Booze Buddies in Budva

Edit: Started this in Budva but just finished it today

Greetings from some random airport in Montenegro where every other girl is a 10 and where they won’t grant guys a visa if you don’t have a bald fade with a buzz cut.

Strap in, it's gonna be a long ride.

A couple of things about Montenegro. First of all, it’s a tiny country and its name literally translates into Black Mountain which is an apt name because the terrain is every property developer’s worst nightmare. The entire country is literally mountains but Budva is a small flat town here that is 2500 years old and is one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic coast (source: Wikipedia). The spoken language here is Serbian and even though it’s not in the EU, they still operate on the Euro.

Over the course of the last two weeks, we were asked dozens of times why we came here and we still don’t have an answer to the question. My buddies Rod and Dan were in Croatia for Ultra Music Festival right before we met, and I was in Romania, so we wanted to go somewhere in Eastern Europe where we knew the parties were good because these guys are fellow booze hounds. They’re also as easy going as me so the first place that someone suggested, we just went with it because why not.

Another thing about Budva is that because its not a well-known place among North Americans, you don’t hear any English anywhere you go. I’ve never been in a country where I had absolutely no idea what was being communicated to me by locals. Some of my best friends are Serbian so I’ve heard it a ton but it still sounds like gibberish to me. And Eastern Europeans are not as physically expressive, their body language gives nothing away so I’m like a deer in headlights when they try to say even like hi or thank you.

So let’s get into the good stuff.

The cast of characters that I spent 2 weeks with were Rod from Calgary, who I met in Mexico circa July 2021 and Dan who I met on Mexico round 2 in January. Rod works at a consulting firm and is working the same hours as me. Dan owns his own e-commerce company and works his own hours (if he feels like working that day).

We heard a lot about the nightlife in Budva so expectations were high. What made them even higher was the place was smoke central, by far exceeding anywhere else I’ve ever seen in the world. So Rod and Dan come in from Ultra on Monday afternoon looking like they’d been thrown off a cliff then hit by a bus. A couple days of recovery were much needed. 

Wednesday comes around and we all feel way better so we head to the beach during the day which is not super nice itself but the boardwalk is super long with a ton of beachside restaurants lined up one after the other. We wanted to try some local food but we didn’t know what the local food was because the stuff on most of the menus just looked like some type of meat with either rice or fries. We settled for gyros. After our workday we planned to go out at night at a club that everyone said was sick called Palazzo but the problem is that there was a national holiday for two days that Wednesday and Thursday so every grocery/convenience store was closed when we needed some pre-drinks. I ended up in some farmers market buying Sliva which is like a plum brandy (also super common in Romania). After a lot of complaining about how terrible it is from my compadres, the time came to head to the club. We walk in after we pay cover and the lady escorts us to our table and we quickly realize that everyone is just standing around their own table. There was no dance floor, little intermingling between tables, and deafening loud music. Wtf. We still downed a bottle and watch some random DJ spin until some famous Montenegrian DJ came on and ruined it with straight Balkan music.

We thought damn, if that’s what every club is like here then this is going to suck. We asked around after the club and everyone confirmed that yep, that’s what everything club is like here. And there are no bars where you can just go and hang out and meet people.

Friday night rolls around and we try some different clubs in the city with no success in finding anything decent. Also, Serbian music sounds kind of like Arabic music and every DJ is named DJ Anastasia Jankovic or DJ Vladimir Lubicic or something. Get more creative with the names guys.

Saturday is the first sick day that we have because we go to this beach club during the day at Ploce beach which is around a 20-minute boat ride from our beach. This place kicked a**. Foam machines, tables in the pool, banging music, good vibes and Rod’s friends from Calgary happened to be in Budva as well so we had more people to hang out with. After a bottle of grey goose, some questionable liquor in an emptied out watermelon, and a couple of bar drinks served by a kid who was not even old enough to sit in the front seat of a car, we headed back on the boat.

That night we went to another famous club knowing fully well what to expect but at least we had a bigger group this time. This place was massive like a concert hall but still lined with tables everywhere and there was a famous DJ playing on a raised stage in the front. Better than Palazzo but still not that great. The night came to an early end when one of the guys in our group got kicked out of a club for some reason I don’t remember and we went home and passed out.

As you can tell, we kind of wasted the day time in the first week half because we were all just coming off a bender the previous week and half because we just got lazy (mainly Dan). But something happened on Sunday when we woke up because we all realized we had a week left and we’ve seen nothing so we got off our a**es and planned a sick week.

That Sunday we went to another Island by boat called Hawaii (so yea, I can now say I’ve been to Hawaii). We had a chill day at the beach filled with great convo and lots of laughs. After that we came back to mainland and walked through Old Town which is the smallest Old Town I’ve walked through in any city. There also wasn’t a lot happening like there usually is in the Old Towns in other country’s cities. Mostly just touristy restaurants and a few hole-in-the wall bars.

