swim in before once again, the heavens opened and everyone’s beach days were done for the day!! I got a delicious banana ice cream on the way back and continued (but failed) to search for flip-flops – really I wanted Havaianas!!

I chilled awhile while Amanda finished working and then we headed out for dinner, going back to the Garden Cafe since the morning had been so good! Afterwards, we walked home, chilled and slept.