As we approached the Albanian border, I saw this sign at the guard kiosk, “15 euro per dite per ne mal të zi.” I ran it through Google translate and got “15 euro per day for blackmail.” There is an official price for that? I then realized that “ne” should have been “në” and the correct translation is “15 euro per day for Black Mountain” (Montenegro). It was a very confusing bus ride. We got picked up at 5am and every 20 minutes the other 28 passengers started yelling and screaming at each other and at the drivers. Every 40 minutes we stopped for a smoke break. We couldn’t understand a word, but at least nobody yelled at us. It took 9 hours to go 200 miles through the Accursed Mountains in rainy Albania to the Bay of Kotor in rainy Montenegro.

There were two hikes I wanted to do and though it rained most of the time, that didn’t stop us. We are not made of sugar! We climbed high above the city and dropped in to the fortified walls that protect against a siege position from the mountains above.

Our second day of hiking had hardly any rain at all.

Kotor is stunning. As beautiful as Milford Sound, the castle walls add a regal outline to the misty mountains.

I discovered a new favorite food. It is a macaron made out of two macaroons and dipped in chocolate.