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The ruins of Stari Bar

Our final morning in Montenegro (already!?), we packed our bag and were glad to leave the dingy and increasingly humid cave apartment, which had been letting water seeping in through one of the walls after nearly an entire day (and night) of rain. It was barely 8am but the right time to catch a bus to Bar, where we would take another bus at 1.30pm to get to Dubrovnik. It also meant we had a few hours to kill, and Stari Bar seemed like a good option.

Stari Bar

Stari Bar

Bar derived and shortened its name from the word Antibari(um), given its location just opposing the Italian town of Bari across the Adriatic Sea. There are regular sea crossings between Bari and Bar for anyone wishing to hop between Italy and Montenegro! The port/coastal side of Bar is newer, built and favoured following destructions of an important aqueduct that used to feed into the Stari Bar, or the Old Bar. Unlike most towns where the newer parts are built surrounding the historic centre, Stari Bar and modern Bar sit a good 5-6 kilometres apart, the former at the foot of Mount Rumija and the latter by the seafront.

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Day 296: Auto Passion

I don’t normally go to a bar at 10am, least to say on a Sunday morning at that too. Today is an exception. My friends and I need a place to watch the Rugby World Cup final match between host New Zealand and the challenger France. Our original intended location had problem with their tv set so there was a small frantic search for a new place nearby and quickly.

We found a bar that is quite sports-themed, in particular, motorsports. It doesn’t really matter, as long as there are live broadcast of the match. But during the break, I surveyed around. It is a rather impressive interiors that they’ve got here, complete with even a car right smack in the middle of the bar. In a city where space is at a premium all the time, this form of use of space is unusual, but I guess that’s also what makes it special. They’ve definitely got the passion for all thing auto.

Day 234: L’Atelier

Perhaps I should specify Café de l’Atelier. Afterall, a simple mention of L’Atelier may give the wrong impression that I’ve stopped by the restaurant by Joël Robuchon. Not that I would decline an invitation there, mind. ;)

Monday night would normally not be my choice for an evening out but given there was a birthday to celebrate, I quite happily agreed to go out for a quick drink and then dinner afterwards. Our meeting point for the evening was at L’Atelier, a bar on boulevard Montparnasse, situated right across the street from La Coupole – one of the famous cafés that famous artists and writers of 1920s flocked to.

L’Atelier was relatively quiet when we got there and we sat out in the terrace, enjoying the last of the weekend heatwave while observing the storm cloud gathering in. Unlike many bars in town, its Happy Hour didn’t start until 7pm. Not that it made much difference to me (since I’m not a tippling kind of girl) and it seemed, the general crowd too, as it never really got busy when we were there. Then again, it was Monday afterall. Weekend may tell a different story around here altogether.

Day 165: Cuba Compagnie

I don’t think I have mentioned in this blog yet, of my current culinary project: Resto A-Z. The concept is simple enough. Take an alphabet, pick a country’s name based on the alphabet, choose a restaurant that serves the relevant cuisine and eat out. It’s quite fun really, and a very good way to explore international dining experience within the city.

I started with A a few weeks back with an Afghani restaurant, then Ethiopian for E and I’ll be going to a Brazillian restaurant tomorrow in honour of B. Tonight though, it’s C for Cuba. I know, it’s not in alphabetical order, but say, imagine if you’re hankering for some Thai food – do you really want to wait all the way to T? No, right? Having said that, I’ve also done French, Indian (and Italian), Japanese, Lebanese, Moroccan, Thai and Vietnamese so F, I, J, L, M, T and V are off the list too. Pretty good going :D


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