Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

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2012-07-11 Montenegro — 11, day 4, Bay of Kotor from the town of Kotor

2012-07-11

A more banal chronicler would have dubbed the town of Kotor the “pearl of the Montenegrin coast” and a “tourist mecca.” But I’ll call it a remarkable, well-preserved, and monumental forteza, which means fortress in Greek (picked that up in Crete).

True, not everyone wanted to go inside the fortress. Whether it was the heat, social anxiety, or just the mood remains murky, but a big thanks to Max for wanting to go, and a few other people went with him, myself included.

Also, a tourist from the UK who arrived here via WizzAir lobbied us hard to visit the forteza. As a true patriot, I informed her that this airline flies to Riga too, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to show up in our neck of the woods someday.

The ruins of an ancient fortress, consisting of stone walls, towers, and stairs, wind up a steep, greenery-covered mountain slope.

At first, the fortress looks like this

A historical town with a massive stone fortress wall at the foot of a mountain. Buildings and cars are visible along a palm-lined street, while ancient defensive fortifications stretch up the rocky mountain slopes to the peak.

And then like this

A brief background on Kotor. The population, together with the town of Dobrota, is 13 thousand. The town is mentioned in chronicles almost at the beginning of our era. The fortress at the top was built by Emperor Justinian back in 535, but the walls you see were built by the Venetian Republic, which owned the town from 1420 to 1797.

The large cruise liner "Nieuw Amsterdam" stands in a bay surrounded by high rocky mountains covered in greenery. A small town with red-roofed houses is spread along the shore, and a bright red buoy is visible in the water in the foreground.

The liner “Nieuw Amsterdam”

The large cruise liner «Nieuw Amsterdam» with a black-and-white hull is moored at the pier against a backdrop of green mountains. Parked cars, road signs, and a few passersby are visible in the foreground.

In case anyone happens not to know, “New Amsterdam” is the original name of New York. It was renamed to the latter in 1664, after being captured by the English, in honor of the Duke of York, also known as King James II.

Cathedral of Saint Tryphon in Kotor with two tall stone bell towers against a backdrop of gray rocky mountains and a clear blue sky. In the square in front of the church are groups of tourists and the white awnings of a summer cafe.

Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, 1166

People are strolling on the sunny, stone-paved square of an ancient town against the backdrop of multi-story buildings made of light stone with tiled roofs and shuttered windows, one of which bears the inscription «ARCHIVUM».

Notice the Latin inscription. It actually survived!

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For us it's a tourist attraction, but for people it's just housing

A bearded man in a black t-shirt with the inscription «I GOT THE POWER» and headphones stands, turned to the right, against the background of an old stone building with stairs and shutters. On the left, part of a woman with voluminous blonde hair is visible.

A colorful character, probably off the liner

I should say that the liner was full of American tourists, and, as usual, they immediately strike up a conversation with anyone who seems even mildly approachable to them. Had to tell them that yes, we got here on bikes, and yes, it's hot and hard, but no, not really, and yes, other parts of Montenegro are interesting too, there are mountains there, and yes, I understand they won't get there because they're seniors and only walk with canes, and not very far at that.

A narrow, stone-paved alley stretches into the distance between high ancient walls. An old lantern is visible on the right wall, and two bicycles are parked below.

Max's bike

Closed green wooden shutters and a bronze plaque reading "CHESS CLUB KOTOR" with an image of a chess piece are visible on an old stone wall. A black metal bracket is fixed above the plaque.

Chess Club Kotor!

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Ele, far from the first one I've seen

A person in a blue jacket is riding a bicycle along a narrow cobbled street surrounded by old stone walls, towards an arched passage. Other cyclists and elements of fortress structures under a clear sky are visible in the distance.

Three cyclists are riding along a narrow cobbled street squeezed between old stone buildings with arches and shop windows. A bright passage to other buildings and mountains is visible in the distance.

Panoramic view of a sea bay with moored yachts and a cruise liner against the backdrop of high mountains. An asphalt road with cars and low-rise buildings with tiled roofs runs along the waterfront.

Looks like a picture from another life. Which it is

A person in a black swimsuit dives headfirst into the green waters of the bay from a concrete pier. Gray rocky mountains rise in the background, and small buildings are visible at their foot along the shore.

We didn't forget to take a dip, either

Two men are resting on a concrete curb under a small palm tree; a bicycle stands next to them. A stone fence, green trees, and a house with a tiled roof are visible in the background.

Doomer looks a bit like a seal, and I'm sitting with my bare ass

Tourists and locals were walking nearby, and were mesmerized by the sight of Doomer and me, at least according to Max, who got a lot of positive emotions from this spectacle. As did we, for that matter.

A panoramic view of a picturesque bay with clear blue water, framed by greenery-covered mountains with coastal settlements, and distant gray mountains on the horizon.

We swam more than once or twice, the water is warm, but not disgustingly hot

A man is climbing out of the clear greenish water on a dark metal ladder. His wet hair and upper body are visible above the surface, while his legs in blue swim trunks shine through the water.

Near the bathing spots there were showers for washing, but for some reason they weren't washing

A young plant with carved green leaves sprouts from the stone wall of an old building, with a window on the left, against a clear blue sky.

Trees grow right out of the walls

An orange tree with ripe orange fruits against the gray stone wall of an old building.

Oranges grow too

The stone facade of a building or city gate with a fluttering flag of Montenegro. Carved into the wall is a bas-relief coat of arms, the inscription «TUĐE NEĆEMO SVOJE NE DAMO TITO», the date «21-XI-1944» with a star, and a stone arch with a mask.

The inscription reads: “We don't want what's not ours, but we won't give up what is.” The author is friend Tito

A fragment of an old stone arch with a round bas-relief of a winged lion with a halo holding a book, and a cross-shaped stone plaque below it. The plaque is engraved with the Latin inscriptions «REGIA MUNITA RUPIS VIA» and «R. AD MDCCLX» (the year 1760).

 

Three cyclists are standing with mountain bikes on the deck of a ferry. In the background is a picturesque coastal town with stone houses and red tiled roofs, surrounded by green hills.

We returned back by ferry

What's interesting is that the ferry is completely free for pedestrians, but taking a bicycle across costs about a euro, I don't remember exactly.

Also, by the way, on the way we drank some excellent, inexpensive yogurt in liter bottles, without added flavorings or sugar (just white, like kefir). I absolutely love it, and it's an awful shame that we have so little of this kind of yogurt back home, and it's nowhere near as tasty.

A large, sprawling prickly pear cactus with green pads and reddish buds grows near a gray concrete wall with a horizontal texture, surrounded by bright green grass.

A widely known and widespread cactus called prickly pear (opuntia)

The fruits of the opuntia are edible if you peel the skin. They're used to make jam or sweets, and if you're so inclined, you can brew lemonade or even distill moonshine. I ate it in Arizona, and tried to bring two jars of jam here, but my suitcase got lost during the flight.

A white ferry with a red hull, named «PERAST» and bearing the inscription «Lovćen osiguranje A.D.», moves through the blue water, leaving a wake. Forest-covered green hills dotted with houses are visible in the background.

The ferry belongs to a town with a name that doesn't sound very melodious to the Russian ear — Perast

A warning road sign «Quayside or river bank» with an added drawn silhouette of a diving person above a car launching off a cliff, with a round speed limit sign «40» installed below it.

Fine modern art

Towards the evening, around 18-19 hours, we finally reached the car, but I had fallen behind a bit and gotten lost. Everyone had to wait for me for quite a while, but no one said a bad word, complained, or swore, for which I say a huge thank you to everyone.

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