Sunday, 31 May 2015
A big climb and a day trip to Perast
For our first full day in Kotor we wanted to hit the ground running and get in some of the major sights, firstly that involved a climb to the Castle of San Giovani along the fortress walls. It's quite a climb, so we loaded up with some water and made our way up to the top. It took us around 40 minutes, we kept up a decent pace stopping only to take some photos along the way of the superb view. There are over 1350 steps and in parts it is quite steep. There was a load of other people also making the climb. There was a cruise ship in port and we chatted to a couple from the ship, they only had 3hrs in port, it made us very glad that we have 3 nights here to experience truly this wonderful part of the world.
Once at the top we sat back and enjoyed the view, took our photos and then made the descent, this was a lot easier than the climb, we were down in about 30 minutes. Given we were a bit sweaty, we went back to the room for a shower before grabbing a coffee to get us going for the rest of the day.
A trip to Perast was next on the list, Perast is a small town also located on the bay of Kotor. We caught a local bus for the price of 1 euro each, and promptly arrived in Perast about 20 minutes later. In Perast there is a small museum, lots of restaurants and lots of lovely buildings, making for some great photo opportunities. There are also two small islands, one you can visit by taxi boat, 5 euro return per person. On the island you can visit Our lady of the rock church (named after the island) and of course take lots of photos of the view of Perast nestled amongst the mountains.
We caught the bus back to Kotor and took a bit of a stroll around the outside of the old city before heading back into the old city to buy a burek pastry for lunch. Following our late lunch we wandered a bit more, taking in the sights and checking out the various restaurants in order to decided what to have for dinner.
Time to freshen up before happy hour drinks, this time some more cheap Paulaner beer, sitting in a small cafe overlooking the Orthodox church. The bells of the church were going off every half an hour or so, they were very loud!
For dinner, we decided to go to a small restaurant not too far from our hotel, I had a hankering for some carbonara pasta and Pete wanted to have more of his squid ink risotto. Our meal was lovely and the waiter in the restaurant was super friendly and cheerful. There are some very lovely people in this part of the world!
After dinner it was time to retire for the night. It was another big day and very enjoyable. We love getting out for a day trip and plan to take a trip to Budva on Sunday, can't wait :-)
Saturday, 30 May 2015
Farewell Dubrovnik, hello Kotor, Montenegro
Our bus to Kotor departed Dubrovnik at 10:00am, the bus station was a 3km down hill walk from the apartment, so after grabbing some breakfast from the supermarket (yoghurt, banana, chocolate milk) and a strudel from the bakery, we made our way to the station. It was a nice easy walk, albeit a little busy with other pedestrians, lots of people walk here as the traffic is quite crazy.
The bus arrived at 9:30 and we quickly got on to secure a seat on the good viewing side. We were in for a treat as we climbed the hills in Dubrovnik, we got to farewell to old city with another spectacular view. We crossed the boarder at around 11:00am, this time was a little quicker thankfully. Then we continued on to Kotor, seeing some picturesque scenery and getting a taste of what we will experience over the next few days in Kotor.
We arrived into Kotor at 12:30pm, our hotel is located in the old town but was again a short walk from the bus station, so we made our way on foot. The sun was shining but the breeze coming off the water was a little cool, perfect for walking with our back packs.
At our hotel we were greeted by the friendly manager Milos, who showed us some sights to see on a map and gave us lots of tips and hints of what to do and see whilst in Kotor. I think we will have our hands full here, there is lots to do. Milos also told us about our hotel which is in a 600 year old building.
After settling into our cute little attic room, we went for a walk to explore the old town, another stunning example of Venetian architecture. We grabbed some lunch, this time a picnic style lunch from the local supermarket and sat by the water enjoying the views.
Time for some more wandering and of course taking photos, then of course time for a couple of beers in the sun. We enjoyed some people watching, it's not as busy here as Dubrovnik which is very refreshing, still lots of groups, but certainly not as many.
After freshening up, it was time for some pre-dinner drinks, a few pints of Paulaner wheat beer, all up $14 for 4 pints, cheap as chips! It's certainly a lot less less expensive here, which is good. The old hip pocket got a work out whilst in Dubrovnik, that's for sure.
For dinner we decided it was time to enjoy some local fare, which of course meant some seafood, we went to a small local restaurant on the water front, Pete had a squid ink risotto and I had a seafood risotto, we also enjoyed some grilled vegetable. It was a lovely meal, with an even lovelier view over the water and mountains, I don't think I've been to a prettier place, it's just beautiful.
Following dinner we headed back to the room, being in the old town it's a little noisy, but nothing drastic, just a person playing piano or guitar at a local restaurant, the room is quite sound proof, but not enough to stop you hearing the music. We both went to sleep, but I was woken at 11:30pm to very loud music, at this point I thought perhaps there was a concert outside our window as after the song finished there was clapping and cheering. I got up to see what was going on, but soon thought to myself that it sounded like the music was actually inside our room. I got Pete to turn on the light, only to realise we have a radio in the room that was playing at full volume. I am not sure how it went on, maybe an alarm or perhaps one of the 600 year old ghosts had something to do with it?? I could not stop laughing, thankfully once it was turned off I had a nice peaceful sleep.
