Montenegro
Today we are taking a day trip from Dubrovnik to Monetenegro ("Crna Gora" or Black Mountain).
It is a new country, only 1 year old. It is one of the most ancient settlement in Europe. Illyrians (ancestors to Albanians) lived there in 3rd century b.c. Then it became part of Roman Empire . After Rome's decline, Slavs came in and some people converted to Christianity. So currently there are Serbian Orthodox and Catholic religions. The Bay of Kotor has despotic serbian ruler who punished people severely for small crimes so it was very safe place. It was rich country thanks to unique locaton - narrow Verige Strait of the sea to protect from invading ships and deep for keeping their own ships in the bay. They would jut put a chain from one side of the bay to another to prevent from intruders ships to get it.
After Serbians, Ottomans tried to conquer it, since it has unique location on the sea. The geography of the country is that it the fjord - a dramatic Adriatic sea and monuntains meet together. The Slavs turned to Venetians for help and Venetians ruled for about 5 centuries. After that was Napoleon and then Hapsburgs. Then it was Yugoslavia under Tito after WWII.
After seccession of other Yugoslav countries, Montenegro stayed with Serbia. Years later, they wanted independence and it was trial perior from 2003 and then referendum in 2006. By narrow margin of votes, the seccesionists won. In 2006, the country voted for Indepedence therefore becoming the newest country in the world.
It has some dark history with Yugoslav war and there are still tensions between Croatians and Montenegris. We were shown the place where concentration camp was in 1991-1992 where people of Dubrovnik were taken and tortured. Later on Montenegrins prime minister apologized.
So that's about history. The country is located about 45 km from Dubrovnik, in opposite direction then Bosnia. Again the drive was on another road past airport and Cavtat and again it was beautiful rugged coastal mountain road. After border check-in, the first town was Herceg Novi. It was unattractive town and we passed by. Unlike Dubrovnik, the Montenegro was neglected by Tito mostly except famous Montenegrin Riviera (Sveti Stefan) where all celebrities came to relax in this beautiful and quiet location. in 60s and 70s Sveti Stefan beaches saw Sylvester Stallone, Sofia Loren, Kirk Douglas - just a few. By the way, in James Bond movie when he played in casino on Montenegrin Coast, it was actually filmed in Czech Republic, not in Montenegro.
We were told that Montenegrins are very laid back and easygoing people and nothing moves fast there.
The scenery soon improved and we saw fjords, with calm Adriatic sea, unusual dim blue color and mountains in the back. It was almost unreal. We thought Croatia was beautiful but this was rugged and beautiful fjordsside road fishing villages. We stop in Perast, it is a well preserved Venetian town on the fjord. In middle ages, Perast succesfully protected themselves with their cannons aimed at Vertige straight across the Bay of Kotor so no one can go through the strait. So Venice rewarded Perast with tax-free status and the ton prospered until Napoleon and then declined. Therefore architecture is Venetian . In the sea across Perast, we saw two islands - St. George (natural) and Lady of the Rocks (man made) with churches built there.
We continued beautiful road with fjord scenery and arrived Kotor - the most famous and I think the only one town restored enough for tourists. Like all towns we've seen before, it was fortified by walls, sea in front and the river on the sides. It has again cannon at the ain gate. It is a very ancient town, first said to be mentioned in 1st centuryt a.d. Through many turbulent years, Kotor avoided destruction by war but it was damaged by earthquakes in 1667 and 1979 . It was a nice and compact town to stroll and we enjoyed it. We've seen Catholic and Orthodox churches and Venetian like palaces. It was very pleasant. It is not too much to see, but very pleasant for strolling.
The currency in Montenegro was eur so one needs to pay attention to drawing money from atm. We needed Kuna but got euro's instead.
We decided to skip Budva Riviera with it's communist style cheap hotels and at this time Svet Stefan was under renovation, Pepo told us. So we continued back to Dubrovnik by taking shortcut on a narrow strait by the car ferry, it took only 10 mins to cross and we took nice pictures from the sea as well.
Once on the road, we got to the border and there was a line, another confirmation that everything in Montenegro is very slow. I do not know how they work... We saw many ads in Russian for buying real estate and hotels and Pepo told us, Montenegris have good relationship with Russia. Many investors buy properties in this new country so the economy is on the rise. Maybe not as fast as Croatia but still they should be OK due to their unique resources and location.
After crossing the border, we stopped in Cavtat to see Konavoski Dvir, the popular restaurant, it is located in nice forest with a cold river and waterfalls. However we ate in a restaurant across this touristy place, in a small family owned restaurant. The appetizer platter, smoked meat and cheese was delicious and olives were freshly salted. The specialty is "Lamb under the bell" - cooked in ashes and then grilled but it takes 3 hr to prepare it so it has to be ordered in advance. We got mixed grill but we probably should have skipp it whatsover, it was dry. Appetizer was large and tasty enough for lunch.
After Cavtat we continued to Dubrovnik and came back after yet another interesting day.
Our driver Pepo was terrific , spoke fluent English and gave us interesting information from local's perspective about war and current life in Croatia. It was well worth it to hire him. Guide was not neccessary for this trip.
