Day 227 - Friday - Montenegro 2 - 4/27/12

Morning came and I could hardly contain myself...others were still sleeping but I just HAD to look out the window.... this is what I saw!

 

I just sat there until others woke up staring out the windows at the magnificent view.  Kotor is located in the Boka Kotorska Bay area along the Montenegrin coast with the Adriatic Sea.  It is a popular place for cruise ships to stop.  I can not even imagine waking up to this view every morning. It made me think, would it ever get old?  I would think I could say "no" but the truth probably is that at some point you might take this beauty for granted. 

 Our plan for the day was to sight see through the town of Kotor, and take a break from driving for the day.  We left the apartment and I snapped a picture of the outside.  Ellas where we almost ate last night was to be our first stop. Since the people there were so kind to us, eating brunch there sounded like a good plan.  Not only was it a "nice" thing to do, it was also the TASTIEST thing to do.  The food was amazing.  Being this close to the ocean, seafood was on every menu.  Lizzie, Justin and I decided that we would try to eat as much seafood as possible, since it is not as common in Macedonia.  Erin was willing to play along and try new types of seafood since she had not had that much in the past- we were proud of her adventuresome decision!  I ordered squid stuffed with shrimp with a side of chard.  We were each given blue fish spread for toast while we waited. Just thinking about how delicious the food was makes my mouth water as I write this!!

Our apartment, we were on the second floor

Out front of the apartment

Looking towards Old Town

COFFEE TIME!

Blue fish cream

Calamari stuffed with shrimp

After eating we continued the walk to the Old Town portion of Kotor. The mountains had some vegitation on them, but the tops also were very rocky, limestone actually.  The walk to the center was along the bay for nearly the extent. Only one portion did we have to walk about a block from the water.  Kotor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we quickly witnessed the reasoning for this title.  Up the side of the mountain behind the town is a fortress wall that protected the castle and town along the bay. This fortress was gradually built from the 9th to the 18th century. It is approximately 4.5 km long.

Looking up from the street

a portion of the walk

Look- I am really there!

Fortress wall of the Old Town

Gate into Old Town

Looking backward from the gate into Old Town

We walked throughout the old town snapping pictures all along the way.  The sidewalk/pathways were narrow, and had such amazing architecture to look at. We also stopped in several churches along the way.  One of the most impressive to me was St. Lucas's Church which was built in 1195.  Inside was a priest that was so kind. He told us about the history of the church and the artwork inside. It was amazing.

clock tower right inside the gate of the Old Town

Franciscan Church

Top of one of the churches

St. Lucas Church-1195

Inside St. Lucas Church

Paintings in St. Lucas church

Erin and I

Another church in the Old Town

We walked throughout the Old Town to the other entrance on the other side. We took a few pictures of this side as well.

looking through the hole in the fortress wall

a window looking out- bars on the windows

The Fortress wall

Following all this walking, we decided we had earned an afternoon snack. Throughout the town there are many cafes with seating outside so we picked one of those.  I had the fruit salad... 

"fruit salad"

We still needed to check back with the person running the apartment (since we had gotten in so late), so we walked back to the apartment. I snapped a picture of the caving in the short tunnel that leads into the Old Town.  It reads: "What belongs to others we don't want, what is ours we will never surrender."

This of course was not the end of our day...there was still more eating to do.  We walked back to cafe in the Old Town down one of the back alleys and had a delicious meal.  I had tomato salad followed by seafood risotto.  OH MY WORD.  This I think was also when the local cat and dog population learned of our presence in their city...a few scraps MAY have fallen repeatedly onto the ground for the furry friends to partake in :) I also have to give Erin points for having her 2nd seafood dish at dinner!

Lesson: Try new things, you never know when it could be your next favorite. (Got this one from my parents)