I truly believe that every country I have traveled to has a piece of my soul, and I have a piece of hers. Travel, especially when you immerse yourself in another land’s culture, is simply magical. It makes you alive and present to the utmost degree, a form of transcendental meditation, in a way. But traveling to the former Yugoslavia has all of this and more for me. It was the birthplace that my fiancé, Mijo, and his family escaped from war many years ago. It is a land rich in culture, landscape, and history. I had the honor of going back with Mijo for the first time since he had left, and visiting family he hasn’t seen for almost three decades. It was a humbling and surreal experience to say the least.
We crossed the border of Croatia into the rugged mountains of Montenegro for the second half of our Adriatic tour (see my first entry The beautiful Adriatic). Our first stop was Sveti Stefan. It is a coastal town known for its islet church (now a five star resort also shares the islet). We stayed at Apartments Kentera, Mijo’s cousin’s resort. For the first day we pretended like we were only tourists until Mijo finally introduced himself to his cousins. They were surprised beyond belief and immediately brought out homemade rakija (plum brandy) at 9 am.
Later that evening, Sonja, Doris, and Nikki (Mijo’s mom, sister, and sister’s friend) arrived in Montenegro. They took us to meet Mijo’s great aunt and uncle and we shared a huge smorgasbord of meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, and homemade wine. We swam in the ocean as the sun was setting, turning the clear blue water to a brilliant ombre of pink and orange. We made our way to Mijo’s grandmothers house in the Bay of Kotor, where we would spend the rest of our time in Montenegro, enjoying the company of my soon-to-be family.
Our last day in Montenegro we woke up early to eat breakfast at a quaint cliff restaurant overlooking a Budva inlet beach. After we were happily filled with coffee and omelets we decided to mosey our way to the beach down below. Mijo asked me if i’d like to take a look at the promontory’s edge before we continued and me being a professional mountain overlook advocate, wholeheartedly obliged. We stood there watching where the clear blue sea met the large rocks at the base of the towering mountains, easily my favorite nature scene. Mijo grabbed my hand and led me a few paces away from the edge and into a grassy knoll. Here, he asked me to spend forever with him.
A huge thank you to Doris and Nikki for capturing our engagement!
Afterwards, we had a fun-filled day at the beach to celebrate. We went jet skiing and rode some bounce slides into the ocean. We met Sonja and all of Mijo’s extended family at a restaurant to celebrate then dance and sang to a local band.
