The Bay of Kotor

Friday, I did another day excursion.  The one headed south to Montenegro to tour the Bay of Kotor which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site - both the town itself and the bay.  The website says the following:

The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is located in the Boka Kotorska Bay, on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro. The property encompasses the best preserved part of the bay covering its inner south-eastern portion. The inscribed property comprises 14,600 ha with a landscape composed of two interrelated bays surrounded by mountains rising rapidly to nearly 1,500 metres. The property is linked to the rest of the Boka Kotorska Bay through a narrow channel forming the principal visual central axis of the area. 

The Outstanding Universal Value of the Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is embodied in the quality of the architecture in its fortified and open cities, settlements, palaces and monastic ensembles, and their harmonious integration to the cultivated terraced landscape on the slopes of high rocky hills. The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor bears unique testimony to the exceptionally important role that it played over centuries in the spreading of Mediterranean cultures into the Balkans

 I was picked up at a nearby gas station at 7:30 and wouldn't be deposited back there until 11 hours later.  The tours run by this company (Select Dubrovnik) are smaller with a maximum of 18 people and well informed guides.  It took about one hour to get to other border crossing.  Like yesterday, the security at both was very tight.  Neither Bosnia Herzegovina nor Montenegro are in the EU which would explain the reason while our passports were taken scanned by guards from both countries going and coming.  What did seem illogical to me is that both countries take Euros while Croatia has its own currency - the Kuna.  Going into Bosnia on Thursday, the Croat guard seemed more interested in his coffee and cigarette than the passports.  Friday, it took about 25 minutes by the time guards from both countries - separated by about 100 meters - were finished inspecting our passports.  Whew!  We were in. 
 
Anything I have read about the Bay of Kotor talks about the bay's stunning views of the azure blue Adriatic and the dark mountains as the backdrop (hence the name Montenegro - black mountain).  However, when the sun isn't out and the sky is cloudy, the sea looks more gunmetal gray than blue, for sure!  After a short pit stop at a gas station, our first real stop was in a village called Perast where a little boat took us took us to the islet called Lady of the Rocks on which there is a small chapel.

Across from our "pit stop" - charming!

Perast from the water

The islet of St. George

On the islet of Lady of the Rocks

Lady of the Rocks from the mainland

From there, we drove along the bay to the town of Kotor.  At our previous stop, I had chatted a bit with two French couples from Brittany and also a Malay-British gal who was also on her own.  We decided to explore the town together.

In Kotor, I was a bit surprised that the parking lot for the buses was further away from the main gate than the giant cruise ship sitting in the harbour.  So, looming over the medieval town was this ultra-modern vessel.  When we all arrived in front of the gate, Sylvia gave us maps and told us Kotor was basically a “cat city” – it is full of them and a lot of souvenirs are cat-themed.  Cheery and I walked up onto the rampart – not to be mistaken for walking up the 1000 steps around the town’s 4.5 km of fortifications which snake up and down the mountain behind the town.  Inside the walls, the town is filled with Venetian architecture – Venice ruled this area for quite a long time.

Main Gate into Kotor

We just wandered the charming little alleys and squares to see what we could find.  There were lots of photo ops during the 1 hour and 45 minutes we had here.

View over the rooftops from the ramparts - not to be confused with the wall up the mountain!

The Basilica - partly destroyed by an earth quake which explains the differing tower heights

Inside the Orthodox church

 

Somewhere, way up there, is the wall and the little chapel

The tour finished with a visit to Budva, a small seaside village where we had time for lunch and a quick stroll.  Cherry and I had lunch sitting at the sea where one or twice the waves splashed my feet.  I decided to order those little ground beef sausages that I seem to like.  This time, they – 10 of them! – came with fries for only 6 Euros.  That dish plus a big glass of wine was 11 Euros – a lot cheaper than anything in Dubrovnik!  The rest of the time we just strolled the narrow alleys.  Cherry noticed that there were Venetian masks hanging across some of the little streets and there were also two on the ramparts.  I guess there must be a Carnival here in February.  I liked Budva.  There were lots of restaurants and bars lining the promenade along the seafront leading to the village.  I am sure it is a nightmare in summer but it was lovely today even though the weather could have been sunnier.

Lunch by the sea - the first of hopefully many on this trip!

 

Gate into Budva

The sea from the village wall

Village ramparts with Venetian-style masks on it

Following the visit there, we got on the road back to Croatia.  Some of the long drive around the bay was shortened by a short ferry ride across the end of the bay.  That also avoided driving through Kotor again.  The border security – passport checks on both sides – again took about 20 minutes and we were back in the city by 6:30.  I think after two days of excursions out of Dubrovnik, we are going to spend our last two days seeing the things we have missed so far - including that city wall.  We keep hoping for sunshine for that!