Has Anyone Seen James Bond? I first became aware of Montenegro while watching the James Bond movie Casino Royal. Since then, it has shown up in several spy-related programs as an area of intrigue.
Kotor was all I had envisioned, and more. We got up early, and were on deck by 7AM to watch our entry into the spectacular fjord that provides sheltered access to the harbor. Because of the early hour, photos did not do justice to the incredible views and scenes of villages seeming to tumble into the sea. As we entered Kotor Bay, the Captain spotted dolphin ‘dead ahead’ of the ship, headed starboard; our daughter was lucky to see them.
The two islands of St. George and Lady of the Rock were circumnavigated during our entry. The Lady of the Rock has special meaning to our captain, as well as to all other sailors since 1452, who have made offerings for a safe journey. The legend explains a local fisherman found an icon of the Virgin and Christ on a rock in this location. Since then, sailors and captains have added stones and rocks to the site creating the only artificial island in the Adriatic. The church was rebuilt in 1632, and now houses a small museum, as well as an altar with the original icon. After months of paperwork, Azamara Quest’s Captain Carl Smith recently got permission to make an offering, and has added a special rock to the shrine.
One disadvantage of being on a cruise is you don’t always get to see the surrounding area – so we have tried to get into the countryside whenever possible so that we may truly experience what Croatia and Montenegro have to offer. Today was no exception, as we piled into a bus for the long trip to a national park that is home to the Crnojevica River and Skader Lake. We drove from Kotor’s Boka Bay along the beautiful coast, known as the Riviera of Budva, and along interior mountain roads through the Grbalj Valley, often with a sheer drop inches from the bus. Looking out the window was not for the fainthearted. Along the way we learned about the fascinating and, as typical of this region, complex history of Montenegro. It’s no wonder it is a place of intrigue.
We eventually reached the settlement of Rijeka Crnojevica for a rest stop and then on to our two-hour boat ride starting at the narrowest part of the river and ending at the lake. We enjoyed seeing mountains, some of which are actually part of the Alps, distant monasteries (there are 12 on the Lake), local fishermen and the occasional passing boat. It was an odd juxtaposition to see sawgrass and what looked like bamboo, along with water lilies, herons and seagulls in such a setting. The mountains in the distance belong to Albania, which actually shares ownership of this lake, the largest in the Balkan Peninsula.
Along the way, we were served some refreshments of goat cheese and a fried bread with honey as well as a clear local cordial which was also referred to as “firewater” and tasted like straight PGA (pure grain alcohol). Mom and I had already experienced similar locally-made beverages and so were forewarned; my husband and daughter took one sip and dumped theirs in the Lake.
We landed in Virpazar and had a lunch of fish soup and fresh grilled trout at a nice outdoor restaurant. Afterwards, we had a two-hour journey back along a lower coastal road. For those who could stay awake, the scenery was still stunning.
Once back, we walked into the walled town of Kotor. The medieval town is completely walled, and so perfectly enchanting it does not seem real. I felt like we were strolling around a pre-planned amusement park exhibit or maybe a movie set. The town was clean and filled with high-end shops, and a café of some sort was always in sight. The churches were quaint; the streets beautifully cut stone and colorful flowers and brightly painted shutters added to the charm. We even saw a few cats. All of this is enhanced by the mountains soaring overhead and the castle/fortress nestled far above us like a crown.
Just another day in a fairytale – waiting for a knight to come around the bend . . . .
There are four of us traveling together, we split in Split and went our separate ways.
Mother and I went along the incredible Dalmatian Coast and to see some additional villages, while my husband and daughter took a more rigorous adventure into Krka National Park.
My husband’s account (as guest-blogger) of their adventures:
We traveled by bus to the Karst Sibenik region of Split to visit the Krka National Park, particularly the Skradinski Buk Waterfalls-a unique formation of gypsum that created the unusual landscape of the falls. They are composed of travertine barriers, islands and lakes, which we viewed from a mile long network of wooden pathways and bridges. Along the way, we toured areas for the women weavers and the original laundry facilities, which used the rushing water as the water source. There is no way to adequately describe the falls other than to look at the photos. At the base of the falls is a large swimming area, which we were tempted to jump into.
We left the park by boat to visit the picturesque town of Skradin with its beautiful marina. We lunched at a local restaurant, where we were seated with a lovely older Austrian couple. Turns out he was a member of the Vienna Boys Choir in the 1930’s, only to return to Austria in 1938-get caught up in WW II, and become a POW for almost 3 years. After lunch, we took a stroll around the marina, taking photos of more large yachts and sailboats before returning to the ship.
Some of the many falls at Krka National Park.
My travels focussed a little more on history and culture. Split is very close to Hvar and also an incredibly beautiful city, with limestone mountains in the background and the sparkling Adriatic at its front door. We began our day with a tour of Diocletian’s Palace. This was a treat, because we did not expect it to be included on this excursion.
