Kotor, Montenegro (Part 1)

Tuesday, 10 July

A mass of cobblestone streets, simple buildings topped with sepia-toned roofs, lovely Romanesque churches, and a well preserved and restored medieval Old Town have earned Kotor a place on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

As we have been to the Old Town of Kotor before we elected to join a private tour to the beautiful countryside.

Again we have been blessed with perfect summer weather.... the forecast had been for a possibility of afternoon showers but luckily that didn't eventuate.

Our tour guide Milos was there to pick all 8 of us up in his very clean and comfortable Mercedes Benz van at the arranged time. This was a tender port and with three other cruise ships in the ride into the dock was slow.

We were on the first tender in so that we could get away quickly to avoid the ship's tour buses but this plan came undone when there was an accident about 5 cars in front of us on our way to Perast. Nothing too serious but the road was blocked for about an hour... luckily we had good air conditioning! No problems Milos said as we had plenty of time to do what he had planned for our day.

Our first stop was to Perast which flourished in the 1700's due to it's busy shipyards and is arguably the best kept Baroque city in Montenegro. From here you get a good view of Our Lady of the Rocks.... home to the charming 'Gospa od Skrpjela' Church.

Driving on we continued along the waterfront around the bay until we got to the ferry then returned by ferry to Kotor to take the high road to the mountains... up 21 hairpin bends! We made a number of stops to photograph the views which was spectacular. At the top we had lunch at a restaurant which included tasting the local whiskey and the house smoked cured prosciutto washed down with a tumbler of the local red wine.

After our lunch break we descended the mountain to Cetinje, the former capital of Montenegro which was founded in 1482 and is located at the base of the spectacular Lovcen mountains.

We continued on to historic Budva which is one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic coast.... some 2500 years old!! It boasts narrow streets, medieval ramparts and 15th century towers. A beautiful old walled town on the ocean. We relaxed at a cafe for coffee or an Aperol Spritz in my case before having some free time to wander the narrow lanes inside the walls.

Time was ticking so we made our way back to the port for our tender ride back to the ship.

All in all another great port day in beautiful Montenegro.

Tomorrow we will do it all again in Dubrovnik.... I LOVE this part of the world... so beautiful.

Founded: First settled by the ancient Romans as early as the 5th century BC

Region: Kotor is a triangular fortress port nestled between the Montenegrin mountains and a beautiful inlet of the Adriatic.

Climate: typically Mediterranean.... hot dry summers, and relatively cold winters

Language: Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian.

Currency: Euro

Industry: Tourism

Photos:

1) Our Lady of the Rocks church

2) Cruising into Kotor