I stood outside my hotel and waited for a taxi to Montenegro. I was starting to lose hope when a Mercedes taxi loaded with five guys stopped and the driver asked if I needed a ride to Ulcinj. I paid 5 Euros, squeezed myself in, and half an hour later crossed the border. Found a nice room at a pension and walked down to the beach. Ulcinj is a nice, quaint little beach town but every inch of sand was covered with oil-slicked bodies. Apparently it's the beach of choice for Serbians and Kosovars. I picked up a few items at the market, did my laundry, spent way too long in an internet cafe, and caught up on the Olympics instead.

Caught a bus to Bay of Kotor the next day. It was a beautiful drive along a rugged coast that reminded me a lot of California except that the water below was turquoise and clear. I spent several hours walking around trying to find a room but with no luck. I finally broke down and entered a expensive hotel as I was getting desperate. It was full but the lady working there said her sister had a guesthouse and she offered to drive me the few miles to her home. Turned out her sister was a doctor who spoke English and she, her husband, and four sisters lived in a beautiful home perched high in the hills with a fantastic ocean view. I gladly took a room for 25 Euros a night! And they had cats! Lots of them! I spent three lovely days sitting on the balcony sipping Turkish coffee, reading, playing with the cats, and watching glorious sunsets. Her sisters brought me fresh fruit and they were nice company even though they spoke little English. The beach was just across the road and I went over frequently to take dips in the warm, clear water. I got energetic one day and hiked to the fortress atop St. John's Mountain. It took me 45 minutes and I was drenched by the time I got to the top but it was worth it as the view of the bay was heavenly.

I could have stayed much longer but I had a flight to Berlin in a couple of days so I needed to make my way towards Podgorica. The trip there was lovely through rugged mountains but Podgorica was pretty junky. I decided to stay at a hotel near the airport as the city didn't look like it had much to offer. Found a wonderful place, Hotel Aria, with free wi-fi and laptops in each room! It also had a great terrace and served free hearty Montenegrin breakfasts. I holed up in my luxury room for two days catching up on my blog, reading, and watching t.v., only going downstairs to eat my free breakfasts and make phone calls!

My flight to Berlin was really early and it was on JAT, a Serbian airline. The plane had propellers, which I was a bit apprehensive about, and it wasn't very big. To top things off, when we started rolling down the runway the pilot said "here we go!" in a sort of crazy, little voice...

Really Dumb Things I've Done Lately

I bought a bottle of lotion (I thought) but couldn't read what it was because it was in Greek. After using it for a week (I thought it had a strange consistency) my skin looked even more cracked and dried out than it had before. I finally figured out it was shower soap.

Cheaped out not wanting to spring for a 6 Euro taxi to the ferry dock in Patra so I decided to walk the four miles in the blazing afternoon sun. I had plenty of time until my 10:30 p.m. ferry and I figured I could use the exercise. I ended up having to walk through a rough area where homeless refugees (mostly from Senegal) had pitched tents. Luckily there was a chainlink fence between us. Overshot the port by a half mile and when I finally got there I was completely drenched, my hair soaking wet. I must have looked a fright because everyone stared. I ended up having to change my clothes as mine wouldn't dry in the air conditioned building and I was starting to get chills.

In Berat I took a taxi to a hotel that turned out to be right around the corner. I thought it was further than that! The driver must have thought I was really lazy! Of course he didn't bother to tell me how close it was when I got in. Jerk.

I had lots of spare time in Patra waiting for my ferry to Corfu in two days. I hung out on the streets shopping and dawdling at coffee shops with free wi-fi. There were lots of aggressive panhandlers, people selling stuff, and Roma. The streets were deserted in the afternoon so I was heading back to my pension. I had my daypack slung over one shoulder, which I rarely do. Two Roma were behind me, young kids, maybe 12 and 18. They stayed close but everytime I turned they seemed to be looking in shop windows and talking. When I crossed the street, they crossed. Luckily my pension was close by but when I ducked into it the boy followed me. I started up the stairs and he was close behind me. I kept trying to keep my eyes on him but he was fast. Just then the owner of the pension came down the stairs. He had seen us enter the lobby on video camera. He asked if the kid was with me and when I said no, he told the kid to beat it. It was then that I noticed that my daypack was partially unzipped. Another five seconds and my camera and cell phone would have been lifted. Very close call and lesson learned.