Still, at least we did something during the day finally.

On Monday I go to the beach with Rod and have a couple day beers before work and mix in a tan. I also went in the water and it was the coldest water I have ever felt in my life. Even if you turn your shower faucet to the max cold, this water was still colder.

The Tuesday Rod and I went to another nearby beach by boat called Jaz beach. Rod says, “Should we grab a beer at the bar on the way there?”. The famous last words. Jaz beach is super long, busy, and filled with sunbeds so it took us 3 beers to actually find somewhere to sit (yes, beer is now a new unit of time). We finally found a place and chatted and drank for a while until Dan finally finished “work” to come join us. By the time he got there we had to leave so we went back home and got on with the work day.

Night rolls around and someone suggests Vodka lemonades so we all toss back a few because why not, and head out to a bar right outside of Old Town called El Mundo. I don’t know why we only just came here because this place was like an outdoor bar with at least 100 tables with great music and tons of people. Only thing is it closes at like 1am. We end up meeting a group of Serbian girls who tell us they’re going to Top Hill which is like the concert venue club we went to on Saturday. Guess were going to Top Hill. That night a non-Serbian DJ was playing so the music was actually good.

Next day (Wednesday) same routine at nighttime. Vodka lemons -> El Mundo. We met another group of girls who told us they were going to a club called Perla. Never heard of it but say less. 1 hour later were at Perla which is the first proper nightclub we’ve been to. It’s actually the basement of a fancy restaurant that turns into a club after midnight. This was going to be the new combo moving forward, El Mundo -> Perla.

The Thursday we decide to shake things up and rent a car to drive somewhere. Where, you ask? Dubrovnik, Croatia. It’s only a 2.5 hour drive from us so plenty of time to make it there for the 9-5-ers to do their work thing. About an hour into the drive you have to take a ferry to take you 5 min across the sea to avoid a massive detour. The scenery is gorgeous and the traffic is minimal. 1.5 hours into the journey I mention passports and both of the other guys freak out. “Oh s**it I think I forgot mine”. We check bags and Rod has his but Dan doesn’t. F***in Dan. What was supposed to be a 2.5 hour trip turned into a 6 hour trip and we only had one night booked in Dubrovnik so we were going to be there for a total of like 16 hours. We get in at like 7pm and the Airbnb is gorgeous but we barely have time to enjoy it because I still have to work and the other guys want to go catch the sunrise at the top of the hill.

A couple of facts about Dubrovnik:

-          The Old Town in Dubrovnik is where the town of Kings Landing from Game of Thrones was based and filmed.

-          Dubrovnik is the least drivable city I’ve visited in the sense that everything is a one way street so if you miss a turn (which we did) you have to drive around the whole city to get back to that intersection.

-          To walk anywhere in Dubrovnik you have to walk an ungodly amount of stairs and when it’s 40+ degrees out, it feels Navy Seal hell week.

So, it’s Thursday night in Croatia and were all at the Airbnb after the sun has set. Rod looks like he has the plague and says he feels like he has it too. But Rod is a trooper so he crushes some Vodka lemons and we head into town for dinner. We ask the waitress at the restaurant, where is good to go out in Dubrovnik on a Sunday. She gives us kind of a confused looks and says there’s really only place where people go. It’s a club in Old Town called Revlin. What??! I thought Dubrovnik was supposed to be a party capital of Croatia, and there’s only one place? We just can’t catch a break from clubs.

Revlin turned out to actually not be that bad. First of all, there were a ton more people that spoke English there which made it easy to mingle, the music was what I’d been used to in Barcelona (top 40, reggaetón), and it wasn’t expensive considering these guys apparently had a monopoly over nightlife here. The night turned out to be a blast. The only part that sucked was going back up the stairs to get home.

Next morning we wake up to check out at 11am and make our way back to Budva. We all feel like all hell and it’s 42 degrees outside but somehow even hotter in our car. We go to a breakfast place with AC to get some food and recap the night. Mid-way through the meal Dan suggests: “Why don’t we stay another night?”. Well because we don’t have a place to sleep and we only rented the car for a day. Rod and me are for going back but Dan wants to stay. So, I go to the bathroom declaring victory and when I come back, Dan has turned Rod to his team. Long story short we stay another night and another Airbnb.

Nighttime hits that same day and I’m working while Dan and Rod are coming back from exploring the town during the day. “What’s the plan tonight?”. “Revlin?”. “Revlin”.

