Kotor: Fortress and 1,350 steps

Kotor has a fortress that towers over the city and is beautifully lit up at night.  With its 1,350 Steps, I naturally was determined to walk up to the fortress sometime this week.  Well Monday was the day.  I made sure to start first thing in the morning when it opened and before the cruise ships arrived.  It was a strenuous climb with loose rocks, uneven steps, and twists and turns.  On the way up is the Church of Our Lady of Health where I stopped to pray that I would make it to the top and not have a heart attack.  LOL.   My activity level that day was 21,885 steps (10.53 miles) and 94 flights of stairs.  OMG.  My legs were sore, but not too bad.  I’m getting in pretty good shape on this trip.  Don’t think I’ve walked and climbed this much, for this long a period in my life.  Feels great!  The views on the way up and at the fortress were amazing and well worth the effort.

Later that day I rewarded myself with a boat trip to the Lady of the Rocks and Perast old town. Very relaxing, even amongst the many ship passengers.  Even got a little too much sun.

Kotor: Cruising

This is the way I like to experience cruise ships, from a balcony overlooking a beautiful bay.  Many a ships come into the port in Kotor, sometimes three a day.  I find them fascinating and some are humungous.  For something so large, these floating cities are amazingly quiet when sneaking into the port, usually in the morning.  I’ll be in the kitchen and turn around and all of a sudden, there is a large ship in front of me, and I didn’t hear a thing.  That is the good thing about them, and one must marvel at the engineering and management that goes into these floating cities. Then when leaving at around 5pm, they make sure to toot their horn very loudly, almost like a thank you to Kotor.   I’ve been able to time many of my activities around the hoards of passengers, so its not been a negative for me.  In a way, once they are gone, it’s a very serene and authentic place to be.  Still paradise.

Kotor: Cats, cats and more cats

Kotor is a haven for cats and now the town’s symbol with cat museums, a Cat Square and cat stores galore.  You find them everywhere and they really add a cozy and cute feeling to this ancient city.  I couldn’t help taking a few shots of them.

Highway to paradise

Am I in heaven?  I see a beautiful bay right in front of me, steep rocky mountains surrounding me, little villas with red tile roofs, warming sun rays, birds singing – oh, and there is a cruise ship, like, right in front of me.  LOL.  Actually, its quite interesting to see and watch.  This is the view from my apartment in Kotor, Montenegro.  It is beyond description, because it is just a feeling.  I feel so totally relaxed here and could watch the bay all day mesmerized by its majestic beauty.  Naturally, I took hundreds of photos already.  Church bells once again ring and on the backside of my apartment is also a series of mountain tops with a fortress and church (2000+ steps) that I plan to visit.  At this point in my journey I feel like a billy goat and can walk or climb any mountain.  LOL.  I don’t think I’ve walked so much for this long of stretch in my life, even when in India, and I’ve notice how effortless it is to me now.  I feel I deserve this view after yesterday’s transport experience.

Yesterday I took a bus from Tirana to Kotor, which started at 6am by minibus and was suppose to be a 5 hour ride.  I knew it would be a long day because nothing goes as planned in this part of the world, and sure enough  20 minutes in, we had a flat tire.  OK, it gave me an opportunity to get to know some of the passengers and take photos of the farm fields.  One man is a naval engineer for the Turkish government and another young lady a classical violinist from Tirana but living in Germany.  She travels the world playing music.  After 45 min, we are off again (the jack was broken so the driver had to call someone to help).  Eventually we get to the border leaving Albania, then entering Montenegro.  A boarder patrol guard comes on board and yells abruptly and sternly “Turkish” several times.  Finally the Turkish passengers realize that he wants them to come off bus and follow him.  Yikes!  There were about 7 Turkish passengers, so they get off the bus with bewildered looks on their faces.  I hear the guard outside behind the bus yelling at them, “Where are you going”, “Why are you going”, etc.  After about a half an hour they get back on.  Apparently they wanted to check their luggage and bags.  Something about contraband, drug smuggling, etc., which is strange because they were leaving Albania, not entering.  We then proceed to the Montenegro boarder with less hassle.  After about 45 min total we are on our way again.  Then the young musician translated from the bus driver to the Turkish that they would have to pay the bus driver 15 Euro total because that is what the guard wanted in order to let them proceed at the boarder and not search all their bags.  That my friends is corruption, which is what most Albanians complain about.  The Turkish were outraged and the one naval engineer was furious and definitely going to take it up with his government.  He has a special government passport, which makes him even more furious.  Supposedly the bus driver had to pay the Montenegro boarder patrol only 5 Euro.  So sad!  That is how is works in some countries and until they fix it, they will be at a huge disadvantage in the world.  The musician said that is why many Albanians immigrate out of Albania.

So on we go, finally to Bulva which was one town over to my destination Kotor.  But, the bus driver said he’d get me another bus ticket to get to Kotor.  He didn’t say why, but I assume because they are seriously behind schedule and I am the only person left on the bus.  So I wait 30 min for the next bus and it’s a bus that makes many stops, so I was delayed another hour.  Total trip took 9 hours vice 5, but those are the adventures of travel.  I was happy to meet the people on the minibus who were all interesting and fun, expect for the Naval engineer – he was pissed off the whole ride from the border incident.  BTW I never have issues with an American passport.  They all seem to love Americans.  In Kosovo the boarder patrol said “Welcome” to me, but not to others on the bus.  

Tirana: Petrela Castle and young ladies

The day before I leave Tirana, I have the pleasure of spending with Elda and her friend Medina, their treat.  I suggested we go to Petrela Castle which was just outside of Tirana.  This castle’s tower was built in the 6^th century AD and was a signaling location for the larger castle nearby – Kruje Castle.   We take the local bus there and proceed to walk miles up to the top.  It was a beautiful day and I didn’t mind at all.  I have interesting conversations with these two beautiful ladies and loved their youth and enthusiasm.  We talked about everything, their muslim faith, school, boys, corruption, travel, food, you name it.  Medina is a history teacher and Elda Masters student in French.  Once at the top, its really just a little castle turned restaurant with amazing panoramic views.  Since I was with two young ladies and I had my DSLR camera, I became their official photographer, and did they love to have their photos taken.  I totally enjoyed it too as I’m always trying to enhance my skills.  I can now easily download photos on my phone and send to them via Whatsapp. They wanted me to try a special local dish, but the restaurant didn’t have it that day.  They were very upset and after about 20 minutes of debate with the waiter, he said he’d ask the cook – probably his mother.  After all, Elda told him here grandmother can whip up this dish in 30 minutes, why can’t they.  Apparently the guilt trip worked because he said they could make the dish. We started with a beautiful salad, then the boiling clay pots of Tave Oleu (could not find a description on the internet-probably best), but I’m almost certain it had cow heart which I had as a child, and no, not crazy about it.  Also I mentioned earlier that I don’t really like to eat beef, but they are Muslim and don’t eat pork.  The gravy was very good and I was polite and ate almost all of it.  Their traditional cheeses were amazing.  We continued our fun conversations, especially about boyfriends, on a gorgeous day overlooking a beautiful valley.  Relaxing, comfortable and interesting.  The ladies wanted to know what I thought of them:  kind, beautiful, intelligent and very friendly.  I also told Elda she has a good friend in Medina who is willing to tell here the truth about her relationships with boys.  LOL.  Lovely day.