Storm the Fortresses, Our Journey in Montenegro

Montenegro



With rising black mountains and deep blue bays Montenegro was a place which was full of stunning views for us. We got on the bus from beautiful Dubrovnik and took the winding coastal road down towards the Montenegrin border. The border was a bit long as we had to all get off the bus for both borders. Upon crossing the border we hit quite a lot of rain and this gave our first glimpse of Montenegro a very sinister and gloomy look. This said it didn't ruin the experience but rather added to it.


Kotor

While in Kotor we stayed in the old town and this gloomy effect really made it feel like we were immersed in some old medieval town with it's white walls and cobbled streets. Kotor itself is an old Venetian fortress leftover from the Albanian kingdom of the aforementioned empire. To be honest it was all a bit much during the day as many cruise ships offload in Kotor so the whole town is teeming with tourists. During the evening however the town is very relaxed and calm and is great to wander in.

Fortress

On our second day we walked up to the fortress. We had originally seen that we could do this for 8 euro each, however we found an alternative way up the hill which turned out to be more interesting. We climbed up the winding path (read climbed as panted heavily while cursing our stupid idea to climb the hill in the first place) towards an old stone farmhouse. Once reaching the farmhouse we met some lovely elderly men who sold us some ice tea and let us admire the view (see above). From here we walked through the old abandoned village which now lay in ruins. It was a little uncertain what happened in the village but it involved Napolean, the Austro-Hungarians and some bandits. We saw a stunning church here and then climbed through a window and up towards the castle high above the town of Kotor.


Food 

I feel it would be unfair to mention Kotor without talking about food. Suffice to say the kitchen in the place we were staying in was disgusting so we ended up eating either at the bakery (Burek is a new found love in my life) and then on our final day in Kotor we went to Tanjga and had the most amazing sandwiches pictures here. Believe it or not these were the small sandwiches with the most amazing cuts of meat (Olivia had chicken and I had pork) and some excellent sandwiches and Ajdvar (a roast pepper sauce). If you do find yourself in Kotor make sure you go here, it's very reasonable and tastes amazing!


Podgorica

I was a little bit worried about going to Podgorica as I had been told that there was very little to do, and to be honest they were right, there wasn't a lot to see. We went to the old town which was nice and had a little wander around the parks and rivers. I don't think that it was a bad idea to stay as we needed a little rest or it would have been a very long bus ride. But then we went to the Cathedral and I am now wholeheartedly in the camp of anyone in the area should spend at least a day in Podgorica.


Front of the Cathedral of the Ressurection, Podgorica

The Cathedral

Completed in 2014 this Orthodox Cathedral is a fairly modern structure. But adorned on all of it's walls is Orthodox Icons in gold and it is a truly beautiful church. There was even a wedding taking place when we arrived. It was still open to the public so we quietly sat at the back of the cathedral and watched what a traditional Orthodox wedding would look like. It was a bad move, I was suddenly disappointing with my wedding, there were no crowns at ours and no singing vicars. So we may have a new wedding when we get back complete with crowns and singing monks. But in all seriousness it was a very interesting thing to watch and a beautiful church as well.

Roof of the Cathedral of the Ressurection, Podgorica

Where next?


Our next destination is Pec or Peje in Kosovo and then from there we go to Prizren, Kosovo. We will probably write again at the end of that before moving on to our next destination. As always you can see our photos on this link here

Thanks for reading

Andrew and Olivia

Links to other parts of the world




Location: Montenegro

Comments

  1. Karl28 May 2018 at 22:07

    If you let me marry you again, I promise I’ll sing.

    ReplyDelete

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