So were at Revlin again. This time though, we didn’t know that there was a “famous” DJ named Mark Knight that was playing so the line circled around the block. It probably would have been a 1 hour + long wait. Well f**k. We go to VIP to get in through there and get absolutely extorted for a bottle of champagne that none of us wanted but for some reason had to buy and a bottle of vodka. At least we made it in. This night was absurdly packed but still an awesome time. It got better towards the end when people started to clear out so there was more space for moving.

Next day we wake up and I pack everything before Dan suggests staying another night. We get back into Budva for Saturday afternoon. I pass out for a few hours and wake up around 8 to see Rod on the couch and Dan probably horizontal somewhere in the house watching Mad Men. It’s been 4 days in a row of drinking at this point so no one really wants to go out but Dan walks in and uses the classic line of “Guys its our last (insert day) in (insert city) so we have to go out”. F**k it why not. We go back to El Mundo and meet some girls from Luxembourg. First people we've ever met from Luxembourg so we were asking them questions like they were a different species of human. Apparently, people from there are all geniuses because their education system is insane and makes them learn 4 languages before university. I was surprised I could still even speak one language after almost two weeks with these animals. Their group joins us at Perla for the final night in Budva.

We wake up on Sunday and our Airbnb host is generous enough to let us leave our luggage there while we go for lunch and kill time before we all fly to Barcelona at 8pm that night. We fight off the Sunday scaries and 40-degree heat with some iced lattes and pulled pork sandwiches. I go and add another bracelet to my collection and take one last stroll on the boardwalk. We meet up and go to the airport and head over to Barcelona.

Lucky for me, Brendan (my buddy in Barcelona while I was staying there) was still in town and had a free bedroom so I stayed there while Rod and Dan got hotels. We all got to our places at 11:45pm but we all had agreed that since it was our last Sunday together in Barcelona that we would go to Opium – the biggest club in Barcelona, that night. Somehow we all make it to Dan’s hotel room which is the size of a closet, for a quick pre. Luckily the clubs in Barca don’t open till 1am and don’t get good until 2am so we make it there around 2:30. It actually kind of sucked compared to the other nights I went out in Barca so Dan and I went to another club where we stayed till like 6:30am, while Rod went home (smart move).

Next day was mine and Dan’s last day in Europe. Rod was staying but had no idea where he was going next. We were both flying back to Toronto around 2pm the next day. I still had to work because it was a Monday but I got a chance to walk around in the afternoon and see all the spots that I had been to countless times in my month and a half in Barca. Also ran some Fortnite because Brendan didn’t wake up until 5pm. Around 930pm Rod came over and we had a few drinks and I introduced Brendan to Rod (another instance of world colliding). We hit our favorite Irish bar called Temple bar just a few blocks from our place where we met some Scottish girls. We spoke to them for probably 30 min but I walked away from that conversation with nothing. It sounded like they were speaking in cursive. The accent makes it so hard to understand. After that we hit another Irish bar and called it a night. Next day I woke up late and would have missed my flight but luckily it was delayed.

And that’s a wrap to the best Europe trip I’ve had so far.

A couple parting thoughts:

Making friends abroad

This is something everyone knows but when you spend a prolonged amount of time (weeks) with someone in a foreign country you get to know them a lot better than someone you get to know where you call home. I think the reason is that when you’re at home you get pulled in so many different directions by family, errands, different groups of friends so you don’t really have time to sit down and get to know someone. Being in a foreign country, you don’t have any responsibilities or obligations so you spend a lot more time with the people you meet. I’ve made many lifelong friends on this trip that I’m sure I will have many more trips and new experiences with.

Importance of saying yes

I’ve done more stuff I never thought I’d do in the past 1.5 years than I’ve done my entire life so far and I think that most people don’t do their entire lives. I’ve done this because I’ve said yes a lot more than saying no. Skydiving in Mexico? Let’s do it. Scuba diving classes in Barca? Why not. Or something simpler like last-minute trips to an island or a road trip to Croatia. The best experiences I’ve had were because I said yes to things even if they interfered with what I thought my day or weekend would look like. Looking back to being in Toronto full time I realize how many times I’ve said no to a weekend trip, hanging out with people I don’t know, or even just trying a different bar. I hope to change that even when I’m back home.

Routine vs Complacency

I realize now that there is a Venn diagram overlap between the two. You can have a routine, but if you’re just taking the path of least resistance like staying in a cushy cubicle job because it pays the bills, staying in an unhappy relationship because it’s easier than breaking up, or tolerating the work week just to wait for the weekend to come by to do something fun, etc -then you're being complacent. I’m guilty of doing some of these things, and the longer you stay in the cycle the harder it is to break, but I now see the damage that not even trying to break it can cause.

Hope y'all enjoyed reading this. I will be active once again when I travel but in the meantime hope to see you guys in Toronto.

Pce

-MS