...brought to you by Gail
On
an overcast day we arrived at the mouth of the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska)
passing through the narrow entrance between two old forts – the one on the port
side is in Croatia and the one on the starboard side is in Montenegro. The Croatian fort bears visible signs of the
1991-92 Bosnian War when it was shelled by the Serbian-Montenegran forces. Our
destination was Kotor at the end of the gulf which is three large bodies of
water connected by narrower passages. The
steep hills of Montenegro (which means black mountain) rise out of the gulf and
the coast is lined with many small picturesque villages and a few larger
towns. Kotor is nestled up against steep
mountains and the old part of the city is surrounded by walls. It has seen many rulers over the centuries
from the Illyrians, Romans and Byzantines in ancient times to the Serbians,
Venetians, Hungarians and French in more modern (medieval) times. Seems like there has always been fighting
here. Above the town more stone walls
zigzag up the mountain to a church and then to the fortress of St. Ivan at the
top.
For
a slightly exorbitant amount of Euros we were allowed to pull into the cruise
dock directly across the busy main street from a gate into the old city. Once
we walked through that gate we were transported back in time. Narrow, pedestrian-only, cobblestone streets
wound among the stone buildings. Except
for the many churches and palaces, some dating back to the 13th
century, most buildings are 3-4 stories with red tile roofs. Shops or restaurants occupy the ground floor and
there are tiny apartments above. There
are many small plazas with lots of cafes featuring outdoor seating under
umbrellas. Kotor was severely damaged by
an earthquake in 1979 and was rebuilt with the help of UNESCO. It is now a world heritage site. We all agreed it was an excellent reconstruction
job as there are few external electrical wires and plumbing that mar the look and
feel of many old European cities. We sampled
Monetnegran cuisine that evening which is nothing special but John found the
local wine to his liking (big surprise).
Next
day was equally cloudy and rain was forecast but we decided to chance the climb
to the fortress up 1,350 steps along cobblestone paths. As we got higher the vistas opened up and we
made many photo stops wishing that the sun was out. During our descent the rain began to fail and
just as we reached the town, the skies opened up drenching us before we could get
back to the boat.
The
next day dawned bright and sunny and a couple of cruise ships arrived. Nancy and I hiked partway back up the
mountain for some photos and supported the local economy with additional
purchases before we departed. As we
motored out, we anchored and took the tender into Perast, another picturesque
village which has 17 palaces and 16 churches but just one (as far as we could
tell) tiny store. There are two islands
just off of this village with churches on both.
One island, Our Lady of the Rock, was built over many years by scuttling old ships and depositing stones around a small crag. We took a quick tour of the church, had lunch
at an outdoor café on the waterfront and then continued back out to the
Adriatic Sea bidding Montenegro adieu and heading north to Croatia.
Gulf or Kotor with it's small villages tucked at the
base of towering mountains
Entering the walled city of Kotor
Typical narrow cobblestone street and stone buildings in Kotor
Interior of St. Tryphane's Church
to be the remains of a saint or martyr
Howard and John huffing and puffing their way to the top
After about an hour and a half we made it to the top
just before the skies opened up on us! Note the most effective guard rail
View from the path taken the next day in the sun
(we were able to dock right outside the main gate into the old city)
Another view of the city and bay on our one sunny day in Kotor
 Small village of Perast where we stopped for a seaside lunch |
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