№40 — Montenegro
A few months after joining EY, I was staffed on a huge project in Germany. This is one of the biggest projects for my division and highly successful. Due to the high workload the team put in, our partners decided to take us on a trip to make up for the work — we went sailing to Montenegro.
I learned two things during this trip. First, the Bay of Kotor is a beautiful place worth visiting and second, I am not a big fan of being on a small boat. But let me elaborate on those two issues later. Before we arrived in Montenegro, we did a quick stop in Dubrovnik. While the town is quite lovely, it feels like Disneyland. Ever since people realized that King’s landing of Game of Thrones is real-life Dubrovnik, the tiny town is overrun by tourists. Nowhere in Croatia do you have to pay EUR 15 for a burger with fries.
After our short intermezzo in Dubrovnik, we boarded our boats in the middle of the night in Kotor. Already seeing the path to the old castle illuminated in the night, I already knew this has to be a spectacular place. The following days this was only confirmed. Crystal clear water, nice shorelines, great weather, good food and a generally good vibe. We went from Kotor to Tivat, to a tiny village on the outside of the bay and back to Tivat, with lots of stops for swimming in between.
Because we were eating and drinking most of the time, we also decided we need some exercise. So we organized a hike. While it sounded nice on paper, it was a surprisingly challenging walk across a peninsula in the scorching sun of Montenegro. Jumping into the sea when reaching the other side was one of the most fulfilling things I did in a long time.
Why don’t I like boats you may ask? First, you have to know that I am extremely white. I get a sunburn by only thinking about the sun. Therefore, a place with mostly sun and reflection of the sun is not the most comfortable place. Furthermore, there are no real showers to get rid of the salt residue as long as you do not stay in an expensive marina. And lastly, the beds are tiny and the air under deck is sticky. It may sound like “mimimimi” but that all really bothers me, so I probably will never become a big sailor once retiring.
Still, Montenegro is worth a visit, even if you only visit the shoreline and not go out on a boat outing. If you want to visit, consider flying into Dubrovnik, it is way better connected than Tivat airport and the surrounding is nicer than Podgorica — at least that’s what I am told.
