After our routine breakfast, we met Nemanja and Yulia about nine. Clouds were hanging pretty low and like every day the forecast was for rain. Nemanja was talking to the front desk and they were offering a seaside room.
They took us by electric golf cart to see it. Up 50 steps from the promenade, the room and courtyard were beautiful, nothing like our tiny room. We would have had to move and pack up right away. After a brief discussion, we both agreed that the hassle of the move outweighed the great view from the room.
Our hike would be to an Austro Hungarian fortress, then a descend to Budva and the Adriatic coast. The trail head was high above Budva and was over an hour drive from Perast. As we drove from Perast, the skies were clearing and we actually had some sun by the time we reached Budva. However, looking up, the tops of the mountains were shrouded in fog. The last several miles to the trailhead were in complete fog. By some miracle, or since he had been there many times before, Nemanja spotted the little road leading to the trailhead - a dead end.
The plan was to leave the car here, hike down to a monastery near Budva and the coast, call a taxi and be driven back up to our car.
When we got out of the car and put on our packs, we were both thinking this was going to be a short hike due to the poor visibility. Within a quarter of a mile, we were at the fortress. It looked pretty eerie in the fog, right out of a Frankenstein scene. Nemanja explained that the fortress was right at the border between the Austro Hungarian Empire and tiny Montenegro. Conflict was the norm and in one of the battles, the Montenegrins killed the Captain of the fortress. It was never clear to us if they actually captured the fortress. The fortress is now in ruins with only partial roofs and walls.
Moving down the trail, we heard an animal bell, and grazing just a few feet above us was a huge black bull. With Yulia in a red coat, we moved on pretty quickly. The trail was very well maintained and generally the width of a car, after all it was the road that served the fortress.
Gradually, the fog was lifting and we would get glimpses of the mountain valleys far below. Eventually, those glimpses were all the way down to the beautiful coastline. Within an hour, we were in complete sunshine. In another hour, we were at our lunch spot, a small monastery, St. Spiridon, run by three Serbian Orthodox nuns.
At the site there was the monastery, a house for the nuns and a few out buildings. There were four men working (suspect volunteering), cutting firewood and repairing some utility lines, which required a good-sized backhoe. As soon as we arrived, the youngest of the nuns, appeared to be early 20’s, offered waffle cookies and grapes along with the use of tables on the small patio in front of the monastery.
We sat down for lunch and Nemanja broke out some brandy and a bottle of red wine from his uncle’s vineyard. It was excellent! To top off this amazing lunch, the young nun brought out a platter of warm, freshly made, jam-filled crepes, delicious. We each had one and we suspect the rest went to the men working.
We said our goodbyes and headed down the trail. The trail became less canopied as we descended and the coastline and Budva became more spectacular. The last mile to the Praskvica Monastery, the trail was double shoulder-width and in perfect shape. What made this so incredible was that it was built, over a ten-year period by a monk with only one arm!
The Praskvica Monastery was a large complex with a cemetery and impressive structures. We waited about 15 minutes for the taxi that would take us back up to our car. Unlike our earlier drive up in the fog, the sky was clear and views were great. About halfway up Nemanja and the driver got into a pretty heated discussion, we assume over the fare. Because we didn’t have a dog in the fight, we never asked.
We drove down to Budva and parked in a lot near the old city with its surrounding wall. Right below the old city was a good sized beach with a couple dozen bathers. We were told that in July and August, it would have been packed. We walked on a raised walkway along the rocky coastline with the waves crashing. The walkway ended at a second beach, this was prettier and more populated than the one close to the old city. The views of the old city with the backdrop of the sea were really nice.
Back in Budva, we walked within the old city with its tiny streets, visiting the monastery and the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church. The entire front wall behind the main alter was a modernistic, mosaic of Jesus being baptized by John. Our opinions of it differed, one liked it and one of us hated it.
Leaving the old city, we walked on a pedestrian walkway along the harbor. On the water side, it was filled with hundreds of small, colorful boats. On the inland side, shops and restaurants. We worked our way back to the car and drove in the dark back to Perast.
Parting ways and agreeing to meet in the morning again at nine, we had dinner at the Conte. We were again given the one page, two choice menu. Both were pastas, Sue’s a rigatoni that was very similar to beef stroganoff, and Dave a seafood and spaghetti in a red sauce. Both were OK, just wish we had a fuller menu to choose from.
Another long but very good day. We headed to bed knowing tomorrow’s forecast was more rain.
2025-02-12