Montenegro

When friends from the states come all the way over to Europe, I go out of my way to see them, so when friends said they were taking a vacation in Montenegro, of course I was on board, along with my high school bestie. There is no easy way to get to Montenegro, so our travel included a 6 hour layover in Barcelona, so we went to get some lunch of course. 

From there we flew to Dubrovnik, rented a car and drove across the border to and to the Bay of Kotor for our stay in beautiful Perast.

We spent most of our time just relaxing and catching up with our friends, views like this made it a relaxing time. 

Private pool wasn't too shabby. 

We did head over to Budva to walk around the Aman Sveti Stefan resort, where we had lunch at The Piazza. 

Quite a unique resort, it takes up the whole island. 

There's only one walkway to the island. 

Back in Perast. 

The Bay of Kotor was so amazingly clear.

Of course went for a run, but the city wasn't that big. 

Can't get over these views though. 

View from our hotel. 

View on the water.

Stop off for dinner in Kotor. We had a great meal at Luna Rossa and some gelato. 

Stopped to admire the city walls lit up at night, then we had to head back for an early flight out. It was a short but sweet visit, and totally worth it to see dear friends. 

Prague

I found Prague to be such a delightful surprise. So much to see and do and of course, eat. I started the trip with a walk up to the Prague Castle, then enjoyed first night with Prague Food Tour, we visited several different places, the stand out being Lokal Dlouhaa, the longest beer hall in Prague where I had the BEST beef tartare I've ever eaten. A perfect way to start the trip, at the end we also got a map from Use It, it had two different walking tours the "tourist" and "historical" that lead all over the city, I walked the entirety of one and most of the other. I would highly recommend following their tours if you want to make the most of your time. I saw so much of the city but still want to go back. These are just some of the pictures from the miles on miles on miles I walked that weekend. 

Cathedral in Prague Castle, St. Vitus.

Inside Prague Castle Cathedral. 

Fantastic stained glass in St. Vitus.

Flying Buttresses on the back of the cathedral.

Unique street art. 

View from Letna Park. 

Metronome where one of the largest statues of Stalin used to stand. 

Secret passage to Prague Castle. 

Petrin Hill, one of the best towers I've seen, different stairs for going up and down and an elevator!

View from the top. 

Library at Strahov Monastery, though it looks like the one from Beauty and the Beast. 

The other part of the library with an impressive globe collection. 

Lennon wall.

At the top of the Powder Tower, looking over the Old Town. 

View from the Old Town hall. 

Dancing House.

Running across one of many bridges. 

View from above.

Lovely weather for paddling. 

Amazing art deco inside the church at Vysehrad, Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul.

From the cemetery at Vysehrad Castle. 

Original sculpture from the Charles Bridge now stored underground in Vysehrad. 

Just part of the names that line EVERY wall in the Jewish Museum. I couldn't hold in tears, it was a beautiful and heartbreaking tribute. 

The Jewish Cemetery, over a thousand years of history. 

Walking along the water the last night, looking up at the castle. 

The opera house by night. 

Bari/Alberobello/Matera

People seem to keep saying "Hey you should go see this random thing while you're in Italy." Whether it's a seaside town or a mountain, or in this case a cave restaurant. Fun fact though, Italy is really big and not super easy to travel around. But before one more person posted the cave restaurant that's all over Pinterest on my wall I had to go dine there. We made the reservations at Ristorante Grotta Palazzese (that's the actual name of the cave restaurant) in April or May for July, which I would recommend if you plan to go there. It's not actually in Bari either, it's in Polignano a Mare, which is a little ways outside of Bari. We drove all the way from Sicily and it took about seven hours. I'm sure there are easier ways to get there, Bari does have an airport, but this worked for us. I'm so glad we went because it was a once in a lifetime experience. 

For sure it is scenic and gorgeous.

The only way you can get in is with a reservation, you can't just pop down for pictures. 

But it's worth it to say you've done it. 

This was one of the most expensive meals I've ever had, they had several set menu options at different price points and offered wine pairings for each of them I think we went with the "middle of the road" option, and it was still over 150 euro a person. 

The food was quite good, the ambiance was interesting (a little loud with the crashing waves), and the staff was very attentive and knowledgable. It's also worth noting that the restaurant is only open May-October, so if you go make sure you plan ahead. And maybe don't wear a flowy dress because it's a little windy and you don't want to have a Marilyn Monroe moment. 

The town of Polignano a Mare was charming in its own right, walking back to our B&B we were privy to a concert in the square. 

I also went for a delightful run along the coast in the morning. 

There were four of us on the trip and each person sort of got to choose an activity, mine was dinner of course. The next was the Zoo Safari park. It was very neat to drive through and feed the animals but I would recommend against going into the actual zoo part, it is super depressing, the smallest enclosures I've ever seen. That being said....

Look an elephant!!!

They had lions and tigers and bears, and you were advised to keep windows rolled up during those portions. 

The animals were so cute and feeding them was really fun. 

I think my favorites were the giraffes and the zebras. Had no idea how much they would like peanuts and carob. 

We also visited Alberobello, the UNESCO World Heritage Site where the famed Trulli houses are. You can see them throughout the countryside, but when you actually get to the town you feel like you are walking around a smurf village. 

Expect to walk down some winding paths and up some hills. 

There are also some areas where you can climb up and get vista views. 

Make sure you check the weather or you may find yourself actually looking like a smurf with a five euro poncho. 

The last stop was Matera, known for its maze of caves built into the hillside, being one of the oldest known inhabited areas, and for the filming of The Passion of the Christ. 

Lots of churches. They have some fantastic old paintings that are nearly as old as Christianity itself. You can pay for a pass to see all the churches, which is probably the smarter way to go. 

Lots and lots of churches. 

For a quick weekend trip we saw a whole lot and marked off many Italy Bucket List items. None of them warranted a dedicated trip, each could be seen in a few hours so I'm glad we combined them all into one trip.