Diocletian was a Roman emperor in the 600’s and built the Palace as his ‘retirement’ home. More than a conventional palace, the huge complex has subterranean chambers, streets, halls, churches, the requisite bell tower and even today houses 2,000 people, shops, businesses and restaurants. In the middle of our visit we were surprised to have a special performance by an excellent all-male group of acapella singers; the acoustics were perfect.
Much has been added to and altered throughout the hundreds of years of various occupations, and some parts have been restored, while some areas are in the midst of restoration, and others are in very poor condition. Foreign buyers have been purchasing buildings within the complex, and have aroused quite a bit of local controversy in the process.
Once we left the town of Split, we drove up the striking Dalmatian Coast past incredible vistas (with no spot to pull over for a photo stop), beaches below along the rocky shore, and many bays and inlets, some with incredible numbers of gorgeous large sailboats.
Eventually, we arrived in Trogir, another charming medieval town with an incredible bay view. We walked through the twisted streets, visiting the Cathedral of St. Lawrence along the way and seeing the ancient court of law and early synagogue.Our guide said this is the oldest continually operating synagogue in the world, but today
has a Jewish population of just 100.
Our fascinating coastal drive continued, passing fish and mussel farms just offshore. Eventually, we reached the interior village of Bruni, where we were treated to a typical lunch and some lovely folk music. I must say the locally made walnut cordial was potent and hard to take, but the local red wine went down a little easier. The venue was a reconstruction of typical homes from the past and was a lovely setting, filled with brightly colored flowers and a pergola with grapevines, a marked contrast to the rough stone exteriors.
The ride back to Split was equally lovely but now it was hard to stay awake!
At this juncture, we all agree we have never seen so many super-sized yachts, normal sized yachts and large sailboats in any one area of the world. We can only wonder who owns all these vessels. We had a front row seat during dinner at specialty restaurant Prime C, while the ship departed for Montenegro and navigated a narrow passage out to sea. It was a perfect ending to a beautiful day.
Hvar Town as seen from the Fortress.
We are cruising the Dalmatian Coast on the Azamara Quest and docked in our first Croatian port of Hvar at around 11AM. First order of business was to tender into town to venture out on a tour of Island Highlights. This coast is incredibly beautiful with deep blue sea, bright blue sky, a light sea-breeze and layers of history. Today we toured the medieval Hvar Town and Stari Grad (formerly Pharos), stopping at a Dominican Monastery to see some archaeological antiquities from the Roman era. Our guide was excellent at filling us in on the complex history of Croatia and it’s tenure with the ancient Greeks, Romans and Venetians, just to name a few who once ruled this land that was most recently part of Yugoslavia. Our daughter was particularly alarmed to hear about the large number of wild boar and snakes inhabiting this island.
The bay in Hvar is lovely and we saw an unusual number of extremely large mega-yachts.
In town, we walked through the square with its church and bell tower, as well as one of the earliest public theaters, built not long after Shakespeare’s theater in London.
The day was extremely warm, and as we traveled into the interior, it got even warmer. We visited a typical Konoba (Taverna) in the village of Vrisnik for a tasty typical snack of cheese, smoked ham, bread, olive oil and wine. The white wine was not bad.
Once back in Hvar we toured the storybook fortress overlooking the city, and marveled at the commanding views of the town and bay. The complex also houses a prison with a long, slick, claustrophobic staircase and dungeon-style cells hidden far below.
Then back to the ship: hot, tired and heads crammed with new lessons about history, geography and culture.
We boarded the ship yesterday in Venice and experienced an amazing scenic sail-away on our way out of port. For the second night in a row we managed to consume about eight desserts at dinner; we don’t order, they just bring them – this has got to stop . . . .
Charming Venice.
This morning we decided to explore a little more of Venice before we join our cruise later today on the Azamara Quest. Needless to say, we got turned around and didn’t follow our planned route – but, nevertheless, saw more of the charming, intriguing back streets and canals of this great city.
After deciding to do the Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon ‘tour’ and see some Tintorettos, we did manage to get by the Church of Saint Roch (San Rocco) and see a few of his (that is Tintoretto) many huge canvases from the 1500s.
Then back to the hotel to catch-up with the rest of the family and get ready to go to our ship. We had arranged a water taxi to get us there, and he quickly got us to the port but he couldn’t find our ship. There were a number of large ships in port, including the Voyager, Brilliance of the Seas and NCL. We zipped around all the ships and eventually found the Quest (right where we’d told our ‘skipper’).
Once on board, we had lunch, explored the ship, unpacked and got ready for our ‘sailaway’ event (which was terrific). The ship sailed out of Venice around the majority of the island along with an educational commentary explaining the sights along the way. We had a wonderful dinner and saw some good entertainment before calling it a night.