So, that is day 1 in Kotor. We have 3 nights here in total and we are looking forward to exploring this part of the world. Enjoy your Saturday folks, we are off to climb a mountain and take in some beautiful scenery :-)
Thursday, 28 May 2015
Another sunny day in Dubrovnik
With a full day ahead of us, we started the day at a local cafe/bar for a coffee, an espresso to be precise. We felt like we were intruding on the locals, but my guess is, the waiter did not speak a lot of English, so was apprehensive to serve us.
We grabbed a strudel for brekky along with some yoghurt and bananas at the grocers and ate them back at the apartment before heading out to ride the cable car.
It was a little windy today, so at the top of the cable car, despite the amazing views we did not stay too long as it was quite cool at such a height. As we went to catch the cable car down, we waited in a queue and another tourist (male, possibly Italian?) shoved me out of the way as we went to board the cable car, mainly because he thought we had cut in line, but it was the place the cable car guy had told us to stand. I was taken aback that someone could be so rude and in no uncertain terms told him he was a rude man (maybe not my exact words) and I pushed him back. Pete then intervened as well with a swift shove telling the guy he should not push women. This may have been to no avail, as I don't think he spoke English, and we promptly removed ourselves from the cable car asking the operator if we could take the next car. It was a little frightening, but such poor behaviour for this man and it was hard not to react the way we did when he clearly had no respect for women!
So we caught the next cable car and made it down with no more hassle. Once down the bottom, we decided to head to Cavtat, a small town near Dubrovnik that is reached by ferry. We caught the 11am ferry and revived in Cavtat at 11:50am.
After a short stroll it was time to relax and have some lunch and a couple of beers. It was so lovely sitting by the water in the sun. Following lunch we took a walk around the water edge before stopping to dip our feet in the crystal clear water. Just beautiful.
We really enjoyed spending time in Cavtat, it was very peaceful with a lot less people than Dubrovnik. We caught the 3pm ferry back to Dubrovnik, it was a little quicker back, arriving at 3:45pm.
For our last night in Dubrovnik we enjoyed more drinks by the main square, a university band was playing, providing lots of free entertainment, they were great! It was a superb way to end our time here, lots of fun!
For dinner, we stuck with pizza again, and it was really good. Also a nice fresh salad and a couple of red wines.
On the way back to the room, we grabbed some lollies from the pirate lolly shop and then ate them with a cup of tea.
It's been a great day, despite our altercation with that horrid man! We will move on from that though, and remember the fun times we have had back here in Dubrovnik, still a precious place to visit and always one that will be very special to us! Just love it!
We grabbed a strudel for brekky along with some yoghurt and bananas at the grocers and ate them back at the apartment before heading out to ride the cable car.
It was a little windy today, so at the top of the cable car, despite the amazing views we did not stay too long as it was quite cool at such a height. As we went to catch the cable car down, we waited in a queue and another tourist (male, possibly Italian?) shoved me out of the way as we went to board the cable car, mainly because he thought we had cut in line, but it was the place the cable car guy had told us to stand. I was taken aback that someone could be so rude and in no uncertain terms told him he was a rude man (maybe not my exact words) and I pushed him back. Pete then intervened as well with a swift shove telling the guy he should not push women. This may have been to no avail, as I don't think he spoke English, and we promptly removed ourselves from the cable car asking the operator if we could take the next car. It was a little frightening, but such poor behaviour for this man and it was hard not to react the way we did when he clearly had no respect for women!
So we caught the next cable car and made it down with no more hassle. Once down the bottom, we decided to head to Cavtat, a small town near Dubrovnik that is reached by ferry. We caught the 11am ferry and revived in Cavtat at 11:50am.
After a short stroll it was time to relax and have some lunch and a couple of beers. It was so lovely sitting by the water in the sun. Following lunch we took a walk around the water edge before stopping to dip our feet in the crystal clear water. Just beautiful.
We really enjoyed spending time in Cavtat, it was very peaceful with a lot less people than Dubrovnik. We caught the 3pm ferry back to Dubrovnik, it was a little quicker back, arriving at 3:45pm.
For our last night in Dubrovnik we enjoyed more drinks by the main square, a university band was playing, providing lots of free entertainment, they were great! It was a superb way to end our time here, lots of fun!
For dinner, we stuck with pizza again, and it was really good. Also a nice fresh salad and a couple of red wines.
On the way back to the room, we grabbed some lollies from the pirate lolly shop and then ate them with a cup of tea.
It's been a great day, despite our altercation with that horrid man! We will move on from that though, and remember the fun times we have had back here in Dubrovnik, still a precious place to visit and always one that will be very special to us! Just love it!
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