Dubrovnik, Croatia-Budva, Montenegro:
Chriselle and I woke up excited because soon we would be
on the road again. However, for the start of the day, we’d be in Dubrovnik and
since it was a Sunday and we had not yet managed to get inside the Church of
St. Blaise, it made sense to go for Mass there.
We
washed, showered, dressed and packed our bags and kept them ready for our
departure and then we set out to pay a visit at the church—not sure if we would
get a Mass as the church did not have a website and I was not able to confirm
timings. To our good luck, the church was open when we got there at about 7. 45
am and we soon discovered, by the numbers of people who kept trooping in, that
Mass was at 8.00 am. Needless to say, we attended Mass and received Communion and
then left quickly. The church is gorgeous—it is again decorated in the Baroque
vein with lavish gilding at the altar and beautiful marble cherubs and saints
scattered all around. We also found deep Catholic devotion in Croatia and a
congregation of a wide age range.
Outside,
vendors were getting their goodies ready for new buyers—we later discovered
that the open-air market was part of a two-day festival that occurs once a
year. We were lucky to have caught it. Chriselle bought a jar of preserved
cherries which she absolutely adored. We also returned to the same bakery to
buy ourselves something for breakfast—croissants and ham and cheese twists with
coffee—and we sat at a square that was just coming to life, we chatted with
other tourists who had just arrived in Dubrovnik and were clearly enchanted by
it.
With
our breakfast eaten, we took a couple of last strolls around the place and then
returned to our hotel to pick up our bags. We then made our way to the bus stop
from where we caught the 1A bus that took us to the Main Bus Station.
Off to Montenegro:
Our bus to Montenegro left promptly at 11.00
am. We were scheduled to arrive in Budva at 2.00 pm. We did go through another
border check-point when our passports were checked and stamped and as we
entered Montenegro, we found ourselves growing more and more charmed by the
scenery. Leaving Dubrovnik was also wonderful as it offered us exciting views
of Old Town from a height as it receded from us.
Our arrival in Budva brought us to
the main Bus station past the many twists and turns that make up the gorgeous
Bay of Kotor. The drive snakes around the water’s edge for a good couple of
hours offering stunning scenery that combines water, mountains, small red
roofed hamlets and many luxury hotels and spas that have been completely taken
over by Russian tourists. We passed by the main town of Kotor and other much
smaller settlements that hug the water’s edge and finally arrived at Budva.
Arrival and Check-in at Budva:
In Budva, I had made reservations at Hotel Kangaroo which Lonely Planet had recommended warmly.
Its name derives from the fact that it is run by an Australian couple. Asking
for directions at the bus-station, we managed to find our way to the hotel
after about a 20 minute walk—which was not very pleasant given that we had
baggage with us. Still, once we were in our hotel, it reminded us much of Goa—with
its shack-like appearance and its lush greenery. No sooner did we stash our bags
in our very spacious ensuite room than we realized how hungry we were—luckily,
our hotel had a very large restaurant attached to it and it was there that we
ate our first meal in Montenegro. I ordered the Beef Goulash which turned out
to be a very large and hearty helping of an Indian–style beef curry served with
a bit of mashed potato. Chriselle chose to have the grilled fish with chips—potato
fries. This turned out to be much too large a helping for her—but the food was
tasty and very reasonably priced.
Our first impressions of Budva were
that it reminded us a lot of suburban Bombay. It is a very modern city with the
kind of urban sprawl that is not very attractive despite the fact that new high
rise buildings are apparently being constructed for clients with money—more Russians,
perhaps? After the charming, old-world, medieval ambience of Dubrovnik, we were
a tad disappointed, but we hoped we’d find antiquity in Old Town.
Going out to Discover Budva:
Having sustained ourselves well for the evening
ahead, we decided to go out in search of Old Town which was a good 20 minute walk
from our hotel. We took a map and directions from our hotel receptionist and as
we began to cross a large garden towards the waterfront, we felt the first fat
drops on our faces. Soon the drizzle became a steady downpour and we had to take
shelter in a restaurant as neither one of us had an umbrella. After a while it seemed
to clear up and we raced towards the main walls of Old Town which were just a
few meters in front of us.
Caught in a Massive Downpour:
Well, all we managed to do was get into the
town walls. Within a few steps, the rain re-started and we had no alternative
but to seek shelter again. This time we sat in a restaurant and ordered cups of
tea which felt really good as we were cold and quite miserable at being caught
in the rain. However, we also reminded ourselves that this was the very first
time we had to deal with rain on our entire trip—indeed we had been hugely fortunate
with the weather—so we could hardly grumble.
The rain drummed on and on. The two of us
looked at it as a great time to just sit and catch up with every aspect of our
lives. But for the two of us, the restaurant was empty and we had the wait
staff pouring attention upon us. It was not just the rain but deafening claps
of thunder that alarmed us and streaks of lightning that shot across the sky. We
talked about our past, about our future, about friends and family members that
we now see so rarely, etc. It really was a great way to bond and get in touch with
all the happenings in our lives. About two hours later, after Chriselle felt the
need to order a bit of dinner (I was still too full after our late lunch), we
nibbled at a dessert that she ordered and after darkness had fallen over the
city and the rain had thoroughly drenched everything, we found our way back to
our hotel. In the end, we did not see anything of Old Town—but tomorrow was
another day!
There was little else to do but a
spot of reading before we got to bed as the TV in our room did not play anything
in English. By 9.30 pm, we were switching off the light, wishing each other a
good night and hoping for better weather tomorrow.
Until tomorrow, cheerio…
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