Rosie fell in love with the town of Kotor. Truely, Madly Deeply. It felt so exotic, the romantic deep slate coloured bay framed by the dark green, brooding mountains. The navy twilight in the early morning until the rising sun raced down its steep slopes to hit the water and banish away the early morning fog that lingers on the surface, giving everything a golden glow, switching on the beautiful details of the town like a light in a dark room.
In the old town more than anywhere else in the world Rosie felt like she had stepped back in time, well, back in time. The stone of the buildings, the street pavers, window shutters, the cracked and peeling paint. The feeling of sometimes being totally alone in a square or a corner of the town amongst the ghosts of the ages with the dark hills looking over you, was such an incredible feeling.
The beauty of this dramatic and different landscape is something Rosie has never experienced as well. It closes over you and wraps around you on all sides in its majesty. To see the peaks of the mountains you have to raise your head to the blue sky and feel the sun beat on your face as you trace the lines of the town walls that blend into the hillside and pick out the landmarks high above you that you can see from all parts of the town.
The Bay has a calm, serenity to it and most days there is hardly a ripple in it and the reflection of the houses and hills in its mirror like surface is amazing. Sea birds fly across it low to the surface and teeny tiny spiders fly on the breeze hanging onto the end of a long silky line they have spun which shines in the sun. So many are travelling on the currents at this time of the year and the long silvery strands are everywhere to be seen floating on the breeze.
Then a storm occasionally blows in….Rosie loved the fierceness of these too. Torrential rain from the sky, thunder, lightening and the clouds so fast moving overhead that sometimes enclosed the whole bay, making a wall of white where nothing was visible in front of Rosies window….and just as quick the clouds would be blown away again.
Nothing happens quickly in this town, the local people move as slowly as time has through the ages. The only people moving fast are the tourists, racing through the town trying to see as much as they can in the few hours they are here. From her coffee terrace Rosie pity’s them as she knows they are only scratching the surface and missing the hidden nooks and crannies that makes this town so special. Rosie feels smug, she feels she is the one in a slow time lapse while the tourists bustle around her at fast forward speed. Not many pause to stand and turn there faces up to the sun and the mountain tops. Rosie is so lucky to have been able to experience this town for a month, in all its unique beauty and it will be etched in my minds eye forever.
