Žuri polako – Hurry slowly

One last send before I go back to school for two years to do my masters. Two weeks along the Adriatic coast with a group of best friends was in order.

Ally and I flew in to Split a few days before everyone else so we could have a couple of days to ourselves before the shit show started. We hopped on a ferry to Hvar and spent two days there relaxing, before returning to Split to meet Emilie and Maria.

Split is an amazing city, and in hindsight we would have spent more time there. The old town and the surrounding beaches are so nice. Emilie arrived first and we spent the night down on the pedestrian walkway drinking Aperol Spritz, which quickly became the drink of the trip. Maria got in the next and the day after that Daley and Luke flew in already buzzing from a 24 hour stopover in Belgrade. Overall Ally and I had about five days in Split/Hvar.

The morning after Daley and Luke arrived we grabbed a bus to Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was torture, not gonna lie. Google maps will tell you it’s a two hour drive but with stops and border crossings it’s well over four hours. In a bus with weak air conditioning and 40 degree heat, this was brutal. Anyways, once in Mostar all that went out of our minds. This town is incredible. So much history, with a mix of sadness from the recent war and positivity with the recent uptick in tourism and economic growth. Bosnia has seen one of the highest increases in tourism rates in the world over the last couple years, and this has helped the country bounce back. Daley pointed out that a lot of the countries that have seen hard times recently (especially eastern Europe) also seem to have the greatest joie de vivre, especially among young people. Mostar definitely felt like that.

We had a multi-story airbnb rented in the centre of town, just a three minute walk from the Stari Most bridge. It’s a fairly small place so walking everywhere is do-able, but it was nice to be in the heart of town. The highlights are definitely bars and restaurants that hug the river, and the divers who jump from the bridge during the day. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the sniper tower, an abandoned building that served as a strategic location during the civil war. It’s not technically open to tourist, but it’s a huge unofficial attraction of the town. I’d recommend any one visiting to check it out.

After 3 days in Mostar we got back on a bus and headed to Dubrovnik. This bus was just as horrendous as the first (possibly more because we were hungover). Our Airbnb was up on a hill overlooking the old town. This was beautiful for chilling on the deck, but was a bit of a pain getting back and forth to centre of town. Dubrovnik was touristy as to be expected (so many Game of Thrones related things) however, it’s a beautiful place and you shouldn’t be discouraged by the throngs of people. Buza Bar and Banje Beach were top attractions for me. There’s also a lot of good food within the old city walls.

After several bad experiences with buses we realized that between six of us it was cheaper to rent a personal driver to take us to our next destination. Luke worked his sales magic on the phone and in 30 minutes he had organized an air conditioned Mercedes van to drive to Budva in Montenegro. This drive was amongst the most scenic I’ve ever had. The highway hugs the cliffs of Croatia and Montenegro, and there’s a car ferry that crosses the Bay of Kotor. Very epic. The drive was roughly three hours and it flew by for me.

Budva is a party/beach town in Montenegro. There were way less western tourists here but the beaches were still packed with Eastern European’s vacationing. We stayed in a three bedroom condo about 15-20 mins walk from the beach which was fine because it’s a super walkable place. Montenegro was so much cheaper than Croatia with very similar beaches. Renting a boat for two hours cost 30 euro (don’t quote me, it may have been more), which we did multiple times.

We decided Budva would be longest stay of our trip because it checked all our boxes: good weather, beaches, good food and drink, and it was cheap. We definitely would have stayed longer if time allowed. Our second last night we hired a boat to take us to a festival on Buljarica Beach (Sea Dance Festival). I may have skinny dipped in the sea along the way. Definitely beats an Uber. It was a solid send off for the end of a great summer trip.

We cruised back to Dubrovnik airport a day later using the same driver who brought us to Budva. We were sad to leave but I’m not gonna lie, when we landed in Dublin on the way back to Canada that rain, drizzle and fog felt nice on the skin. I would definitely go back but I am content now to start my MBA. Here are some mainly daytime, less-degenerate snaps of the trip, mostly taken by me. Cheers.