Blogs from Kotor, Kotor, Montenegro, Europe
May 5th 2012
Le Monténégro, pourquoi le Monténégro, c'est où ça le Monténégro, qui donc décide d'aller au Monténégro, qu'est-ce qu'il y a à faire au Monténégro, avez-vous déjà vu le mot Monténégro autant de fois dans une phrase? L'aventure pour s'y rendre à commencé à Mostar en Bosnie. Un 4 heures d'autobus a suffi pour se rendre à Dubrovnik en Croatie, où on a passé une nuit. En passant, c'est long 4 heures d'autobus avec un bébé. On est tout pogné et surtout, on ne peut se lever comme dans un train. Quand on a Nellie sur nous, pouvoir mettre debout est un élément essentiel. On n'aime pas les autobus. Je ne parlerai pas de Dubrovnik tout de suite car nous sommes partis dès le lendemain matin à bord d'une petite Citroen C3, notre véhicule pour le prochain ... read more
March 14th 2012
The drive from Albania to Kotor, Montenegro was another spine chilling one! This is where I invented the saying "hairier than a kiwi fruit" and Nick earned his formula one stripes. The road is pretty much single lane the whole way past the border (two hours drive time) winding up and around the mountains on a cliff face with the sea below. When other cars come you have to pull over and at times reverse. Insane. The town of Kotor is itself a world heritage site, built in the 9th century. It is impossibly beautiful! It seriously looks like something from Disneyland, with a maze of cobbled streets and tiny little lane ways. You have to enter through the old iron gates at the front. All the buildings are super cute with old wooden window shutters ... read more
September 25th 2011
Kotor is a short bus trip from Budva and is just spectacular. It sits on the northernmost point of a bay that stretches from near Budva almost to the Croatian border. Like Budva, there is a beautiful old town on the coast, but Kotor also has a fortress perched atop a mountain. Climbing to the fortress offers dramatic views of the city, the bay and the surrounding mountains. There were some brave locals near the top selling cold drinks. They must be in great shape hauling their coolers full of drinks up the mountain everyday. I hope they get a lot of customers to reward them for their efforts. ... read more
July 22nd 2011
Little after noon, I woke up in a bus going I do not know where. Again, a damn border control wasting my dreams. I felt asleep to my favorite song hoping I made the right choice. I will never get used to these slow Balkans bus. We were going up and down the mountains like in a roller coaster. To my right the bay full of small islands was magnificent. A boat was waiting for us to come we went around the two biggest islands and finally to the other side. I was once again losing my mind to the freedom feeling running in my vein. I am living for those moments. The time past and we arrives... nothing is better that walking out in a new country for the first time. The time froze and ... read more
Sailing, swimming, and getting lost in the world’s third newest country (Montenegro)
Published: September 8th 2011Europe » Montenegro » Kotor » Kotor
June 26th 2011
We’re trying to decode a Croatian sign which, in our estimated translation reads- ‘Stop, Police’. It’s what you would expect at a border crossing. Ahead of us are a couple of port-a-cabins and a simple boom gate barrier that you see at car parks set up for the weekend footy. There are about three or four cars parked on either side of the road and apart from that it’s just us, stopped next to the sign which tells us to do so. British sensitivities in order we figure that if we just sit here and wait patiently someone official will tell us what to do next. A packet of jelly snakes, a massive bag of peanuts, and a re-application of sunscreen later nothing has happened. Luckily Carol (Katie’s mum, who we met on the plane) is ... read more
June 17th 2011
The bay of Kotor bay is considered one of the most beautiful bays in Europe, and features the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Perast and Kotor, as well as other typically Mediterranean towns. After settling in to my hostel I decided to climb the battlements that ascended the mountain behind Kotor, once you get to the top you get a great view of the fjord and are able to see all the luxury yachts that visit this part of the world. Further up the coast there’s a marina where many Russians holiday in summer. Kotor old town is very much like a much smaller Dubrovnik without the crowds, you could probably see this place in a day but I was hoping to go white water rafting on the Tara river so I extended my stay to ... read more
October 14th 2010
We got up early this morning for the five hour drive to Montenegro. We were headed for an ancient fortress in the hills in Kotor. It was pouring down rain and the drive was very slow but the views were beautiful. The Montenegran coast line was scattered with little old villages and churches. In the middle of the bay there is a very old Cathedral and Monastary on two small man made islands. The islands took over 200 years to make and they made them by sinking over 130 ships filled with stone. Once in Kotor we found our hotel and took advantage of the break in the down pour to climb up to the fortress. There are over 1500 steps from the base to the fortress on the mountain. We got halfway, where there is ... read more
Montenegro part III - the balconies in Kotor
Published: September 27th 2010Europe » Montenegro » Kotor » Kotor
September 17th 2010
Balconies en masse When we were in Kotor we walked through the streets of the Old Town and we were surprised over how many different styles of balconies they had in town. We started taking photos of them and the more we looked for them the more interesting it became. After an hour or so we had quite a collection of photos of balconies. When we started this blog in 2006 the main purpose was to make it possible for us to upload photos and make them available to our friends and relatives. We find the collection of photos of the many balconies in Kotor to be quite interesting and now, staying true to the original purpose of this blog, we make them available to you. We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we ... read more
Montenegro.....650,000 souls...some great places...some not so great....
Published: August 18th 2010Europe » Montenegro » Kotor » Kotor
August 12th 2010
The original plan had to be changed. I had planed to first go to Sarajevo, than driving to Montenegro. Little problem, no rental company at Frankfurt Airport will rent you a car...to drive in Bosnia and Montenegro. You could still drive in these countries with your rented car....but then, no insurance....better not have any issue with the car. So I was not going to try my luck in Montenegro. Croatia and Montenegro have not always been the best neighbours in the world, so there doesn't seem to be that many public transport links bewteen the two countries. So we went on a tour group. Let me confirm...I'm not a fan of tour groups...and most of the time if I was in one in the past...it was as the tour guide! But we truly wanted to see ... read more
June 2nd 2010
Comecemos derrubando estereótipos. Não encontramos na nossa década de viagens internacionais, incluindo nessa que já se aproxima do quarto mês, povo tão legal quanto nos Bálcãs. Prestativos, hospitaleiros e prontos para mostrar o orgulho que sentem pelos seus países a cada oportunidade, os iugoslavos (chamemos eles assim porque, no final, dada uma ou outra diferença cultural, todos se parecem, vestem e comportam igual) são uma atração à parte. Não existe aquela indiferença comum para quem viaja para a dita Europa rica, e o fato de você ser brasileiro é um extra. Sorrisos se abrem, vizinhos são avisados dos viajantes latinos na área, e não raro ganhamos comida, cigarros, drinques e algumas boas conversas. Em Montenegro não foi diferente. Chegamos ao mais novo país do mundo após mais uma daquelas travessias épicas vindos da Albânia. Decidimos nos ... read more
