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Published: December 3rd 2007
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We succeeded in getting out of bed rather early this morning and rewarded ourselves with the pastry we bought last night for breakfast. We didn't linger long because it was so damn cold.
In a very responsible manner we got bus times in preparation for our onward journey. We think we will have to stay here tonight because the buses run early mornings. As we were leaving the station we bumped into our host Marco and okayed the extra night with him.
We knew from Marco that there was a way up to the panorama next to our room but from the map of Kotor it appeared that a closer route was available. He estimated that the climb would only take twenty five minutes which cheered me immensely. We began to walk towards the route we knew when Rob (bright spark) spotted some steps which he believed to be another route to the fort. Naively I followed him and we came to what I thought was blatantly a dead end. He did a little reconnaissance work and reported back that the route continued after a tiny section of off roading. Reluctantly I followed him up the side of a
hill until we reached Rob's version of a path. (to everyone else it would be called a goat/sheep track). Quite a distance above the city we decided it was better to proceed rather than turn back. The views were stunning and this resulted in many similar photos as we gradually climbed higher and higher. Occasionally we came to another dead end however Rob delighted in climbing over battlements and balancing over sheer drops just to prove to me that the route he had chosen was a genuine path. (the "soldiers route")
We had been climbing for well over an hour and Rob was finally admitting that whilst his route was fun it wasn't exactly a legitimate route. The views and unlimited access to any photo shot we wanted improved the slightly unorthodox route until we encountered a tribe of ferocious looking goats. On the battlements overlooking us towered three goats each one threatening to eat us with their menacing eyes. We edged up towards them and a further twenty emerged from every direction. I quickly hid and Rob daringly approached no-man's land bearing a leaf as a peace offering. The goats steadfast did not give any ground away although
a particularly large goat stamped his front hoof and shook its horns at us. Without fear we began to move along the path hoping that they would go another way. They continued to walk up the route we wanted and to make matters worse, we were being followed by three more goats coming up behind us. We continued in envoy up the battlements, the goats considerably more nimble and daring than myself. Eventually the goats scattered and we got past them. Very near the top of the fort we heard a scrabble and turned to see a rock slide caused by the goats.
The fort itself paled in comparison to the views we had encountered on the way up. We saw a few tourists taking pictures that had slightly obstructed views and we smiled smugly at each other and decided our slightly unorthodox route was much better. We went back down the official route and looked at the chapels etc as we passed them but they weren't terribly fascinating.
Once at the bottom we realised that due to our extended visit to the fort, we only had one hour and a half to see everything else before the
sun set. We visited the main squares and courtyards that were on our map and St Tryphon Cathedral. Rob wanted to see the front so we left old town and walked down to the front where wispy fog had settled over the bay making for a rather tranquil scene. We sat and took the obligatory pictures and then found a stall selling sandwiches which we sat and ate sitting under a tree watching the rain fall on the bay.
We wanted to be somewhere warm for the evening as the idea of our cold sobe seemed a little off putting, so we opted to see a film in the local cinema. We saw a lovely chick flick called No Reservations which made a nice change from all the boy movies we have seen since traveling. The cinema was housed in an old building and wasn't particularly comfortable but it was an experience none-the-less.
We ate at a non descript Italian restaurant where the food was mediocre at best. Neither of us were particularly in the mood for a restaurant but we had no other choice. The most interesting part of the meal was finding a little cockroach hiding
under our candle; we let it be.
Our room wasn't nearly as cold as the day before but it was still nippy so we got under the covers and read before going to sleep.
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irene
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The Way of the Goat
Makes me think of 'Heidi'. Steph didn't you want to cuddle those goats? I kissed a donkey once. xirene