Budva

Hard to believe that 3 days ago we were mucking about in the snow and today the kids were swimming at the beach but the weather was great so why not.

I'd left my swimmers back at the apartment so I had to make do drinking multiple coffees by the water which wasn't too hard to manage.

After we dried the kids off we set off on a big loop to have a look at the coastline and this Lake Skadar we'd heard about.

First stop was an islet called Sveti Stefan (Saint Steven).  In the Yugoslavia years this was an upmarket hotel and the well-to-do from Hollywood and Europe used to stay there.  These days it's still an upmarket hotel so access is restricted to guests only.  They can't stop you taking photos though so we did that and walked down to the beaches nearby.  (We're thinking you'd need a fair bit of cash to stay at St Steven's.)

Sveti Stefan - Saint Steven

Drove on down the coast road after that looking at the mountains that climbed straight out of the sea on the left and the beautiful Adriatic on the right.  

Stopped at a town called Ulcinj for a gelati hit and on the way out of town and inland we saw a local wedding complete with piano accordian.

We drove further on in the car and rose steadily up a mountain until we almost reached the Albanian border before the road did an abrupt about face.  

We stopped on the ridge of the mountain and there was the most brilliant view of the coastline looking West.  About 20 steps away walking due East (so crossing the ridge) there was an incredible view of Lake Skadar and the Montenegrin and Albanian interior.

Coastline

These days it's getting dark quite early so we didn't hang about too long and made our way down the mountain to drive alongside the lake.  Drove through lots of little villages and navigated more tiny winding mountain roads to make our way home.  

Arrived back at Budva in the dark and headed straight to the old town for a traditional Montenegrin meal.  At the local Chinese restaurant. (Brilliant food and good value too.)

Lake Skadar.