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Europe » Montenegro » Kotor
June 11th 2011
Published: June 10th 2011
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I had never heard of this small Venitian City of Kotor before I read the story about this tiny ex-Yugosalvian country of Montenegro, the newest country in the world, and having read about its cultures, and this famous fjord, I knew it was a place I had to visit.

I slept almost 10 hours on the flight to Frankfurt em Main, the flight was quite empty and the check-in staff in Hong Kong was very nice and blocked 2 of the seats next to me so that I can have whole row to sleep, despite I am 6" tall in height, travelling in cattle class is not always enjoyable.

Frankfurt Airport is not my first choice make it as transit stop because it is unbeatable with Amsterdam Schipol and Istanbul Ataktuk, the main temrinal is same as it was three years ago and the innovation and construction takes forever, it is still endless walkways, tunnels, corridors, and it is still an incredibly busy and mess like London Heathrow. I got into the Terminal 1 where Star Alliance parked and then had to go through immigration, and after walking the long busy corridor, waiting in what had to be the longest non-EU Citizen immigration lines, my passport was stamped out and I was then left to try and navigate my way through the endless walkways of this Lufthansa's hub.

It was a beautiful two hour border crossing journey along Montenegro's stunning windy coast from Dubrovnik to Kotor, passing a countless of small houses and the small town of Perast. The sun was still shining at 3pm, and I was glad I made this journey during daylight hours in late May.

I eventually arrived in Kotor early evening after almost 24 hours on and off of the flights and buses, the bus stopped and dumped me off at about 1 km away from the town so I opened my map, and walked back from where the bus came by, passing a number of fruit and vegetable vendors I finally found the western entrance right infront of the Cruise port. I immediately passed the gate and went into the Old Town of Kotor to find my accommodation, which is only a 2 minute walk from the Old Town Main Gate, making the location was perfectly great.

The town of Kotor was exactly what I pictured myself much of the most Southern European Coastal Town to be like. Most of the local people in the old town were quite stylish, good manner and well dressed, the fjord was not as dramatic as Norway's or Alaska's fjords but it was still very stunning.

The old alled town of Kotor is very similar to that in Dubrovnik and Jerusalem, about 1/4 size of Jerusalem, full of copped streets and alleyways but still easily to get lost, but as I keep wandering, I got back to where I started. The town is quite touristy as in Istanbul but not as commerical as in Dubrovnik, in the end it's still quiet and pleasant to explore. Because of the size of the town, one full day is more than enough to take the place in, but the atmosphere in the town and the breathtaking fjord here makes you just want to stay on longer before you tick this place off from your map.

Kotor is famous for its Italian food cultures and seafood so in the evening, I went to one of the Italian Seafood Restaurant featured in Lonely Planet and I ordered one of their signature dishes - Seafood Risotto, was incredibly delicious and amazingly cheap, despite the strong Euro, plus 2 glasses of wine - that was just set me off for just 12 Euro. This was perhaps the best way to end my days in Montenegro.


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