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| Dawn approaching Kotor |
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| Our city berth |
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| Diana, our guide around the town |
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| Reliquaries in the Catholic church |
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| See the walls rising into the mountains |
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| Cats are a common sight in Kotor |
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| Giving the other ship a hand |
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| The islands |
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| Saying goodbye to Alex |
Montenegro Wednesday 6th May
Captain Karl Smith, the shore tour manager AND our cabin steward, Bengie, all promised something special this morning - if we were prepared to wake up early enough to enjoy it. They were right. The views as we entered the Bay were truly stunning. Kotor is the last town in a fjord-like stretch of water with little towns and villages lining the shores all the way in. Above them lay craggy peaks dotted with dark conifers and loose rocky scree Our ship was almost silent as it glided past them around dawn and the water was so still that reflections of buildings were clearly visible as we slid by. It was eerily beautiful.
Three things made arriving by ship in Kotor memorable:
1 It is almost totally surrounded by craggy limestone mountains and there is only a keyhole sized entry to the final bay, a mere 300 metres wide. It is called The Narrows. Invasion by the Ottomans in the 17th Century was apparently avoided by suspending a chain across it. (Most of the island's population remains Orthodox or Catholic). Kotor is also famous for two islands nearby. One is a man-made shrine called Our Lady of the Lake and the other a fortification. Both are very picturesque.
We only had five hours in Kotor so we took a two hour walking tour, then explored on our own for a while.
Did you know?
1 Kotor is a walled city and has three ornately carved gates and countless tiny winding streets inside.
2 It is prone to earthquakes. The last in 1979 revealed some ancient artifacts which are now on display at the town's Lapidarium, where I saw some marvellous examples of Greek, Roman and Byzantine carvings and jewellery artifacts.
3 Montenegro is not technically part of the EC but it has had the Euro since 2002 because they'd adopted the Deutch Mark as their currency some years before to stabilise their economy.
4 It became an independent country in 2006, voting in a referendum to separate from Serbia.
4 Montenegro has several different climatic regions within its borders, with Mediterranean style beaches and Alpine regions impossibly close to each other. It is possible to go swimming in the morning and snow skiing in same afternoon. It is possible to traverse the country by car in three and a half hours.
Our ship left its quay side berth (next to the main road) after lunch. Another ship lying at anchor moved in to take our berth. When cruise ships pass each other in port, they indulge in a bit of duelling horns (loudly) and waving a big hand at the other ship. We passed two in the bay leaving Kotor and my ears knew ALL about it.
Our captain then announced that he had been granted permission to pass the two islands I mentioned before on both port and starboard sides - and that the keeper of the island would ring the bell as we passed if he was there. And he was. So he did.
Then we learned that one of the bridge officers, who apparently joined the ship today, had his family waiting at the lighthouse at the Narrows to wave him goodbye. Naturally all the passengers flocked to the starboard side to see them and waved like crazy - and the captain threw in a few toots as well. Bridge officers are on board for 10 weeks at a time, so it will be several months before this officer sees his family again. No doubt it was a bittersweet moment for them all.
We will sail through the afternoon along the coast to Dubrovnik now - and will reach it in the early evening. We won't leave there until tomorrow afternoon. Apparently Dubrovnik is very pleasant in the evenings after most of the tourists have gone.
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