Saturday, April 15, 2023

Sunny and no clouds at 8am.   This day started out defying weather predictions and continued to do so throughout.


We met Paul and Randi for breakfast, walking down to the "Monument" restaurant, aka, "The Russian Tsar". I'm not sure of the reason for the two names for the place.  A healthy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fresh bread, with a yogurt/butter spread that was fabulous.

We met up with Jovana to leave luggage with her for a few days, then onto Belgrade airport for our short flight to Tivat, Montenegro.  We used an Uber clone app (Car Go) to get to the airport. It worked great.


Less than an hour after takeoff, we were in Montenegro!  Terrific scenery as we came over the mountains and the Bay Of Kotor.

Tivat is a small airport. No jetways, just straight offload onto the tarmac.  A 10 minute taxi ride and we were at the Hotel Astoria, checking in for our two day stay here.
Luck of the draw, happenstance, had Yelena and I getting the preferred room... The one with the terrace - 101.  Paul and Randi got 301, no terrace :(.  Both rooms directly overlook the Bay. Very beautiful place!  
We walked a bit and then had dinner at a restaurant named "One" that sits directly in front of all the yachts anchored at Porto Montenegro. 
Perhaps not surprisingly, food at the restaurant was not at Belgrade level low prices, but more like what you'd expect at a decent restaurant in the US.  Dinner for 4, with a bottle of wine was $150, including tip.
After dinner, we had a walk through the large city park, then watched the sunset from our terrace.

Planning on heading out for a late dessert in a few minutes. A great day!

p.s. Paul and Randi excited to learn Smashmouth coming to Utah in May (random discussion topic).  Yelena poo-pooed the band.  Different strokes!

p.p.s. there was a sewer smell in the room when we checked in.  I suspected the water in the u-trap of the floor drain had dried out (which allows sewer vapors to rise). So I poured some water down there and no more sewer smell.  The same thing was going on in Paul and Randi's room.  So know I'm considering telling the hotel that, if they comp the rooms, I'll come a couple times a year and fix this sewer smell problem in all of rooms 😉.






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