Roadtrippin’ Paris to Bosnia and Croatia, and we are still speaking !
Mar 6th, 2007, 12:33 PM
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 437
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wednesday, July 12, Day 7 - Montenegro
Before we can fall into a true state of REM sleep, the alarm reminds us there
will be no lazing about today. A quick shower and a gulp of coffee and we are
off to find our bus. A bit of confusion about where to catch the bus leaves us
lacking in time to pick up breakfast.
Our tour turns out to be a combination French and German tour. We have two
guides, both native Montenegrins, one for each language. As we head south
towards Montenegro, each guide gives a run down of our busy schedule. Both speak their second language very well, however, a lot of chatter in the opposite language while the guide is speaking makes it extremely difficult for me to follow.
Arriving at the border we are instructed to have our passports out and opened.
An inspector boards the bus and takes a cursory glance at the passports as he
passes down the aisle. Without hesitation we are given the go-ahead and we continue on towards Kotor.
Our first stop of the day is along the Bay of Kotor for a quick photo op of the
Lady of the Rock Island (Godpa od Skrpjela). The scenery here is stunning; the crystal blue waters of the bay are protected by steep mountains rising high into the clear summer sky. We snap a few photos and are ushered back into the bus to continue on to Kotor.
Arriving to Kotor, we are walked into the town and given some suggestions on
what we may like to see and left with orders to be back on the bus in an hour.
We are in desperate need of another coffee but alas, there will be no time for that and we dash off towards the St Tryphon Cathedral.
St Tryphon is a work of Romanesque-Gothic architecture built in the 11th century. It houses a silver relief alter screen that is said to be the most valuable treasure in Kotor.
The rest of our hour is spent wandering the windy streets of Kotor. The city
ramparts line the mountains above but there is only time to see them from the
town below. We pop into St Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church for a quick glance and finish our race around Kotor with some tasty pastries for breakfast.
We hustle back to the bus and Yannick declares that we should have just come
with our own car. When we booked the tour we weren't really sure what to expect as for the driving conditions in Montenegro, but as it turns out it would have been fine. We are already feeling way to rushed and the day has just begun.
We leave Kotor for the windy mountainous route to Cetinje, the former capital of
Montenegro. We climb higher and higher as the bus driver skillfully maneuvers
the bus through one hair pin turn after another. We have another photo-op stop
and are rewarded with incredible, breath-taking views of Kotor Bay, the
southernmost fjord in the world.
We continue inland until it is time for our lunch stop. We pull off in a tiny
mountain town and are taken to one of the two restaurants there. We are told we have 20 minutes to partake of the national specialty, a ham and cheese sandwich.
The lunch is not included in the price of the tour and for 3 euros you get a
sandwich and choice of wine, beer or soda. The sandwiches were already made up, but I ask if I can get cheese only. They are happy to oblige, however, the
sandwich comes out way to fast and I realize why after one bite; they have just pulled the ham off leaving the very smoky taste of the ham (and a few bits along with it) on the rest of the sandwich. I try to rinse the ham taste out of my mouth with a sip of wine, but the wine is terrible, completely undrinkable.
Yannick is glad he chose the beer instead which isn't great but at least allows him to wash down his very dry sandwich. The French women next to us actually toss the wine off the balcony, it really is that bad.
More time on the bus and we finally reach Cetinje. We visit the State Museum, the former residence of Nikola Petrovic I, the last king of Montenegro. This part of our tour is the only part that turns out to be guided. It is
interesting, but not so interesting to have to spend 3 hours on the bus for 20
minutes in the museum. We have exactly 5 minutes to take a peek at the town on
our own, which has a few cafés and some interesting architecture. We would have
liked to have had lunch here and spent a little time exploring but this is not
part of the schedule.
Reloaded into the bus, we head back to the coast for a stop in the resort
town of Budva. The first order of business here is wine tasting. I want to skip out on this but we stay and are offered a choice of red or white wine. No other explanations of the wine or wine making are offered. We try both and they are a little bit better than the one at lunch, but just slightly.
There is time left to tour the city ramparts here but instead we take in the
views from the citadel and then head down to the beach in search of something to eat as I am way beyond starving. I try to order just a cheese sandwich but the waiter does not speak English. He takes me over to a board with photos of
sandwiches but I can't tell for sure if they have meat or not. We go back and
forth a bit, trying to make out what the other is saying. We are not having luck
when he comes up with 'Prociutto' meaning ham in Italian which I understand and I am able to tell him no prociutto, please! I am thrilled when I receive my tasty toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.
