Category: Montenegro

It wasn’t until Rosie was planning their holiday in Croatia that she came across this mysterious place, well I’ll be jiggered, there’s Montenegro,  right at the bottom of and next door neighbor of Croatia. That’s it, Rosie decided, that’s where I will stay for my month…..based on one photograph from Facebook and handy location proximity to where we would be at the time.

Rosie has just booked an apartment for a one month solo stay in the Balkan Country of Montenegro,  with out really doing any prior research based on one (totally awe inspiring) photograph of the country and the (surprisingly close) proximity to our last stop in Croatia. Hence, she has broken her own Golden Rule of Travel #1 – Always Do Your Research Before Booking Anything.  Me thinks I had best start with The Facts.

Rosie and The Operator have arrived in Montenegro on our way to Kotor, our passports have been stamped at the border and we are in a very foreign territory.  You might laugh, as this area is a popular European tourist destination, a favorite especially with the cruise ship trippers, but this is abit ‘off the beaten track’ for us.

Standing outside Kotor Old Town and looking at the solid dark grey walls blend into the dark grey rockface of the mountain looming vertically up behind the town, you know just by looking you are somewhere ancient and awesome.

Duck down another short alleyway and you enter St Tryphons Square, where St Tryphons Cathedral imposingly stands with its background of giant mountains.  This is officially the main square in Kotor and has a bit of breathing space to it, being ever so slightly bigger than the other squares in town.

Walking along this dirt track in Kotor, lined with ancient buildings, church cupolas and autumnal trees swaying in the breeze, once again Rosie has a feeling of being transported back in time.  Looking at the above picture..it looks like Rosie is in the middle of medieval nowhere.

The Square of Salad, so named because it was the Square closest to the fields outside of the city walls where all of the market gardens and fresh produce was grown back in the day. Most tourists don’t really make it across this side of town, this square has no great family palaces in it but it has a great coffee shop that Rosie visits every day.

The Bay, from Rosies apartment window and terrace is a living breathing entity that changes with the weather and the light at different times of the day.  It is essentially the same sight, but you never get tired of looking at it as it has so many different faces.

Today in Kotor, Rosie and The Operator are climbing the stairs up the mountain behind the Old Town to visit the beautiful church that perches on the mountainside.  The church that looks down and watches over everything in Kotor.  The Church of Our Lady of Remedy.