Day started with a typical breakfast. No changes except I discovered that their yogurt mixed with a little honey becomes a fantastic treat.
After breakfast we got ready to head out for the day. It looked dark and dreary with possible rain but we wished that away.
We headed for the town of Budva not knowing what to expect. WOW is what I can say. We traveled through the mountains to get there and it was very pretty. One of the Montenegran players went with us because her dad lives in the town. She was very nice and we chatted about things with her the whole way. She has 7 years experience within their national team program and is only 21. That couldn't happen in our country.
As we get closer to the town she mentioned that she could help us with some ideas for the city. We were getting dropped off at 12 and picked up at 7 so we had time. Her father knew a guy who does boat charters and he would give us a tour for 10 Euros each. We jumped at it and began to head to the dock to meet him.
First of all, the town is very pretty with cafes everywhere. There is a beautiful marina and when we arrived everyone was so friendly. There were yachts lined up at the dock that would cost millions of dollars each. Very impressive. We didn't go on one of them but we stepped onto a nice little boat and away we went. We were supposed to go for 1 hour but he kept us for just under 2 hours. We toured around the coastline and checked out some resorts along the way. The water was crystal clear and blue. He took us back toward the harbour and we weren't sure if we were heading in. Instead of going back he pulled into an island and docked the boat. The island was small but BEAUTIFUL. Great foliage, the water was warm and there was even a little restaurant on it. This will give you an idea of what the island looked like and no it is not a mirror image.
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| Relaxing on the Adriatic Sea |
The girls had a great time on the island and took some awesome pics. We then headed back to shore. We thanked our awesome tour guide and began the 2nd leg of our journey. We all stopped at this fantastic little gelatto stand and had a treat. YUMMY. Afterwards, the girls went in one direction while the staff went in another. They missed out on the most awesome part as they missed "Old Town". This part of the town is a walled city and the walls have been there for more than 2000 years. The alleys are all cobblestone and they are narrow. There are shops, cafes and restaurants all over the place. It was like you were walking back in time minus the Nike Store. We stopped in a lot of little shops and sat at a cafe for a while which was great. We did a little shopping which was interesting. I tried to get a deal on something and the guy was being an ass. I went 20 feet and got what I wanted for the price I wanted from a young guy who had went to school for a year in Chicago. We had a great chat. As you walked through the town the sights were amazing and the smells were penomenal. From the pizza baking in the oven that was almost on the street to the fresh baked goods and crepes in the windows, it was like getting teased by the food gods.
We were able to get on top of the walls and walk around the city and it was an awesome view up there. Lots of good pics. We also went walking past old town on a trail that hugged very steep cliffs. The water was so clear. Not sure I have ever seen anything like it. We walked for about 4-5 minutes and came around a corner to an incredible beach. Just an awesome view. We journeyed back towards town and walked around some more and then made our way back toward our pick up point. It was just a fantastic day. Words can't express the things we saw or how the day unfolded. Just an incredibly relaxing day with a nice little sunburn as an extra.
The drive back was mostly sleep time for the girls but as coaches, we couldn't stop talking about how awesome the day was. Once again, I know it sounds corny, I reminded them that this is all because of a little brown ball that says inflate 7-9 lbs. As the old NBA commercials used to say, "I love this game".
So we made it back and had supper which started with a nice chicken soup. It was followed by roasted potatoes, zucchini and pork. Very tasty. A banana for dessert and we were all good.
Tomorrow we practice at 9AM so that means a 7:30 breakfast. We depart for Podgorica at 12 noon and fly to Brussels at 3pm. It has been a wonderful experience here in Montenegro minus the losses of course. The people have been great and things have went well. To the people of Montenegro I say Hvalla.
Next up is Brussels. Until then......
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