Montenegro - part 4

The last day of our holiday - visit to the Old Town of Kotor, in the Bay of Kotor.

Surrounded by fortifications, Kotor is one the best preserved medieval towns in the Adriatic and is a UNESCO world heritage site.   

It is probably one of the most visited towns in Montenegro and I imagine on most itineraries of Mediterranean cruises.

On the day we visited, one of the large cruise ships was in, just a very short distance from the gates of the old town.

Montenegro is being re - discovered as a tourist destination; it was very popular in 1980s, but tourism suffered for many years following Yugoslav war in 1990s.

The Montenegro government is set to make tourism a priority and a major contributor to the country's economy.

We visited neighbouring Croatia several times, but did not know quite what to expect in Montenegro.

All I can say is that we enjoyed our holiday very much and it was great to have the opportunity to see at least a part of this fascinated country.

The people of Montenegro are very friendly and we felt safe where ever we went. 

Our coach driver was a wizard coming down the mountains, negotiating hairpin bends on 19th century roads (as our guide called them). It just got little "interesting" when we met a coach going in the opposite direction. But these guys know what they are doing.

I have come across this YouTube video, yes, that's the road!

Yes, some of the roads are very old, but new roads and tunnels are planned. 

New hotels and holiday apartments are popping up everywhere, so may be now is a good time to visit, before it becomes too commercialised.

October is very much the end of the holiday season for Montenegro; despite the temperatures around 25C, the locals are wearing winter boots and jackets, where I was still wearing my cropped trousers and sandals. It is all relative :-)

And because of the time of year, we did not encounter any crowds in any of the places we visited.

It obviously looks all different in the summer.

Montenegro = Crna Gora = Black Mountain

I hope you enjoyed our trip.

And now - back to sewing!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2016

Montenegro - part 3

Just along from our hotel was Hotel Splendid, with its "Casino Royal" and its helipad. 

Many famous people stayed here, Madonna, Rolling Stones, just to name few 

("Sea Dance Festival" is held every year on Jaz Beach in Budva).

Little further along the Becici beach is this interesting rock, rising from the sea.

We had few discussions as to what this stone is.

This is another holiday resort, just few kilometres from Becici - Petrovac.

I would not mind sitting there now :-)

Just few more pictures left for one more post.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2016

Montenegro - part 2

Sveti Stefan - this island village was nationalised and became a holiday resort in the fifties.

It is now owned by Aman Resorts, which means that it is off limits unless you are a paying customer.

You can just admire its 15th century houses from a distance; it is believed to be the most photographed site in Montenegro.

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A coastal town called Bar in the south of the country - a modern town, with wide streets, unlike in other places we visited.

We were told this used to be a small village, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1979

(as were many other parts of Montenegro; we saw many buildings in the mountains, which were just left, when people moved down to the coast).

It was rebuilt, and now it is a large, modern town.

It is also one of Montenegro main ports, and has a ferry connection with Italy.

   

St Jovan Vladimir church - a new Serbian Orthodox church.

A few kilometres from the new Bar is Stary Grad - the Old Town, or rather what is left of it.

Not far from Bar, on the border with Albania, is the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula - Lake Skadar,

two thirds belonging to Montenegro and one third to Albania.

This is one of 3 National Parks in Montenegro.

We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny weather for our cruise around a part of the lake.

In the picture below are remains of a prison.

 In the days when Montenegro was a kingdom, the king used to imprison his political opponents here; there would be a maximum  of 12 prisoners here, plus 12 guards, one for each prisoner.

What you see above the water is what is left from guards accommodation, the prison cells were below the water level.

The story is, that if a prisoner escaped, the guard had to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Apparently, in the whole history of the prison, this happened only once, when a prisoner escaped across the lake to Albania.

  

a house with "a potential"?

wild pomegranates growing everywhere

and somewhere to stop for coffee

more pictures next time

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2016