We had an early morning flight to Montenegro and luckily, the flight was on time and rewarded our ‘wake up at 4:30am’ efforts. We landed in Podgorica which was the capital of Montenegro. It was a small city and easy to navigate. We rented a car at the airport and made our way over to see the main attraction in town….a cathedral. I know you are shocked! Montenegro’s main religion was Eastern Orthodox and we immediately had lots of questions about their religion. At the cathedral, the people walking in would stop and kiss the door. Then, they would wait in a line to kiss an icon that stood at the center of the church. Then, they would wander about and stop at different objects kissing each one. They would kiss the feet and hands of statues, picture frames, glass cases, etc. Then, they would back out of the church and head on their way. After the kissing cathedral, we found a monastery that was built in a cave. It had very simplistic drawings of Jesus on the walls and I found it very peaceful (and much more inspiring than the Vatican!). There were a few more kissing people in the monastery as well. Later in our trip, we talked with a local who explained that the kissing was a sign of respect and one would kiss whichever icon represented the saint to which one was praying. He also explained that throughout the complicated history of Montenegro, the people held tightly to the Eastern Orthodox religion because it maintained their identity until the invaders left them alone. Very interesting conversation! Leaving Podgorica, we headed out past Lake Skadar, through several tunnels and over the mountains to the seaside. Our Airbnb was located near Budva and had sweeping views of the Adriatic. My pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the area due to a haze that hung over the area. We arrived in the rainy season so we did not have any bright sunny days to burn off the haze. The next morning, we headed over the mountains for a day in Cetinje which was the historical capital of ancient Montenegro. Montenegro has been invaded by just about every surrounding culture including Venice, Hungary, Rome, Germans, etc. The official language is Montenegran but they teach English in school starting in the second grade and then they learn a third language by middle school! Montenegran was similar to Russian so needless to say, we conquered ‘thank you’ and that was about it! For most words, we just said, “kushbushshugabado” because that is what they all looked like. They were at least 13 letters long with only one vowel most of the time! Impossible! When we arrived in Cetinje, we stopped by the tourist information office to get some tourist information….logically. I walked in and asked for a map. A large man looked at me, smiled and said, “I can not map” (you must hear it with a Russian accent for full appreciation). I responded, “No map?” to which he said, “Ya, I can not map”. I wasn’t sure what the exact purpose of the tourist information office was but it certainly was not information for tourists. Without a map in hand, we made our way through the historic area which had been turned into several small museums. We gained insight on Montenegro’s history which was interesting. At one museum, the girl gave us the cost breakdown of the entrance fee…”It is $3.00 for museum. It is $2.00 for the topographical display of Montenegro”. Well, that must be special if it was separate so we bought the complete ticket. After going through the museum, the girl led us to the special display area. It was a huge room filled with a map of Montenegro that showed all rocky mountains and the lake. Bill laughed and said he was not sure why everyone had wanted to invade them over the years because the entire country was just one big rock! To prove our point, our afternoon was spent exploring a local cave which was quite large and had some cool formations. One guide said Montenegro had over 200 caves and one said over 2000 caves so somewhere in that small range! On day three, we explored the historic town of Budva which was a walled city on the sea. It reminded us of Venice without the waterways so we were glad we were here in the off season because high season would have been a crowded mess. The city was small and easy to navigate so it was a quick visit. After Budva, we stopped by a restaurant and had a great lunch by the sea. Always a good day! Day four was a long day with an added challenge…rain! We have not had rain on tour days since we left the States so we have been spoiled. Unfortunately, the rain came on a day when we had all outdoor activities planned with no option to change plans. We drove to Kotor which was another walled city and realized quickly that exploring with two cruise ships in port and all passengers with umbrellas was not going to be a pleasant experience. We made our way through the town and then decided to go ahead with our drive to Croatia. There was only one road from Kotor to Croatia so it was a simple drive but the road took us all the way around the Kotor Bay which was a bit long. We arrived in Dubrovnik just as the sun began to push through the clouds. Parking in Dubrovnik was challenging but we finally located a parking garage at the top of the hill. The old city in Dubrovnik was surrounded by a wall and was quite large. Dubrovnik is also the main filming location for Game of Thrones so for those of you who watched that series, you may find some familiar sights in the pictures. Even in a walled city, there were tons of cathedrals…and steps. We had decided to “walk the wall” around the city but quickly changed our minds when we discovered the cost was $33.00 each and there were over 1000 steps involved over a mile long hike. We voted paying that much to be tortured was not on our agenda since this leg was our relax and recuperate leg! Our final day in Croatia we were met with a sunny morning! We explored one of the old forts next to the old city and had some wonderful views. Our drive back to Montenegro had sweeping views and I loved the fall colors on the mountains. Our last stop was the Podgorica cemetery. We had tried to see the cemetery our first day but when we arrived, hundreds of people were there and they were all carrying flowers. Since we could not find anywhere to park, we had to skip the cemetery. So, on our back into the city, we stopped by again and we were able to visit. As you can see from the pictures, the cemetery was full of flowers and every grave was immaculate. It was a nice way to end our very peaceful week. We fly out tomorrow to Istanbul, Turkey. I am a bit nervous about this leg because the city is massive and it will be the first Muslim city I have ever visited. With Bill’s knees showing and my blond hair (okay, white at this point), I am not sure what our reception will be. Fingers crossed all goes well! Ratings for Montenegro/Croatia: Overall: 8.5 Montenegro/7 Croatia Points of interest: 6 Montenegro/7 Croatia Ease of communication: 8 Montenegro/7 Croatia Ease of transportation: 8 Montenegro/6 Croatia (due to parking challenges) Friendly people: 8 Food: 8 Cost of living: 10 Montenegro/5 Croatia Weather: 7 Bill’s favorite thing: Relaxing on the water Sally’s favorite thing: A room with a wonderful view and quiet!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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