Montenegro

We took mini bus tour to the neighboring country of Montenegro. 

In the old walled city of Kotor.

The local beer - for my beer loving friends!

To the island of Lopud

We began the morning with a quick hotel breakfast before taking a taxi to the port and hiring a ferry to the island off Dubrovnik, called Lopud. It is a tourist destination during the summer months, but has yet to really wake from it's winter slumber. Concerned that many businesses might not yet be open for the season, we called ahead to secure a restaurant reservation for lunch. The restaurant we spoke with said that nothing was open yet for the season but that they were protesting to open in a few days and their chef was ready to cook. So we reserved a table at 1pm. The ferry dropped us at the island author a couple of hours to explore before our lunch reservation.

The water was the most amazing color and completely clear!

We literally hiked to the highest point in the island and then back down the other side.

We hiked around and the island was just pretty much deserted. None of the hotels or restaurants have opened back up and from what they told us, most of the residents close up their houses from November to March and live in Dubrovnik for the winter.

As we walked, this friendly dog started waking with us. We later learned that her name is Maya. She followed us to the restaurant and slept under the table while we dined.

The restaurant had set up our table overlooking the harbor. The view was absolutely stunning and we were the only diners.

The chef brought out the fish for us to choose.

We started with bruschetta.

Anchovy carpaccio. Tasted amazing and nothing like anchovies typically taste.

Octopus carpaccio.

Fresh grilled sea bass and sea bream.

Zucchini with Parmesan.

And this was chicken and vegetables for the girls. Have you ever seen a kid's meal that looked like this??!!

We caught the ferry back to Dubrovnik and finished our day with a quiet evening at the hotel.

Bosnia, day two

This morning was the marathon run. 

We were able to take this picture somewhere around mile 10, I believe.

The girls and I went down to the school to wait for the runners' arrival. 

The school hosted a lovely lunch for us and then put on a fantastic presentation to show their appreciation and share their skills in English and their cultural heritage. 

After the presentation, we all walked to the village's children's monument - a memorial to the children of Gorazde who died during the years of 1992-1995. There are 148 names but our guides believe there were many more children sho died - that children died every day and nobody was keeping statistics. They were too busy surviving. Our girls laid flowers at the monument.

This is the school playground.

And the front of the school.