Rain in Kotor, Montenegro

Some places you can just look at on a map, and by some combination of location and name, you know they will probably be really cool.  Such is the case with Kotor.  Cradled by the black mountain fjords of Montenegro and sitting at the end of a long and dramatic Mediterranean bay, it is a place of fiction come alive.  It is also a place of rain.  Of our 4 days in Kotor, it rained for 4 days.  During our visit, Kotor had the highest rainfall in Europe. Yay.

Still, we loved our time with this strange old city.

The story of Sveti Stefan

Beginning as a Muslim fishing village in the 15th century known as Divic, Sveti Stefan has undergone a series of peculiar makeovers in the last 500 years.  It was built to defend against invaders, similar to Dubrovnik.  It housed Adriatic pirates for a number of years, while also protecting against them.

Budva - The Russian Riviera of Montenegro

Heading south along the coast of Montenegro, we came upon the strange city of Budva.  For some reason, wealthy Russians have built Budva into a home away from home, and it is a strange and in parts beautiful place.  We saw totally chrome Audis, Lambo Aventadors, and all manner of other luxury brands - most driven by Russian looking men.  

The harbor is filled with yachts.  There is no shortage of upscale restaurants. But, the place is sort of this weird dicothomy of run down 80's Yugoslavia and nouveau riche Russia shipped in morsels into Budva.  So while some buildings decay, others are built up unchecked.  It is a weird place, especially around the beach outskirts.

Stormy Perast in Montenegro

Too often we travel by plane.  It is fast, but we miss the transitions that connect one place to another.  The ride from Dubrovnik to Montenegro was all about transition.  We began in decent weather and passed into storms as we drove through "no mans land" - and area spanning the border between Croatia and Montenegro.

The coast line changes in Montenegro to the largest Mediterranean fjords in the world.  The black mountains rise out of the dark emerald waters, and small villages and roads delicately hug the coastline.  It is incredible that this is coastline at all.  With the storms and lack of open water, it is an easy point to forget.

Leaving Dubrovnik, Croatia

Leaving Dubrovnik was like leaving a friend's house too early.  But at least we were able to leave.  Croatia's national airline was on strike, stranding many in town.  We left by car, hugging the cliffs, piloted by Olga heading south for Montenegro - Black Mountains.

We left behind Croatia and its 4m Croatians, 1200 islands, and perfect water for a country we knew little about.  Here are some final pictures of Croatia.

Visiting Lokrum Island in Croatia

Lokrum Island is just a 20 minute ferry from the old harbor of Dubrovnik.  The island has great rocky beaches and supposedly the cleanest, clearest water in the Mediterranean.  Also, a lot of the Qarth scenes were filmed on Lokrum, so there was a lot of, "Hey I recognize that."

Scene from Qarth...I mean Lokrum

The small coves just outside old Dubrovnik

Just outside old Dubrovnik are small coves, beaches, and relative peace.  We found a small empty bar perched on the rocks, a Croatian boy and girl playing some kind of one on one water polo, and even accidentally stumbled into someones private courtyard house entrance.  In Dubrovnik, it is impossible to get lost,but you never really know where you are going.  That is what makes it so charming.

The charms of Dubrovnik do not end with the gorgeous old town.  This is a city built around water, so to the water we must go.  The cool Adriatic sea glimmers like a jewel up and down the coast.  Sometimes it is blue.  Sometimes it is green.  It is always beautiful.

Duborvnik's harbor on a summer day

Here are some shots from the grand Dubrovnik harbor, which is lined with boats, great restaurants, and plenty of spots to stop and chill.  It is a tough place to translate to photos, especially on a nice day.

A walk atop the old Dubrovnik walls

No trip to Dubrovnik is complete without circling Old Dubrovnik atop the majestic city walls that surround her.  These walls are considered the greatest medieval fortifications in history and kept the city safe for hundreds of years.  

The current walls date from between the 12th and 17th centuries, though the first walls were built around the 8th century.  The walls run for about 2km, encircling the old town atop these gorgeous cliffs above the Adriatic. There are only 4 entrances into Old Dubrovnik through the walls, so the city is still very fortified even today.  Still, over 500 of the 800 or so buildings in Old Dubrovnik were damaged in the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991-1992.  During the war, the walls proved effective at protecting against even modern weaponry. It is said that the Serb forces wanted to detach Dubrovnik from Croatia and make it part of Montenegro.  

Over the years, the city has been attacked in over 7 wars.  The city has been tacked by Russians, Arabs, and Venetians, though never fell.

D'Vino Wine Bar in Dubrovnik is absolutely perfect

On Palmoticeva Street in Old Dubrovnik, D'Vino wine bar exists, simply being great.  We dropped in after some friends in Mostar recommended it. 

They specialize in Croatian wine and education.  Their manager or owner or whatever (pictured above standing) lectures the occupants of this small enoteca on the finer points of Croatian wine and his views on wine in general.  He is funny, charismatic, smart, and tough to figure out.  I attempted to understand how an Aussie ends up running Dubrovnik's best wine bar, and so I asked him how he got there.  He said "Lots of flights - Melbourne, Singapore, Frankfurt, Zagreb, and finally Dubrovnik."

Peacock on Lokrum

We ran into a lot of peacocks peacocking during our visit to Lokrum island just offshore of Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik's Buza Bar

Just outside the Dubrovnik city wall is a bar perched on some rocks - Buza Bar.  There is just one way in and one way out, and its existence seems to hang precariously between sea and wall.  The steps come down from the wall all the way to the crashing waves, exposing a perfect view of the Adriatic and Lokrum Island just offshore.  It goes perfectly with cold beverages and relaxing after a long day cruising duBro.