After wolfing down my sandwich, we race back to the bus. The final event on the
schedule today is crossing Kotor Bay by ferry and more beautiful views before
heading back to Dubrovnik. We arrive around 8pm and while we have enjoyed our
introduction to Montenegro, if we had a do-over we would definitely go on our
own next time. We knew ahead of time we weren't really tour people but thought
we would try it. It just ended up being way to much time on the bus for us and
not enough time exploring.
We are exhausted and thought we may just have dinner near our apartment, but it
is our last night in Dubrovnik and I want to pick up a few souvenirs in Old
Town. We quickly get our shopping out of the way and decide on the Italian
Spaghetteria Tony for dinner. This place is yum, yum, yummy. Lots of veggie
choices for me. We split a salad with polenta to start and I choose the pasta in an asparagus and cream sauce. I wish we still had more time in Dubrovnik as I
would have really liked to eat here again.
One last stroll around Old Town and it is time to say goodnight and goodbye to
Dubrovnik. On our way out of town we end up running into our French friends
again, so we stop and chat a bit. They have an entire week in Dubrovnik, which I think would be perfect. We could certainly have used a few more days here, however, the road-trip continues on tomorrow to Korcula, where the underwater world awaits our arrival.
Before we can fall into a true state of REM sleep, the alarm reminds us there
will be no lazing about today. A quick shower and a gulp of coffee and we are
off to find our bus. A bit of confusion about where to catch the bus leaves us
lacking in time to pick up breakfast.
Our tour turns out to be a combination French and German tour. We have two
guides, both native Montenegrins, one for each language. As we head south
towards Montenegro, each guide gives a run down of our busy schedule. Both speak their second language very well, however, a lot of chatter in the opposite language while the guide is speaking makes it extremely difficult for me to follow.
Arriving at the border we are instructed to have our passports out and opened.
An inspector boards the bus and takes a cursory glance at the passports as he
passes down the aisle. Without hesitation we are given the go-ahead and we continue on towards Kotor.
Our first stop of the day is along the Bay of Kotor for a quick photo op of the
Lady of the Rock Island (Godpa od Skrpjela). The scenery here is stunning; the crystal blue waters of the bay are protected by steep mountains rising high into the clear summer sky. We snap a few photos and are ushered back into the bus to continue on to Kotor.
Arriving to Kotor, we are walked into the town and given some suggestions on
what we may like to see and left with orders to be back on the bus in an hour.
We are in desperate need of another coffee but alas, there will be no time for that and we dash off towards the St Tryphon Cathedral.
St Tryphon is a work of Romanesque-Gothic architecture built in the 11th century. It houses a silver relief alter screen that is said to be the most valuable treasure in Kotor.
The rest of our hour is spent wandering the windy streets of Kotor. The city
ramparts line the mountains above but there is only time to see them from the
town below. We pop into St Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church for a quick glance and finish our race around Kotor with some tasty pastries for breakfast.
We hustle back to the bus and Yannick declares that we should have just come
with our own car. When we booked the tour we weren't really sure what to expect as for the driving conditions in Montenegro, but as it turns out it would have been fine. We are already feeling way to rushed and the day has just begun.
We leave Kotor for the windy mountainous route to Cetinje, the former capital of
Montenegro. We climb higher and higher as the bus driver skillfully maneuvers
the bus through one hair pin turn after another. We have another photo-op stop
and are rewarded with incredible, breath-taking views of Kotor Bay, the
southernmost fjord in the world.
We continue inland until it is time for our lunch stop. We pull off in a tiny
mountain town and are taken to one of the two restaurants there. We are told we have 20 minutes to partake of the national specialty, a ham and cheese sandwich.
The lunch is not included in the price of the tour and for 3 euros you get a
sandwich and choice of wine, beer or soda. The sandwiches were already made up, but I ask if I can get cheese only. They are happy to oblige, however, the
sandwich comes out way to fast and I realize why after one bite; they have just pulled the ham off leaving the very smoky taste of the ham (and a few bits along with it) on the rest of the sandwich. I try to rinse the ham taste out of my mouth with a sip of wine, but the wine is terrible, completely undrinkable.
