Kotor and Budva, Montenegro

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Geo: 42.4441, 18.7816

With a quick breakfast , just cereal and coffee for me and eggs and oatmeal for Mom, we headed out at 8 am on the tender for a tour of Kotor and Budva in the country of Montenegro. This country along with Serbia and Croatia all used to be part of the old country of Yugoslavia. Our tour begins with a half hour drive to the old town of Budva, right on the Mediterranean. It's an old walled city dating back over a thousand years. We arrived by bus, then entered the city with our guide who walked with us, explaining historic sights as we went, for about 15 minutes. Then we walked the city on our own for about 45 minutes before heading back to meet the bus. Mom helped some older lady who fell in the bathroom and smashed her face in. We checked out the city which was very cool.

Returning to Kotor where our ship was anchored, we now took a tour of this walled city. It seems that over a thousand years ago, it was popular to build a wall around the town to protect it from neighboring countries and various pirates. These walls are 25 ft or more in height, 10 ft thick with several entry points to enter and exit the town. The wall encircling Budva has two sides adjacent to the sea and two toward the land. In Kotor, the wall begins at the sea and goes straight up the mountain, along the top and back down to the sea. What a job that must have been to build.

After finishing with the guide, we walked around the old town of Kotor. I think Mom was burned out today. She wasn't interested in shopping so we had a salad and a beer in town and headed back to the ship a couple of hours early. She did regret paying more attention to "the balls" jewelry in Dubrovnik but we found nothing similar in Kotor. She immediately headed for the stateroom where she took a nap and watched parts of a couple of movies we have already seen years ago. We were supposed to go to a private party tonight at the pool but skipped it, had a bowl of soup and went to the show at 8pm. It was a Celtic duo who were very talented. We finished up at the "Newlywed Game" where we met Rod and Corrina and made arrangements to meet for dinner Monday night, just before Rome. Tomorrow is Corfu, Greece.

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Photos

Budva
Taken at the wall. That's me.

View from the same wall
The ocean here is so blue and clear.

A church in one of the squares in Kotor
You can go up the stairs to the top of the wall but Mom ain't going.

Typical street in old Kotor.
It was a Saturday so more busy than usual.

Look at the price of these shoes!
Well, not really. The currency here in Montenegro is the Kronor so divide by 7 for US$ price.

Mom back to work
Yes, Mom, they take Euros too.

Break time
Trying the local brew.

Mom and her vegetable salad
Mediterranean vegetables, feta cheese and olives with olive oil.

They got Mom!
Don't worry, I'll save you right after I finish my ice cream cone.