Greetings from Budva, Montenegro!! And yeah, im BACK :P

Yessss, im finally back home...and welcome back to me :D
I actually came back last Wednesday, but first it took me a few days to get back together, and settle myself and all my mail...and then i was also waiting for this card to arrive which i sent to myself, particularly intended for my come back post...and finally it arrived today, so i can get down to writing something...
And as you can see, i went to Budva in Montenegro...but i won give you facts and figures about it this time (i think ive already done it with my previous posts about Budva, and I still have a number of cards from there to dedicate them to history, geography, culture, and stuff like that. Ill just make a quick explanation for those who may not know...on the card you can see only the Old City....not the actual Budva where the hotels and holiday residences and people's houses are...and my guess is that this picture was taken in winter or so, since during the season, along the Old City Walls there are coffee-shops, and many people on the streets...oh, and you can take a glimpse of the numerous yachts parked at the dock...some really stunning :)
Ill use this card to tell you some bits and pieces about my stay there...i just fear that its gonna turn into a huge post...so i recommend a cup of coffee, good music in the background, comfy chair, and enough time ahead before you start reading :)

Well, i guess i should go to the very beginning or to the time before i departured actually.
I didnt really plan to go anywhere this summer...ive never been someone with the *i must go on holiday* itch...but one day while i was having a shower, i just had a moment of 'fuses connecting' and it was an instant decision that i MUST go somewhere...running away from reality? Well, probably...but sometimes you really have to do that in your life, when that reality starts choking you big time.
So, the initial decision was made, and then i had to get down to making a more particular one, like choosing my destination (n.b. choosing people wasnt involved from the very start coz i wanted to go all by myself....reasons for that? PLENTY).
The first thought about my destination was Budva...but then i also started considering Croatia (it simply remained my all time favourite part of the Adriatic Coast) and Turkey (Ive never been there, and even though i talked how i wouldnt want to spend my summer holiday there, i took it as an option this time). Ok, i also had Tenerife and Northern Cyprus on my list, but i realized that it would be better to leave them for some other time. After loads of consideration, my final decision fell on Budva....why? well, its much cheaper than Turkey and Croatia, i know the place, so i can get around very well (and for going alone, it was the most convenient option), plus it offers a lot things to see outside it....so, i made my decision, paid for the arrangement the next day, and after two days i left...yeah, a very last minute decision, which turned out as one of the best decisions ive made in my life...i think that when you have the least time to plan something and think about it and have your expectations, the better it turns out.
And i have to say, that from what i planned, barely anything turned out so. What I planned was to idle, relax, spend as much time on the beach as possible, write all my left-behind letters, visit one or two places around....but the circumstances dictated things a bit differently.
First of all, the weather wasnt really friendly the first days (and in some upcoming as well) so my plan to sit on the beach went downhill.
My plan for visiting places didnt turn out as initially expected as well...first, coz they offered many great places to be seen and i had to go to as many as possible (not just one as i thought). But due to the weather, my initial arrangement about it didnt quite turn out either...
and last, but not least, i met some really great people there... with whom it was really fun and cool to hang out with and spend time with, have coffee with, go to the beach with, play cards with etc etc.. (yeah, when it rains constantly for 3 days, you cant do much but play cards :))
Anyways, with all that, my plan to catch up with all my mail, read all that bunch of books i brought with me,  went downhill as well, since i had literally no time for that, but i didnt mind it one bit...
After the first half of my holiday, those great people left unfortunately, but thats why i had Anasty to make my second half just as great as my first one...what makes it so special, is that in my so long career of knowing people from abroad as my pen-pals or people i exchange postcards with, Anasty is the first one i met for real...Anasty from Russia...im sure that to many of you that name sounds more than familiar :)
Well, i accidentally, just before i left, found out she was going to Montenegro too, and i told her i was going there as well, and we said we had to meet...it would have been such a pity if after i came back i found out she was at the same place i was (she was actually staying 5 min. away from me) and that we didnt meet...so this was such a great thing to happen, which i still sometimes cant believe it, but i have the pictures to prove myself we really were there :) (Oh, if you are a regular reader and you havent seen the pics from the holiday but you would love to, just let me know, and ill send you the link :)
As i already mentioned above, i went on a bunch of excursions too, but i wont give you any details now...ill let you know about them through postcards and stories behind them. But these excursions also gave me the chance to meet some really really awesome people.
Speaking of postcards....i had sent out PLENTIFUL of postcards while being there....a real real lot, trying not to forget anyone...though i know someone might have slipped from the list (thats what happens when you send out 50 postcards)...and i know there is always this chance for a postcard getting lost....but in case you dont receive a postcard from me, and you feel you had deserved to get one, then i really apologize and will make it up to you one way or another...the last thing i would want is that someone feels left out when thats my last intention to do so.
Another thing regarding the postcards...when i went to send that huge pile, i actually had to put the stamps all by myself...so we had stamps for first category (Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia), stamps for second category (rest of Europe) and third category (outside Europe). Can you imagine how it feels to be licking stamps in the middle of the post office for like 40 cards (the amount i sent the first time) and on top of that, to have to put one of those airmail stickers for each card in the 2nd and 3rd category??? and someone would say postcard sending is an easy thing to do...he he he ....well, not easy, but certainly a pleasurable one :)
Btw, i also tried to use that sponge they actually use in the post offices for the stamps...but didnt quite work out for me...i always ended up with a part of the stamp totally unglued, so i got back to the licking (even though they say its not really the healthiest approach).
So in case you receive a card from me, with a badly glued stamp, know that its my fault...and im sorry..
Hmm, well...what else can i tell you in this short summary....i think that this was one of the holidays that changed me a lot...for the good or for the bad, i dont know, but i feel changed on the inside...its a holiday which brought me my so longed for peace of mind while i was there...and which i feel is fading away now that im back....which just again proves this love-hate relationship i have with this town and this country and all...I really need to get away from here, and if that could be somewhere by the sea, it would be perfect, coz the sea calms me down...a lot..its an effect i cant explain, but its present.
So, in short-words, that would be it....there are plenty and plenty of other details to tell...but ill save some for my other postcards from this holiday...and some, ill selfishly keep to myself only...sorry :P

and i really like these stamps...not only coz of the blue background, but they are just lovely stamps (on the left one there is a trace from a pen, and i have no idea where it came from...)
this stamp is from a set of two issued in 2007, called simply Fauna...the other stamp in the set is from a 0.50 €, representing an eagle.

aahh, feels good to be able to make my first post here after a long while, though i must mention that while i was away i didnt miss my computer, the internet....ANYTHING....it even felt good to be able to live without them and not feel so dependent on them.
While i was away, i had received loads and loads of great mail, new countries as well, so hopefully, now that my come-back post is done, ill get back to the updates regularly, and show you all those lovely cards i had received.

thank you for reading, and for still being a part of this. Hope you are all enjoying your summer holidays!!

See Ya!