It is a new country, only 1 year old. It is one of the most ancient settlement in Europe. Illyrians (ancestors to Albanians) lived there in 3rd century b.c. Then it became part of Roman Empire . After Rome's decline, Slavs came in and some people converted to Christianity. So currently there are Serbian Orthodox and Catholic religions. The Bay of Kotor has despotic serbian ruler who punished people severely for small crimes so it was very safe place. It was rich country thanks to unique locaton - narrow Verige Strait of the sea to protect from invading ships and deep for keeping their own ships in the bay. They would jut put a chain from one side of the bay to another to prevent from intruders ships to get it.
After Serbians, Ottomans tried to conquer it, since it has unique location on the sea. The geography of the country is that it the fjord - a dramatic Adriatic sea and monuntains meet together. The Slavs turned to Venetians for help and Venetians ruled for about 5 centuries. After that was Napoleon and then Hapsburgs. Then it was Yugoslavia under Tito after WWII.
After seccession of other Yugoslav countries, Montenegro stayed with Serbia. Years later, they wanted independence and it was trial perior from 2003 and then referendum in 2006. By narrow margin of votes, the seccesionists won. In 2006, the country voted for Indepedence therefore becoming the newest country in the world.
It has some dark history with Yugoslav war and there are still tensions between Croatians and Montenegris. We were shown the place where concentration camp was in 1991-1992 where people of Dubrovnik were taken and tortured. Later on Montenegrins prime minister apologized.
So that's about history. The country is located about 45 km from Dubrovnik, in opposite direction then Bosnia. Again the drive was on another road past airport and Cavtat and again it was beautiful rugged coastal mountain road. After border check-in, the first town was Herceg Novi. It was unattractive town and we passed by. Unlike Dubrovnik, the Montenegro was neglected by Tito mostly except famous Montenegrin Riviera (Sveti Stefan) where all celebrities came to relax in this beautiful and quiet location. in 60s and 70s Sveti Stefan beaches saw Sylvester Stallone, Sofia Loren, Kirk Douglas - just a few. By the way, in James Bond movie when he played in casino on Montenegrin Coast, it was actually filmed in Czech Republic, not in Montenegro.
We were told that Montenegrins are very laid back and easygoing people and nothing moves fast there.
The scenery soon improved and we saw fjords, with calm Adriatic sea, unusual dim blue color and mountains in the back. It was almost unreal. We thought Croatia was beautiful but this was rugged and beautiful fjordsside road fishing villages. We stop in Perast, it is a well preserved Venetian town on the fjord. In middle ages, Perast succesfully protected themselves with their cannons aimed at Vertige straight across the Bay of Kotor so no one can go through the strait. So Venice rewarded Perast with tax-free status and the ton prospered until Napoleon and then declined. Therefore architecture is Venetian . In the sea across Perast, we saw two islands - St. George (natural) and Lady of the Rocks (man made) with churches built there.
We continued beautiful road with fjord scenery and arrived Kotor - the most famous and I think the only one town restored enough for tourists. Like all towns we've seen before, it was fortified by walls, sea in front and the river on the sides. It has again cannon at the ain gate. It is a very ancient town, first said to be mentioned in 1st centuryt a.d. Through many turbulent years, Kotor avoided destruction by war but it was damaged by earthquakes in 1667 and 1979 . It was a nice and compact town to stroll and we enjoyed it. We've seen Catholic and Orthodox churches and Venetian like palaces. It was very pleasant. It is not too much to see, but very pleasant for strolling.
The currency in Montenegro was eur so one needs to pay attention to drawing money from atm. We needed Kuna but got euro's instead.
We decided to skip Budva Riviera with it's communist style cheap hotels and at this time Svet Stefan was under renovation, Pepo told us. So we continued back to Dubrovnik by taking shortcut on a narrow strait by the car ferry, it took only 10 mins to cross and we took nice pictures from the sea as well.
Once on the road, we got to the border and there was a line, another confirmation that everything in Montenegro is very slow. I do not know how they work... We saw many ads in Russian for buying real estate and hotels and Pepo told us, Montenegris have good relationship with Russia. Many investors buy properties in this new country so the economy is on the rise. Maybe not as fast as Croatia but still they should be OK due to their unique resources and location.
After crossing the border, we stopped in Cavtat to see Konavoski Dvir, the popular restaurant, it is located in nice forest with a cold river and waterfalls. However we ate in a restaurant across this touristy place, in a small family owned restaurant. The appetizer platter, smoked meat and cheese was delicious and olives were freshly salted. The specialty is "Lamb under the bell" - cooked in ashes and then grilled but it takes 3 hr to prepare it so it has to be ordered in advance. We got mixed grill but we probably should have skipp it whatsover, it was dry. Appetizer was large and tasty enough for lunch.
After Cavtat we continued to Dubrovnik and came back after yet another interesting day.
Our driver Pepo was terrific , spoke fluent English and gave us interesting information from local's perspective about war and current life in Croatia. It was well worth it to hire him. Guide was not neccessary for this trip.
posted by Sophia Kulich | 4:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home