Kotor, Montenegro

We took a second  road trip.  This time south from Dubrovnik to the country of Montenegro. 

 When it was part of Yugoslavia, it was mostly deemed a urban workers country, but if you go past the fairly dreary towns, you reach a stunning countryside that looks somewhat like Germany or Switzerland. 








Beautiful mountains reach down to the water, and small villages cling to the shores at their base.










It had rained heavily the night before, so rivers flowing into the inland seas were bountiful.

 One river emerges out of an underground tunnel in the side of the mountain, flows under the highway bridge and then flows into the ocean.  Strange to see such a fast flowing river just coming out of the side of the hill









Here in this mix of fresh and salt water, Oyster farms are in abundance.  Though not a huge fan of oysters, the large number of farms made me want to try some.








It was morning, so after a couple hours of driving to get here, we stopped for a cup of "local" coffee, which is essentially Turkish Coffee. It was very strong and very good.  Again, you just didn't want to drink it all the way down to the last bit, or you would be in for a gritty surprise.

Our ultimate destination was the city of Kotor.  It is one of the best preserved Medieval Walled Cities on the Adriatic Sea.    

It has been a major port city, but Montenegro has been in decline since its secession from Yugoslavia in the 1980's.

The entrance dates back to the 14th and 15th century, but was updated under Tito to have his slogan, which in English is translated as "What is yours, we'll leave alone, but we will fight to keep what is ours."

 Just inside the gates is a cool old clock tower.

 And a small pyramid, which is where people who had been bad would have been tied up to to be punished. 

Like many medieval cities, Kotor is a maze of winding alleys.  

The main site in Kotor are the walls that stretch up into the hillsides behind the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon a la the Great Wall of China. 

 

 We had lunch in the square in front of the church at a quiet pizzaria, and besides the great pizza and

and some great Montenegrin wine, I had the view of the church and hillside above.  Amazing.










After lunch I went inside the church.  It is an amazing blend of gothic and moorish architectural styles, and you can easily see the mixing of Western and Eastern aesthetics.

Upstairs you can see the remains of Saint Tryphon, the protector of Kotor, whose bones are encased inside a silver casket and  head inside a gold chalice.  Strange, but true.

I also poked my head inside a Serbian Orthodox church, which also felt very moorish, blending Eastern and Western design elements.

Kotor is a wonderfully picturesque town, and around every corner I found interesting things of which I wanted to take pictures.  Even the mundane things seemed exotic and foreign in a city with this much past.

It is clear that buildings have come and gone, and been evolved into new structures. 

For the drive back to Dubrovnik, we elected to take the ferry back across the inland sea and avoid driving all the way back around it.  This saved us some time, and was a fun way to get back as well.

Unfortunately, Tony got a little seasick. . .

 We made it back to Dubrovnik in time to watch the sun set over the Adriatic one last time. 

That evening, we had a wonderful steak and terrific bottle of Dingac wine to soften the blow that our wonderful Adriatic vacation was coming to an end. 

From our seat in the plane, we got one last aerial view of Dubrovnik with its orange terracotta roofs and its wall. 

I'll be remembering this trip for a long time.  And perhaps someday, I'll get the opportunity to return.

DINGAC Wine!

It's no secret that I love good wine - especially a bold fruit-forward jammy wine like Zinfandel, Primativo, Shiraz, Syrah, and Malbec.










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When we started planning a trip to Croatia, our guidebook recommended a wine bar named D'Vino.  We went there on our afternoon Dubrovnik wandering.  It is a lovely shop right off the main street, and it owner Sasha got us hooked up with a large group of Swedes that he was taking on a wine trip that week. 





 We hit it off with the Swedes, and they gave us the thumbs up on joining them.  So, for the one rainy day of our trip, we spent drinking wine and visiting the beautiful Peljesac Peninsula famous for its Dingac (pronounced Din-gach) Wines.

It was a wonderful way to spend the day, and we visited some unique areas outside of the standard tourist zone.  The Peljesac Peninsula is a wine-lovers mecca, which has been producing great wines going back to Roman times. 













The primary grape varietal is called, Mali Plavec, and the most famous wine-growing region on the Pinensula is called Dingac. 

