8 de noviembre de 2010

Montenegro. Day 26

Day 26:

We woke up around 9:00, and had breakfast in our modest terrace. Apartments Lagator is the name of this pretty place. We have slept here for 6 € per person, in a room with bathroom. Ok, we hadn’t T.V. or other comforts like that… but I think it was one of the best places I have ever been for this price… Recommended.

We drove for a while heading north, and received a shock when entering the Bay of Kotor, and in its main village: Kotor. First of all, that strange and surreal castle in the top of a hill, surrounded by impressive 4 km long ancient walls that go from the top of the hill to the level of the sea (260 meters drop!). There is no doubt… this wonderful place was one of the highlights of our trip around Balkans. In fact, it's an Unesco World Heritage Site. Walking through its streets is like returning to the XIII or XIV century (forget the tourist crowd …), and that walls… Have I mentioned the walls?? I have never seen a madness like that around Europe…


Views over Kotor Bay

It’s possible to reach the top of the hill (where the castle is), going upstairs following the ascension of the walls… but at that moment, with around 30ºC, it wouldn’t seem the best idea. I chose another option, less hard for me, but the HARDEST one for my car: drive all the mountain road to the top of the Bay of Kotor, in the slopes of Mt. Lovcen. Amazing!!! It was an exciting driving, going through tens of hairpin bends. Finally… Wow!! Impressive panorama over the Bay, the largest one in the South of Europe, and surrounded by big mountains.

Driving around Kotor Bay
The next village in our way to the north was Perast, another interesting place. The road goes round all the Bay, so we had enough time to see it again, but this time from the bottom. After that was time to approach the frontier zone, where Herceg Novi is. We passed through the touristic and historic village, but we didn’t see noticeable things around there. We were a little disappointed about this place, but no problem: Dubrovnik is on our horizon. After crossing the frontier between Montenegro and Croatia (less than 10 minutes there), we stopped in Cavtat, a beautiful coastal village. We went for a walk by the seaside, and a little swim in those crystalline waters.

Perast

Swimming in Cavtat
A few kilometers more, and we arrived Dubrovnik at dusk. The city has a problem of space, because it’s in a hillside and houses are almost one above the other. The streets are very narrow and it’s usual they don’t have enough space for two cars passing at the same time. It’s a little madness. Finally we found our guest-house, with our spanish-speaking host waiting for us. The place had a nice terrace and views over the new city (not the old one, unfortunately). We were very tired, and we spent the rest of the day having dinner and resting in the room. Tomorrow morning we are going to explore the marvelous Old City, because today was only on our sight from a distance.
Dubrovnik at dusk


Again, grammar corrections are welcomed... 

This time is Ozzy who says good bye ...!!!