Yannick is glad he chose the beer instead which isn't great but at least allows him to wash down his very dry sandwich. The French women next to us actually toss the wine off the balcony, it really is that bad.
More time on the bus and we finally reach Cetinje. We visit the State Museum, the former residence of Nikola Petrovic I, the last king of Montenegro. This part of our tour is the only part that turns out to be guided. It is
interesting, but not so interesting to have to spend 3 hours on the bus for 20
minutes in the museum. We have exactly 5 minutes to take a peek at the town on
our own, which has a few cafés and some interesting architecture. We would have
liked to have had lunch here and spent a little time exploring but this is not
part of the schedule.
Reloaded into the bus, we head back to the coast for a stop in the resort
town of Budva. The first order of business here is wine tasting. I want to skip out on this but we stay and are offered a choice of red or white wine. No other explanations of the wine or wine making are offered. We try both and they are a little bit better than the one at lunch, but just slightly.
There is time left to tour the city ramparts here but instead we take in the
views from the citadel and then head down to the beach in search of something to eat as I am way beyond starving. I try to order just a cheese sandwich but the waiter does not speak English. He takes me over to a board with photos of
sandwiches but I can't tell for sure if they have meat or not. We go back and
forth a bit, trying to make out what the other is saying. We are not having luck
when he comes up with 'Prociutto' meaning ham in Italian which I understand and I am able to tell him no prociutto, please! I am thrilled when I receive my tasty toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.
After wolfing down my sandwich, we race back to the bus. The final event on the
schedule today is crossing Kotor Bay by ferry and more beautiful views before
heading back to Dubrovnik. We arrive around 8pm and while we have enjoyed our
introduction to Montenegro, if we had a do-over we would definitely go on our
own next time. We knew ahead of time we weren't really tour people but thought
we would try it. It just ended up being way to much time on the bus for us and
not enough time exploring.
We are exhausted and thought we may just have dinner near our apartment, but it
is our last night in Dubrovnik and I want to pick up a few souvenirs in Old
Town. We quickly get our shopping out of the way and decide on the Italian
Spaghetteria Tony for dinner. This place is yum, yum, yummy. Lots of veggie
choices for me. We split a salad with polenta to start and I choose the pasta in an asparagus and cream sauce. I wish we still had more time in Dubrovnik as I
would have really liked to eat here again.
One last stroll around Old Town and it is time to say goodnight and goodbye to
Dubrovnik. On our way out of town we end up running into our French friends
again, so we stop and chat a bit. They have an entire week in Dubrovnik, which I think would be perfect. We could certainly have used a few more days here, however, the road-trip continues on tomorrow to Korcula, where the underwater world awaits our arrival.
Mar 6th, 2007, 01:22 PM
#22
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,860
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi kellyee!
Thanks for coming back!
Good points about the bus tour. No matter what, scenery from a bus does not make up for the hours you are in it and certainly does not compare with scenery from your own car.
Looking forward to more . . .
Linda
Thanks for coming back!
Good points about the bus tour. No matter what, scenery from a bus does not make up for the hours you are in it and certainly does not compare with scenery from your own car.
Looking forward to more . . .
Linda
Mar 7th, 2007, 11:38 AM
#23
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,087
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Excellent report kelly. I've really enjoyed it.
I will be driving to and in Montenegro, and have noted your comment about the road inland to Cetinje - I'd read it in a guide book too, something like 26 hairpin bends in 12 miles! I think we'll stick to the coast, though once I get my road maps of the area I will study them hard - we will probably drive from Mostar direct to Montenegro and spend a few days in Dubrovnik on the way back to Split.
But thanks for your input and report. Korcula please when you have time!
I will be driving to and in Montenegro, and have noted your comment about the road inland to Cetinje - I'd read it in a guide book too, something like 26 hairpin bends in 12 miles! I think we'll stick to the coast, though once I get my road maps of the area I will study them hard - we will probably drive from Mostar direct to Montenegro and spend a few days in Dubrovnik on the way back to Split.
But thanks for your input and report. Korcula please when you have time!
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bfrac
Europe
27
Sep 22nd, 2010 08:25 PM
rickmav
Europe
143
Nov 3rd, 2009 01:11 PM
