Celebration of Life Tour
Kotor, Montenegro
In my opinion, Kotor was easily the most photogenic and accessible of all the cities we visited. We docked right across the street from the main city gate and the ancient fortifications all the way up to the top of the hill were clearly visible. The narrow channel limits acces by larger ships, and snowcapped peaks surrounding the harbor seal the deal. But, before I get ahead of myself...
When I woke up that morning I could tell we were moving very slowly. I look out the door to discover we were only a few hundred feet from the shoreline. The approach to the inner harbor is just over 500 feet wide. Our ship was over 600 feet long and 160 feet wide, so it looked like a tight squeeze to me. A sharp right turn and we glided silently along the shoreline all the way to the nearrow end of the harbor and the ancient city of Kotor.
We first took a walking tour of the nearby Budva, perhaps the oldest urban center on the Adriatic coast with references dating to the 5th century BC, making the city 2,500 years old. The old city was nearly destroyed by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in 1979 but has been since reassembled. Despite its historical importance, Budva didn't make UNESCO's list, but...
Both the Bay of Kotor and the ancient city and its fortifications are listed by UNESCO. The fortifications are unique in that a large portion of the wall seems to enclose only a rocky mountainside. However, when one lives at the base of a very steep mountain, it becomes necessary to restrict access to that hillside to prevent attack from above. These fortifications date from the 15th to 17th centuries, and the city itself dates from the middle ages.
Otherwise, the mountains and scenery are striking. I liked it. Can you tell?
Sailing on to Dubrovnik
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