The last time I wrote we were on a night train from Istanbul to Montenegro. We had been warned about the delays at the border crossings and amount of patience needed to travel via train. We second that warning. We had paid for a ticket all the way to Bucharest with one ‘lay over’ in Sofia, Bulgaria. The border crossings actually went pretty smooth for us. The ‘lay over’ became a ‘laid out’ after we got knocked around because apparently the train peeps in Sofia do not honor the ticket we bought in Istanbul for Bucharest. Sure, we could get to Bucharest but would have to pay them more money...not happenin for these super heroes…that’s beer/food money. We picked ourselves up and found an alternative route to our destination in Montenegro via bus that would actually take us a more direct route and for less money…saweet!!! Not that the punches didn’t keep comings. One leg of the bus route was stopped because of a truck/car accident on a two lane road…we were still on our feet though and caught our connecting bus despite the delay. In the wee hours of the morning, we were directed onto yet another bus to be informed we owed money for our backpacks so they would watch them for us…huh?!?!?!?! It is way too early, we were way too tired and stinky to throw down more money for bags we 
were hauling around and ‘watching’…check please. The hot tip thrown our way via the bus attendant, “Welcome to the Balkans this is how we do it here.” Niiice. And tomorrow is a new day!-smile.
Luck is a lady and she graced us with a wonderful place to stay in Kotor, Montenegro. We headed this direction on a referral from a fellow traveler and send blessings to that traveler for the tip. Kotor is a fairy tale of a place with a fabulous farmers market with cheese I still dream about. I was not joking when I told the cheese man I was coming back to work on their family farm and learn how to make cheese…and olive oil, chorizo, custards…the list is long and yummy thanks to the Europeans. Matt and I showered after settling into our room in a 17th century mansion and went for a walk. Kotor was built on a fjord and what we learned later and would recommend when one visits is to rent a boat or car and go exploring all of the villages around the lake. There are lots of little nooks and crannies for people to poke their noses into and explore. We settled on hiking to the top and checking out St Ivan's Fortress. The views are worth every
single one of the bazillion steps it takes to get there. Fun bit of info about Montenegro: it had the second tallest people on the planet at one time(behind the Swahili of Africa). I fit in just fine, but Matt looked like a Montenegrin mini-me.
The next day we headed for Dubrovnik, Croatia via bus. When on this bus be sure to set on the side of the driver…great views of the lake and surrounding villages if you did not rent a boat or car. Dubrovnik was again a fairy tale of a place and Matt and I decided this was the perfect place to lick our travel worn wounds and stay for a bit. We found a great hostel (http://www.begovic-boarding-house.com/) and were so grateful to chill in the waters of Croatia. We recommend taking a ferry out to Lopud Island for a day and sunny yourself like a lizard on the rocks. On the island they have a fascinating botanical garden which survived 50 hits during the bombing in 1991. It is not your typical tropical lush botanical garden but a garden which contains plant species which are being monitored and studied to see how they thrive/or not in the present climate they are in. There is also a PKK beach on the island. Peak Kause you Kan refers to nuding up or as we were schooled one night in Helsinki being a naturalist. There are fascinating views (get your mind outta the gutter they are not of the naturalist-smile) from the island of old town Dubrovnik. Perhaps the BEST view though is from C
old Drink in old town. Get lost in the city and find your oasis…Godspeed my friend! We loved Dubrovnik and added it to our list of places we will return to someday…that and Korcula which was our next stop.
Korcula is known for its olive oil (love the place already), dessert wine, Marco Polo and, in our book, yummy pizza (http://www.korculainfo.com/restaurants/pizzeria-tedeschi.html). We lucked out again with a wonderful place to stay with a local family who converted part of their 600 year old house into a guest house. Their daughter is the one who owns the yummy pizza joint (Kurt’s is still our favorite though…miss ya Dooley!). We took a bus out to Lumbarda for the day and found a little spot to bake and get wet. Not before walking through fields of sun drenched grapes, raspberries and olive trees though. We could just imagine how beautiful this area must be during harvest. Matt got lost one day on a ferry while we were still in Dubrovnik and was told of the great and enchanting hiking to be done on some of the islands. The tale was told with goose bumps and as we were traveling via ferry through the Croatian islands we belie
ve. From Croatia we made our way to Prague via train and airplane overnighting in Berlin…weee!!!
In Prague we were graced to meet Ray and be initiated into our first couch surfing experience (http://www.couchsurfing.org/chsurfing.org/). Matt had traveled to Prague twenty years ag
o (just after the fall of Communism) and it was interesting to hear Ray and him compare the Prague past with the Prague present. It has had quite a face lift and is filled with all sorts of wonder – like beer gardens with incredible views, black light Beatles musicals, super long stairway to heavenesque subway escalators, get outta town drop dead amazing architecture and…killer ribs and hot wings! (courtesy of Ray and his skinny on all the good places to eat in Prague).
