I just spent the evening with Steph and Krista, which reminds me of the time they were in Kotor with their cruise ship and I took the bus from Herceg Novi to spend the day with them. First thing we did upon meeting was get coffees and catch up. It was mid-September, and I had been away from home for about four months. In all my solo travelling experiences, that day is one of my favourites. I was about six weeks into my Montenegro stay and had grown accustomed to getting by with minimal English and my equally minimal command of the local language.
When it was time for them to return to their ship, we parted ways and I found myself at the station with an hour to spare before the next bus back to Herceg Novi. I went into the little cafe next to the parking lot and ordered a coffee, managing the whole transaction in Serbian. How strange, after spending all day speaking my homiest English, to find that switching to my stunted version of Serbian felt a little bit like coming home.
It’s late-ish, and Krista and Steph just left. Rather than take my brain into some deep exploration of life and travel, maybe it’s a nice time to reminisce about some of the coffee places that have served as a home base while I was travelling.
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