The Beauty of .ME

It has been more than two years since the first dotME domain name has been registered, and in the meantime the Registry grew to more than 400 000 names. We thought that this called or celebration and decided to organize a big party for our registrars and foreign partners who supported us during these years. Naturally, we threw a party in Montenegro, the home country of dotME domain.

The event started with the Welco.ME cocktail at the terrace of the hotel “Avala” in Budva. Exotic drinks, panoramic view of the sea and traditional cuisine ensured that our guests enjoyed their first night in the town once known as the Queen of the .MEditerranean. Live music and careful selection of songs (most of which had .ME in their title) contributed to the pleasant atmosphere and prepared our guests for the further exploration of Montenegro.

The next day we went to Kotor, an old Montenegrin port and former Venetian stronghold. After a quick guided tour of the old city we embarked on the bus and cruised around the Bay of Boka Kotorska, one of the most indented parts of the Adriatic Sea, with small towns and villages along its coast. The unique experience was complemented with the lunch in Perast, small picturesque town which was the cradle of Baroque style in Montenegro.

After a short break in Budva, we returned to the Boka Kotorska Bay for another cruise, this time by boat.  It was a cruise organized by “Friends of Bijela”, an organization supporting an orphanage in Bijela, Montenegro. This was another success – meeting of people from different walks of life, music /cocktail and a charity event in which our partners also participated (which made .Me very proud). The total donations amounted to 13 000 EUR.

The final day of this three-day party was, in the most part, spent in the northern region of Montenegro. The reason – Rafting at the Tara, the river with the second deepest canyon in the world. Despite the alleged extremity of the rafting, we did not hesitate to face the challenge (nor did we hesitate to leave behind those who preferred sunny beaches of Budva over the true adventure :))). The one who said that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away, must have visited the Tara canyon on a regular basis. An accelerated rhythm of a two-hour ride (paddle, paddle, paddle) was mitigated by occasional stops by the waterfalls, the estuary and of course beer break.                                                                                                                                                       

Eight hours later we were in Budva again, dancing to Montenegrin ethno-folk-pop music, which convinced us that all cultural barriers (had there been any at all) were gone.

All in all, this was a great experience and we are looking forward to the next anniversary.