Prague led us to Russia and seeing red and having vertigo because we did not know how to read any of the signs and hospitality and helpfulness is not high up on the tourism boards list of desired qualities in their staff. Matt’s likable, warm personality barely put a dent in the perma frost of the employees at the hostels we stayed in. Sure, they have all been through some shit historically but so have the Irish and they were the friendliest people you could ever meet. As my uncle noted, “perhaps it’s because they do not have any good beer.” We’ll go with that-smile. What they do have is stunning architecture, beautiful countryside, the Hermitage (you need at least a week alone to fully appreciate this amazing museum) and Madonna! Yep, we managed to scalp two front area tickets to Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet concert in Palace Square in St Petersburg. Madge put on an amazing concert and
song lyrics such as ‘come together from every nation’ took on a whole new meaning for us. It was awesome and the perfect finale to our travels in Russia.
were hauling around and ‘watching’…check please. The hot tip thrown our way via the bus attendant, “Welcome to the Balkans this is how we do it here.” Niiice. And tomorrow is a new day!-smile.Luck is a lady and she graced us with a wonderful place to stay in Kotor, Montenegro. We headed this direction on a referral from a fellow traveler and send blessings to that traveler for the tip. Kotor is a fairy tale of a place with a fabulous farmers market with cheese I still dream about. I was not joking when I told the cheese man I was coming back to work on their family farm and learn how to make cheese…and olive oil, chorizo, custards…the list is long and yummy thanks to the Europeans. Matt and I showered after settling into our room in a 17th century mansion and went for a walk. Kotor was built on a fjord and what we learned later and would recommend when one visits is to rent a boat or car and go exploring all of the villages around the lake. There are lots of little nooks and crannies for people to poke their noses into and explore. We settled on hiking to the top and checking out St Ivan's Fortress. The views are worth every
single one of the bazillion steps it takes to get there. Fun bit of info about Montenegro: it had the second tallest people on the planet at one time(behind the Swahili of Africa). I fit in just fine, but Matt looked like a Montenegrin mini-me.The next day we headed for Dubrovnik, Croatia via bus. When on this bus be sure to set on the side of the driver…great views of the lake and surrounding villages if you did not rent a boat or car. Dubrovnik was again a fairy tale of a place and Matt and I decided this was the perfect place to lick our travel worn wounds and stay for a bit. We found a great hostel (http://www.begovic-boarding-house.com/) and were so grateful to chill in the waters of Croatia. We recommend taking a ferry out to Lopud Island for a day and sunny yourself like a lizard on the rocks. On the island they have a fascinating botanical garden which survived 50 hits during the bombing in 1991. It is not your typical tropical lush botanical garden but a garden which contains plant species which are being monitored and studied to see how they thrive/or not in the present climate they are in. There is also a PKK beach on the island. Peak Kause you Kan refers to nuding up or as we were schooled one night in Helsinki being a naturalist. There are fascinating views (get your mind outta the gutter they are not of the naturalist-smile) from the island of old town Dubrovnik. Perhaps the BEST view though is from C
old Drink in old town. Get lost in the city and find your oasis…Godspeed my friend! We loved Dubrovnik and added it to our list of places we will return to someday…that and Korcula which was our next stop.Korcula is known for its olive oil (love the place already), dessert wine, Marco Polo and, in our book, yummy pizza (http://www.korculainfo.com/restaurants/pizzeria-tedeschi.html). We lucked out again with a wonderful place to stay with a local family who converted part of their 600 year old house into a guest house. Their daughter is the one who owns the yummy pizza joint (Kurt’s is still our favorite though…miss ya Dooley!). We took a bus out to Lumbarda for the day and found a little spot to bake and get wet. Not before walking through fields of sun drenched grapes, raspberries and olive trees though. We could just imagine how beautiful this area must be during harvest. Matt got lost one day on a ferry while we were still in Dubrovnik and was told of the great and enchanting hiking to be done on some of the islands. The tale was told with goose bumps and as we were traveling via ferry through the Croatian islands we belie
ve. From Croatia we made our way to Prague via train and airplane overnighting in Berlin…weee!!!In Prague we were graced to meet Ray and be initiated into our first couch surfing experience (http://www.couchsurfing.org/chsurfing.org/). Matt had traveled to Prague twenty years ag
o (just after the fall of Communism) and it was interesting to hear Ray and him compare the Prague past with the Prague present. It has had quite a face lift and is filled with all sorts of wonder – like beer gardens with incredible views, black light Beatles musicals, super long stairway to heavenesque subway escalators, get outta town drop dead amazing architecture and…killer ribs and hot wings! (courtesy of Ray and his skinny on all the good places to eat in Prague).Prague led us to Russia and seeing red and having vertigo because we did not know how to read any of the signs and hospitality and helpfulness is not high up on the tourism boards list of desired qualities in their staff. Matt’s likable, warm personality barely put a dent in the perma frost of the employees at the hostels we stayed in. Sure, they have all been through some shit historically but so have the Irish and they were the friendliest people you could ever meet. As my uncle noted, “perhaps it’s because they do not have any good beer.” We’ll go with that-smile. What they do have is stunning architecture, beautiful countryside, the Hermitage (you need at least a week alone to fully appreciate this amazing museum) and Madonna! Yep, we managed to scalp two front area tickets to Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet concert in Palace Square in St Petersburg. Madge put on an amazing concert and
song lyrics such as ‘come together from every nation’ took on a whole new meaning for us. It was awesome and the perfect finale to our travels in Russia.
We have been in Finland for four days and are grateful for the smiles, saunas and peacefulness of this beautiful country. Well, that and their smoked salmon, cheap but good beers and wide variety of hard cider-smile. Next stop…Hong Kong…whoa Nelly!!!
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