Kotor is the quintessential storybook town Disney princesses grow up in, escape from and ultimately return to. Castle walls, a moat, ancient stone buildings....it has it all. There is literally no need for a fire dept, it's essentially Bedrock (yabba, dabba, doo). Except in today's story, it's only 42° F , cloudy and drizzly at times. So not the best weather for sightseeing, but as we were here in 2016, for us it was going to be a light day regardless.
Kotor is a fortified town on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast, in a bay near the limestone cliffs of Mt. Lovćen. Characterized by winding streets and squares, its medieval old town has several Romanesque churches, including Kotor Cathedral.
We tendered off the ship early and found a coffee shop to pass some time till it warmed up a bit. We met Laura and Paul from the ship and sat a while and chatted. About 9am, we ventured out of the warmth into the old city. The advantage of a walled city is the reduced wind chill factor.
Last time we were here, we walked up to the top of the mountain where the views were spectacular. I highly recommend the hike if you haven't been. Here are pics from our previous trip
Given the cold and the somewhat slippery ascent and decent, we decided to simply walk around the town. There are no cars inside the wall because the streets simply aren't wide enough. The occasional golf cart can't even traverse all the streets aka alleyways. They're really all alleyways.
It's an amalgamation of quaint cafes, souvenir shops, pricy lamb leather coats and oddly, turkish style lights. But despite the cloudy weather, it provided some wonderful photo opportunities. It's a very photogenic and fastideously clean town, despite most of the locals being smokers.
But like many popular towns, parking is limited. They have a watchcat just in case. Notice the rear tire!!!
Speaking of cats, the city has quite a few and they are incredibly friendly and not skittish. They loved the attention. Here are 2 friendly ones along with some artsy pics I took of interesting windows and hardware.
In the end, we only spent about 4 hrs on land opting instead for a warm lunch aboard the ship, a solid hr workout and 1/2 hr steam room to put the final nail in the coffin of my cold. I feel much better!!......though it probably wasn't the "final" nail.
Dinner was particularly good. I paired a perfectly cooked salmon filet with a roasted vegetable salad with shaved peccorino. It wasn't on the menu. Our waiters know I make my own entree now by mixing appetizers with the salmon. It's helping me maintain and now lose weight. I'm officially a pound lower than I started the cruise.
Tonight's folklorico was flamenco dancers from southern Spain. It was very authentic and a very enjoyable show. Great costumes, great artistry and very upbeat. Here are some pics.
Tomorrow is a sea day and we'll be celebrating Passover with about 150 people who have interest in attending a seder. I'm looking forward to it. I'll definitely have pics.
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