Taking a(n Impromptu) Hike

Last night, a few friends and I were admiring the city lights over the bay and the starry night sky from our perch a few stories above  Old Town, on a platform in the fortress of Kotor.  I was so inspired by the tranquility and the view, I decided to wake up frightfully early (just after 8 am) and return to the spot the following morning with my yoga mat.  I’ve been living in crowded quarters that are not conducive to undisturbed yoga time, and I hadn’t practiced yoga in nearly a week.

I made my way to the fortress gate.

Hello, there!

I’d forgotten that during the day, there’s an attendant at the fortress gate charging an entrance fee.  I paid it, walked up a few flights of stairs until I reached the stone plateau from the previous night.  Such a perfect spot!  It could have been designed with a yogi in mind.

View from my yoga paradise

After half an hour or so of sun salutations, I considered heading back down to town to visit the market and head to the beach, but I couldn’t bear to let that 3 euro entrance fee and that golden opportunity go to waste, so I started up the stairs that led to the top of  the fortress. . .

Up I go!

It felt as if the stairs would never end.

One hundred thousand ninety-one, one hundred thousand ninety-two. . .

Sometimes the stairs disappeared, and leaving only rubble and rocks.

Ah, Jesus Sandals. Is there anywhere they can’t go?

Finally, I arrived at the top!  The very top!

The sign says “Increased risk zone”, but I wasn’t scared!

One more backbend for the road.

Definitely worth the (very hot) hike!

 

In a Stone Fortress of Emotion

I was upset at first, but now it’s kinda funny.

Saturday night, my first show went wonderfully. I was well-received, well-treated, and well-paid. I returned to my stone home-away-from home feeling lucky, successful, and happily tired.

The only problem was, Saturday’s show was to be my only show. While I was romanced into coming to Montenegro by a DJ acquaintance of mine for two weeks of ongoing shows, the casino where I performed was under the impression that they were booking me for a one night event. As the DJ is Turkish, the casino manager is Montenegrin, their shared language is English, and the DJ’s English speaking skills are rubbish, I am chalking this entire comedic episode up to a miscommunication. Here’s where the situation gets inconvenient: The casino provided me with lovely accommodations in Montenegro for the days up to and including the night of my show, which took place July 7th. My return flight to Istanbul isn’t until July 19th!

So. . . I’m officially on a completely unplanned and unexpected vacation in Montenegro. In order to economize on lodging, I took a room in the best hostel in Kotor–Old Town Hostel. Incredible, caring staff, beautiful facility, comfortable rooms. However, it is definitely a hostel. Optional daily excursions to the beach, rafting, canoeing, cave exploring, or the national park, 20-year-olds drinking wine from the bottle at the nightly party in the community lounge, a fellow’s hairstyle that includes a silken ponytail complemented by a single, waist-length dreadlock, the obligatory guy with the guitar playing and singing an off-key rendition of “Stand By Me”, a shared bathroom and kitchen, bunk beds, and five roommates. Four of my roommates are Czechoslovakian (two guys and a girl, thankfully none of them snores), and one is a Serbian girl who tends to walk around in her pajamas. . . which are lace panties and a tank top.

Across from the fruit market

I’m not that mad anymore.

Crna Gora MONTENEGRO Karadağ Black Mountain

I arrived in Montenegro four days ago. I’m ashamed to admit that two weeks ago, I knew very little (read: nothing) about the country. I was contacted by a DJ acquaintance of mine who did lights and sound for me last summer in Bodrum, Turkey at Kervansaray Hotel. He’d recommended me for a position performing at a casino here in Kotor, Montenegro, and convinced me that a trip out here to work would be worth my while.

I was skeptical at first, but I’m not one to turn down the chance of a trip to a beautiful country, and with a gig and housing there waiting for me, there wasn’t much risk, so I packed my dance costumes, my bikinis, and my sunglasses, and flew out Wednesday morning after a Baba Zula show the night before in Istanbul.

My first day was exhausting and unorganized, but when I was (finally) shown to my accommodations, things began looking up. I’m staying in a house within the stone walls of Old Town Kotor, (an ancient city that was first fortified in the early Middle Ages!) in a lovely bedsitter.

This is my first visit to such a town, and now I can better imagine the towns authors describe in books like Pillars of the Earth.

Over the past few days, I’ve been lazing around on the beach (a rocky bay, really) at the appropriately named Lazy Bar with my new-found Montenegrin friends, exploring the city, and trying to learn a bit of the language (Serbo-Croatian.) I’ve found it a bit tricky as locals are more likely to cut to the chase and speak to me in English than to humor my attempts at speaking their language, but I’m making some headway. I’ve become a PRO at saying “Hello? How are you? I’m fine thanks. Water, please. It’s very hot today.” Not terrible, considering I didn’t even know the name of the language two weeks ago.

My first show at the casino is tonight.  Opa!

Below are pictures of “my” neighborhood here in Kotor.

So many docks and so many boats

Lazy Beach Bar

Just outside Old Town Kotor’s walls

In two weeks, I’ll be off to do another show with Baba Zula in Cyprus, but if things continue to go well in Montenegro, I might return for another four weeks or so before flying to England.  (!!!)

 

Hello from Montenegro

So far, so good in Montenegro.
I traveled in style from the Podgorica airport to the autobuska stanica in a taxi that happened to be a Mercedes Benz. I was then shuttled 100 km to the town of Kotor in the un-airconditioned cousin of the Scooby Doo Mystery Mobile.
The road from Podgorica to Kotor is a long and bumpy one, but it winds up, around, and through a beautiful mountain range.
Let the adventure begin!