This morning we woke up entering the beautiful Kotor Bay known as Boka Kotorska. You could confuse it with Norway because of the green, high cliffs around us and the cloudy sky above. The view was outstanding. After about 30 minutes of cruising in this wonderful scenery we got to the port of Kotor to dock there for the morning.
The buses took us to the nearby town of Perast where we boarded the local boat to visit the small picturesque Church of Gospa od Skrpjela (the Church of Our Lady of the Rocks), situated on the little island in the middle of Kotorfjord. Legend says that a statue of the Virgin Mary was found floating at the site of this man-made island, after a great seafaring tragedy. Fishermen then rowed their boats from Perast to this place, carrying one rock after another to drop into the sea and create the island on which the present church stands. We were lucky and the clouds opened letting the sun come out so we had a wonderful view around us and to the neighboring islet of Sveti Dordje (Saint George). After a short walk in Perast town we came back to board the Sea Cloud as we found out from the pilot that we had to move to an anchorage out in the bay for the rest of the afternoon because of two giant cruise ships coming close to port. Well…sometimes bigger is stronger but not necessarily smarter, so we quickly adjusted our plans and after lunch on board we were tendered to the medieval town of Kotor to have a short walking tour in this magnificent city surrounded by the city walls and high mountains.
The afternoon was dedicated to discover another side of Montenegro. We boarded the buses and took the “roller-coaster” ride up to the mountains passing 25 turns of the windy narrow mountain road. We had a lot of fun trying to pass by the tourist cars going down as not everyone is such a good driver as the local people. We got to the little village called Njegusi where the famous Montenegrin ham is smoked and cured. We visited the smoke house of our friend Bosko, tried his home-made raki, walked through the field of autumn crocuses and tasted the ham, local cheese, and wine in a little restaurant. Full of excitement we were ready again to take the windy road back down to the ship. That was a surprisingly nice and relaxed afternoon. But on the ship there was another surprise waiting for us—Mali Ston oysters and champagne on the lido deck while we were cruising out in the breathtaking Kotorfjord lit up with the soft light of sunset. Montenegro was one of the most beautiful stops during our trip. We will keep it in mind for a long time….
