Kotor, Montenegro - Day 4

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Again I woke up to rain and thought "what a bummer."  But luck won out and we managed to dodge the rain for a full day of sightseeing.

We boarded our bus at 8 am for the hour long trip to Kotor, with some fun stops along the way. First we visited an archeological site in Risen where they have uncovered mosaic floors of a Roman settlement dating to the second century AD. Reminded me of ones I saw last year in Portugal and I am always amazed at their detail.

Then we went to Perast, the oldest city in the country, where we boarded a boat to visit a pair of islands in the harbor.  St. George, on the left, is a natural island, and the other is man made known as Our Lady of the Rocks. It is said that two local fishermen saw a light emanating from a reef deep below the surface near the other island. Discovering an icon of Mary, they were inspired to build a second island on that holy spot. So, for two centuries, locals dropped rocks and even sunk old ships there -- eventually creating a island on which to build a church.  

Inside the church, the walls are decorated with images of the Virgin Mary and the painting over the alter is the icon they discovered.

On to Kotor. Its most famous attraction is its medieval wall dating to the 12th century. There are still 3 main gates that provide access to the old town. Here I am at one entrance with the wall behind me and up above on the hill. Our guide Sandra took us on an excellent walking tour of the city, pointing out another ubiquitous clock tower, museums and several Catholic and Orthodox Catholic Churches.  Foremost among them is St. Tryphon's Cathedral, dating from the 12th century, but repaired and reconstructed over the years due to earthquakes. Notice its mismatched towers (ran out of money).

We had lunch at a fancy hotel called Cattaro in the building that was Napoleon's Theater. I shot a photo of the main city square from the hotel balcony.

After lunch I was determined to climb part of the old wall, which actually has 1700 steps and goes to the top of the hill. After paying my 3 euros, I decided to do only what seemed reasonable -- the "stairs" were rocky and uneven and somewhat slippery due to an earlier rain. I did make it up to a wonderful overlook and was fulfilled.

This is an example of some of the stairs (to the right of the "building").

And this is looking down on the city street that I "climbed" just to get to the entrance. Afterwards I walked around town and explored more parts of the wall and the Gurdich Gate. Not sure why this giant doll is sitting on top.

We met at the main gate for our trip back to Igalo. 

Snagged a photo of our Road Scholar guide Ilona, left, with our local guide Sandra before the latter leaves us tomorrow.

Another lovely dinner at the hotel with some good conversation. Sat next to the only other person in our group who walked the wall. He and I are looking forward to the Dubrovnik wall tomorrow -- although it does not involve such a climb. I still fit in an evening stroll on the promenade.