Montenegro continues to please...

Ciao tutti!  Oops, I mean Dobradan!

Greetings from Monte!  All is well, I continue to morph into relaxed, summer person here.  A couple of new people join my yoga class from time to time & this pleases me.  Today, I purchased a mask & snorkel to be able to properly do the freestyle swim stroke while viewing the small fishes.  WOW!  What a swim enhancer!  Seeing as basically all I do here is swim & chill out I figured I'd better maximize it.  I had really been wanting to do the "freestyle" & was having big probs without vision.  You see, I wear contacts & close my eyes while swimming so they won't pop out.  My right arm seems a bit stronger than the left so when trying to swim freestyle I was always veering in the wrong direction, out into the middle of the ocean, into the odd boat...  It is amazing to have this mask & snorkel because now I never have to worry about getting all this salty water in my nose/mouth/face.  I think I was swimming continuously for 2 hours, good times!

I've boosted my social interactions recently too, thanks to couchsurfing.com.  Do you know about this website?  It's awesome when you are traveling.  I hadn't really used it much until more recently in south Italy, I wish I had sooner!  It is mostly for young (me??), budget traveler/backpacker style people.  You can search to stay with people in their home & have a really cool cultural experience while visiting a new town.  Super awesome!  So, out of boredom & interest I have posted myself as a "host" so that people can sleep on the couch on the balcony. :)  I have been getting a bazillion requests, most of which I refuse because I'm only allowed to have about one a week.  But, often I am able to meet the ones I can't host for a coffee, wine spritzer or walk.  It is like my new hobby here & has been keeping me entertained.  I had a real sweet American girl stay with me for a couple nights, like having an instant friend to hang out with!

Here are some recent photos!!!

kiddies playing on the cement

scene in Herceg Novi (HN)

the local brew, all beers come in a "king can" like this.  it is a simple lager but, pretty tasty & refreshing.

just chillin'

water polo is BIG here!  cool to see these courts (?) out in the sea.  here we have youngsters playing a game.

nice cafe in Dubrovnik

lady in red... in Dubrovnik.  as i was sitting next to her she had been eating a tomato like an apple, a nice touch.

my roomies have this cool pizza maker, like a sandwich maker or something.  strange, but produces delicious pizzas!

this was mine, being a novice i had to re-roll the crust so it was a bit tough & also there was a hole in the center but...  it was still delicious.

It's funny, here when you refer to the "beach" you might just be referring to a big cement block.  Or sometimes just stones, sometimes only jagged rocks!  No sand, that's for sure.  In order to maximize the shore usage they put in these big "concrete beaches"(strange... I know & definitely not natural).  Pictured below is my particular cement beach where we swim every morning after yoga.  Most of the shore is owned by different hotels & bars & they all have a load of umbrellas & lawn chairs for rent.  You pay about 3 or 4 euro to use a chair & umbrella for the day.  But, there are also public zones where you  can lay your towel directly on the comfortable cement beach or rocks.  You can also bring your own umbrella (as I do) to put in an umbrella stand (that you also see in the photo) or make a pile of stones to stick the umbrella in.  It is a skill to perfect the method of getting the umbrella perfect & stable in the rock pile.  So these are some of my big life concerns these days, which "beach" to choose, how to get the sun umbrella just right...  some life!  The plus of concrete style beach is that you don't have to walk across the painful & awkward stones to get into the water, you can just jump in!  (If on the rocks, a good method is to go in carefully until about the knees & then just lower down into the water & swim away to avoid slipping or damaging the tender feet)  Also, there is no messy sand to deal with.  There are usually plenty of cold fresh showers around to rinse off the salt too!  There you have it, Montenegro beaches 101!

(UPDATE)  I caught some flak about my pretentious attitude toward the cement beaches.  I apologize for sounding like a snooty American.  Being more of a nature oriented person who seeks a less developed, commercialized beach experience it is totally BONKERS here.  You could compare it to something like Daytona Beach perhaps.  To each their own.  On the plus side the sea here is clean and the water temperature and color are perfect.  My description was more just to give you some insight into my experience.  Grazie!

this is what it looks like here around 7:15am, by nine it is full of people.  i have to retreat indoors or to shade by about 8:30 because by then it is already hella hot!!

I went with the Lithuanians on a boat excursion to a beach on the open ocean just outside of the bay called Zanjice.  It was fun!!!  We did the sun lounger/cement beach thing & had some chocolate croissants while reading & chatting.  Hedonistic!  We did a bonus side excursion to Blue Cave, a sweet sea cave that the boat can go inside where the water sparkles like a sapphire & glows from within.

go Lithuania!

boats cruise people around like this, with all the youth hanging off the front.  usually they play music & sometimes they might give passengers a  little glass of cold rakia (the local liquor, kind of like ouzo.  said to be good for circulation, especially when drunk in the morning.  :), it's a festive time.

that island, Mammolo, used to be a prison

here is the particular spot we were lounging

it got a bit wavy & your feet & legs go in the water.  it was really fun.

some of these sea caves

and then we dove out of the boat & swam in these ones, magic!

i am still getting the same foods as in Italy when i go out to eat, the predictable greek salad.  however, here i seem to have switched to a beer instead of a white wine :)

lithuanians prefer a mixed grill.  montenegro is famous for it's meats.  it is basically unheard of to be a vegetarian (like me).

such a great day!!

Another cool thing here, the outdoor movie on top of the fortress overlooking the sea!!!  They switch the movie every few days & I have been a couple of times.  The sound is real crappy, probably because the movie is in English & everyone is just reading the subtitles anyway, but I'll still go all the time.

how awesome is that??

night view of the marina from the fortress

I met some new friends, an American couple, that are volunteering at a local "clothing optional" campground called The Full Monte (ha ha ha!).  They came to my yoga class yesterday & we hung out all day.  We went kayaking with some brits (also guests at the nudie campground) across the bay to, guess what... a nude beach!  These people are all about the nude.  And then, we kayaked back across the bay, some in the nude.  Good times, Montenegro is a pretty relaxed & liberal place.  We are thinking to try to arrange some type of yoga/health retreat up at the "naturist" campground.  Clothing optional??  I'm not sure about that yet. :)  ha!  Played some cards with the Ameros (Americans) & had a fabulous time.  The best thing was when the young gal guessed that I definitely couldn't be more than 24 years old, what a sweetheart!!!!  Maybe I'm experiencing a second youth?  Let's hope.

And that's about it my friends.  I hope you've had a fabulous weekend.  :)
xoxo

couple of other yoga shots too!

thinking of doing an evening Ashtanga class

We do have fun!  There was a super cute 8 year old Russian boy coming with his mom & sister for a bit.  He was a great student, very focused & flexible!