Kotor, Montenegro

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Picked up our hire car that will be with us for the next month. Managed to navigate out of the narrow lanes of Dubrovinc and onto the route to Kotor in Montenegro. Hadn’t anticipated the hour long crawl through customs with all of the other traffic and in the midday heat. Apart from that the journey was a pretty one, particularly the drive around the Bay of Kotor. Stopped briefly to have a look around a couple of towns, first in Hercvig Novi which was wonderfully quiet after the crowds in Dubrovnic. Very peaceful with pretty and ancient stone buildings, lots of churches and great views from the sea front fort. Further into the bay is Perast which was much busier, very small and more lovely stone buildings, these clearly from the times when the Ventians built their palaces and churches there, quite bizarre that such a small place has so many palaces. A long the sea front the buildings are well renovated, many turned into restaurants and cafes. Kotor itself is similarly filled with Venetian influenced stone buildings in a walled city, much smaller than Dubrovnic, and flat! It’s very pleasant to wander around, lots of bars and cafes in the squares, quiet when the cruise ships are not in town. Walked up the thousand something steps to the top of the city wall in the morning, great views and a a good time to go (less busy and less hot). Took a drive from Kotor round the peninsular towards Tivat where there’s a bird and nature reserve in the ancient salt pans. Mid-summer in the middle of the day was not a great time for bird-spotting (swallows,3 distant herons and a shrike)but it was a pleasant walk and lovely drive, despite the super narrow roads.

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