One of the stops on my recent trip to the Balkans was Montenegro. Sitting on the coast of the magnificent Adriatic Sea, Montenegro was once part of the former Yugoslavia, along with Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and others. Independent since 2006, Montenegro’s name comes from its mountainous geography, most notably the black shadow cast over its beautiful coastal waters by the looming mountains.
Our base for three days was the resort area of Pržno, near the town of Budva. Nestled into a cove surrounded by rocky ledges and pebbly beaches, the views were gorgeous. A short walk through the pine woods along the shore brings to you Sveti Stefan, a narrow islet now connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. A home for the rich and famous, guests shell out considerable Euros to stay in one of the 50 rooms, cottages, or suites on the exclusive resort.
A short drive away is the old city of Kotor with its ancient walls and narrow lanes. I’ll have more on Kotor in the future.
Leaving Kotor we wiggled and waggled up the narrow switchbacks of the aptly named Lovcenske serpentine, seen below in a photo from our tour organizer, Sherry Kumar. This is only a small segment; you can see more of it in this photo.
The trek up was harrowing, especially when we turned a corner and narrowly missed getting rammed by a car coming down. Worse, at one point near the top we were forced to back down the winding road to find a spot wide enough (barely) for a large hay-filled truck to assertively get past us. But once we got to the top (or nearly the top), the view was worth it.
And there was much more – a drive through a National Park, a long climb on foot up to a famous mausoleum, and visit to the old capital of Cetinje were wrapped around a delightful lunch at a renowned restaurant in the middle of nowhere. More on all of this later.
David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
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My newest book, Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World, is now available.
Nikola Tesla was born 160 years ago at midnight of July 9th/10th. His father was a Serbian cleric; his mother the daughter and sister of Serbian clerics. In a portent of his future, Tesla came to this Earth during a lightning storm – “a child of the light” – in the little town of Smiljan, then part of the Austrian empire in what is now Croatia. This year’s birthday celebration will be held in Serbia, along with Montenegro and Croatia.
Ripley’s has become synonymous with oddities-based attractions, and you’ll find a bunch of them in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (including Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Haunted Adventure, Moving Theater, and Marvelous Mirror Maze). But Ripley’s has also gotten into the aquarium business. Enter the glidepath at 
As the current day political conventions get ready to officially name Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the Democratic and Republican nominees, it brings us back to when a relatively unknown Abraham Lincoln unexpectedly gained the nomination – and won the election – of 1860.
Hot White Snow
The Dake Page
Of course, here on 
But wait, there’s more. I also received my first advance copy of 
The good doctor regaled us with stories of the medical practices of the day. You can see the hacksaw on the table used for amputations. There are also leeches for bloodletting, stiff brandy for medicinal painkilling, and a variety of other instruments that range from precursors of today’s instruments to objects that seemed more appropriate for the Marquis de Sade.
