Montenegro

“When Pearls of Nature were sown, it was with a full hand that they were cast on this soil” George Gordon Byron

 

Our trip to Montenegro happened by…mistake, as I confounded Our Lady of the Rock island with Bled island in Slovenia (which I have been wanting to visit for a few years now). So when the opportunity presented itself, I happily agreed to it and even if Bled island still remains on my “to see” list, Montenegro offered us amazing weather, saltwater, legends, breathtaking views of small boats resting peacefully in the harbours, stilness, sunlight and history – magic.

The official currency is euro and the prices are lower than those in Dubrovnik.

Our first stop was Perast, a small, fairy-tale like old town at the bottom of St. Elijah Hill in Kotor Bay, home to around 349 inhabitants, renown for two small islands: St. George (Sveti Djorje) and Our Lady of the Rock (Gospa od Škrpjela) or, as the Venetians originally called it, Madonna dello Scarpello, artificially built on a rock by two fishermen who there found a small icon, a painting of the Virgin Mary and Child. It was the 22nd of July 1452. They took it home and one of the fishermen who was ill, had miraulously healed. To them, this was a sign – they started to build the islet.

 

For €5, a water taxi will take you to the island and there is an extra  €1/person to go inside the church and the adjacent museum. On the walls and ceiling, there are 68 paintings by Tripo Kokolja, a 17-century baroque artist who lived in Perast. There are also paintings by italian artists and hundreds of silver plates donated by locals, to protect their sailors at sea, with hope that the prayers would be heard. The museum itself is filled with old weapons, tools, sculptures, paintings, old clocks, an old wooden chest filled with money from around the world. They say that if you are uncertain about your next destination, just close your eyes and pick a coin from there and that will be the next place to visit. (Of course, you have to throw it back afterwards. My pick was a turkish old coin, but my plans are a bit different…)

Just make sure that your shoulders and legs are covered, as Our Lady of the Rocks is a Catholic church and you might not be allowed inside otherwise.

St. George island holds an Orthodox monastery and a small cemetery where priests are buried, therefore it is not open to the public.

 

Our second stop was Kotor, a port with a population of 961 inhabitants, surrounded by fortifications dating from the Venetian period (a wall 4.5. km long, 20 m high, 15 m wide), one of the best preserved medieval town in the Adriatic, included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list.

 

1355 steps climb above the city there is the Castle of Saint Giovanni, also known as St. John’s Fortress and from there, the views are spectacular (or so we heard). There was not enough time for us to visit unfortunately, but we definitely plan on coming back someday.

Alongside Dubrovnik, Kotor’s cat population is impossible to ignore, as they are a symbol of the city having their own Cats’ Square, having cats stores and even a museum dedicated to them.

 

Our last stop was Budva, a 2500 years old town, one of the oldest settlements of the Adriatic coast, resting on the Budvanska rivijera, which has become the most popular part of Montenegro. It has around 10000 inhabitants.

 

 

Some believe that Budva was an island at first, other say it takes it’s name from the greek sailor that discovered it (Boutua). An early great influence is said to have been the Roman Empire.  Much of the architecture is of Venetian origin. Throughout history, it was ruled by Austria, France and Russia. Montenegro itself is now ruled by the russian mafia, rumor has it.

The prices are unbelievably low, there are round thirty-five beaches around the area, a marina, a promenade and opposite to the town, there is a small island by the name of Sveti Nikola (where Roman Abramovich is believed to own a little land).

We ate on the beach, at Jadran, a boat-like restaurant-museum, where the waiters come dressed as boat captains and the food portions are satiable and large.

 

The saddest part of my trip was seeing a cage with four pairless parrots, all of different species and the only thing I wanted to do was set them free. They will never breed. They will never nest. They will never know what it is like to fly. Tey will see nothing of the beauty that surrounds them, They are only there to chirp solitary chirps for hungry, free and a little drunk tourists that always come and go.

 

Green Eyed Kisses,