The area is very relaxed, and most of the wineries we visited appeared to be located in peoples homes.  It made me think of the film, "Bottle Shock", which took place in 70's Napa Valley, and that this must have been what it was like back then. 

It made me wonder what this area will be like in another decade as the world discovers what amazing wines come from here.






We visited one family who makes the most amazing wine.  It was so low key and homey.  The wife had made home made apple cake.  I think everyone bought a couple bottles from them. 

One of the Swedes bought a bottle of some of the most wonderful high-end Dingac wine.  Tony brought out some chocolate, and we enjoyed Dingac and Chocolate on a patio in the rain.

 We ended the wine tour at a wine shop, where we drank a few more bottles of wine.  By this time, I had given up on trying to keep up with the Swedes who were quite happy. 

 







I would highly recommend if you are visiting Dubrovnik, to take a day and do a wine-tasting excursion.  It was awesome.

Dubrovnik, Croatia aka Kings Landing in Game of Thrones

After two months in "Visa Lockdown" (we had to hand in our Passports to get the Visa renewed, which meant we couldn't travel), we finally got our Passports back along with our new Alien Biometrics Cards.  This meant that we were once again able to travel freely throughout Europe. 






Our celebratory destination was Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Originally part of of Yugoslavia, and after a civil war in the 90's which damaged much of Dubrovnik, Croatia has emerged as a vacation destination for many Europeans.









It is a beautiful seaside village that dates back mostly to the 1500's when it was damaged in an Earthquake. 

It feels very similar to many Italian towns that also date back to this period. 

 Dubrovnik's most distinctive feature are its medieval walls which were never beaten until modern times when they were no match for missile warfare.

Today, the one mile of walls makes for a terrific walk.  We were visiting just after the end of the main tourist season, so we did not have to deal with throngs of people all vying to hike Dubrovnik's main tourist attraction. 

We walked the walls late in the day, when everything was a golden hue.

 Just outside of the wall, and clinging to the cliff over the ocean is a small pub called Buza.  We went here after our walk to relax and watch the sun set.

 It was a really nice place to enjoy the warmth of the sun, and have a glass of (sadly not very good) wine.  The location however is unique and wonderful.

Because of its coastal Adriatic Ocean setting, Dubrovnik is known for seafood.  So that evening, we went to have Seafood Risotto.  We ate at a restaurant on the small harbor, and had a relaxing evening enjoying the sultry end of summer vibe.








Like many vacation cities, Dubrovnik is also known for having great gelato.  I think we ended up trying gelato from most of them.  Among the flavors, Apple Strudel proved to be one of the best.








One certainly can't complain that the setting isn't an inspired place to eat gelato.

Tony and I had rented a private apartment right in the center of the Old town, and the morning of the first full day, we went to the market square where people can buy groceries, and tourists can buy their bottles of traditional Croatian Liqueur.  We tried a few, and settled on a bottle of liqueur made from roses.  Amazing.






We walked across town to the old fort, where they've been shooting the popular fantasy TV series "Game of Thrones".  Parts of Dubrovnik have been standing in for the main town that everyone is fighting for called Kings Landing.







They have used the fort extensively for the filming of the battlements, which featured in the latter part of the second season.









It is somewhat removed from the main part of town, so I can see why it would be perfect for this.  The show had wrapped just the day before we had arrived.  Rats!

Saint Blaise is the patron saint of Dubrovnik.  You can see him everywhere in town and is instantly recognizable as he is holding the city in his hand. 

Tony and I also hit the other main attraction in Dubrovnik, which is a ride up on the tram to the old fort overlooking the city. 

 From here you can get a great view of Dubrovnik and its venerable walls. 

You can also see the old fort where the Croatians defended themselves against the Serbians in the recent war.  Though not open due to damage from the war, you can get an image of what modern warfare can do to old stone walls.

 





With its red dirt bleeding through cannon scarred walls, it looks almost as though the very ground of Croatia was injured by man's war.

As sunset approached, Tony and I went down to the water front and poked our feet into the warm Adriatic water.  A perfect moment. 

Dubrovnik is wonderful to walk around at night.  After the cruise ships have left, and the city empties out, it can be exotically picturesque.