As the crow – or the seagull flies – Italy isn’t far from
Montenegro. Kotor is much closer,
only 25 kilometers up the road from Budva, and is as Italian as can be. We didn’t climb the umpteen hundred
steps to the fortress but we did lose ourselves in the maze of marble alleyways
of the old city, polished smooth by 400 years of Venetian sandals. We beat the crowd from one of the last cruise
ships of the season and had the entire place pretty much to ourselves. It is easier to take photos than try to describe Kotor and you may find it easier to look at the photos, too.
The road outside of Kotor climbs “Black Mountain” from which
Montenegro gets its name to Mt. Lovcen National Park and the old capitol of
Cenitje. The 25 numbered hairpin turns mean hundreds of gear changes to just to reach the park. The park isn't anything to write home about unless you are a hard core hiker. We should know by now that the American kind of "national park" does not exist anywhere else, but we keep hoping. The drive, however, was scenic and the views are breathtaking.
Budva, where we have based ourselves, and nearby Bar both have old cities of their own but they can't compare to Kotor. The 1979 earthquake leveled old Budva but
you can hardly tell today. Stari Bar, on the other hand, is a jumble of rubble, much of it sustained at the end of Ottoman rule. Still it is fun to wander and wonder.
