Ricky – Page 83

Split

On the evening of Friday 23^rd October, we arrived in Split on the central Dalmatian coast of Croatia. This followed a day of driving through some of the heaviest rain I’ve experienced in a very long time. Our ferry crossing took place with only a few spots of rain falling. But as we passed through Herceg Novi and headed towards the Montenegro – Croatia border, it started raining with a vengeance. As a result, we drove past the wonderful historic Croatian city of Dubrovnik, only just able to make it out in the near distance through the heavy rain and mist.

Our journey through the driving rain along the Adriatic coast was also notable for taking us into the ninth different country of our trip. For 10 km, the main coastal highway passes into Bosnia-Herzegovina and through the town of Neum before passing back out into Croatia again. Finally, in the late afternoon as we approached Split, the constant rain started to ease, very much in line with the BBC online weather forecast we had looked at the previous evening.

Split is the second-largest city in Croatia after the capital Zagreb. It is also an important port and ferry port. However, probably its greatest claim to fame is being the location of one of the most imposing Roman ruins still in existence – the Emperor Diocletian’s Palace. But the palace is not a museum. Instead, it is the living heart of the city, consisting of a whole network of interconnected alleyways and squares containing shops, restaurants and bars, as well as the Cathedral of St. Domnius with its wonderful Romanesque bell tower. The B&B Kašel 1700, where we stayed for two nights, also lies within the palace, just inside the Southern Gate.

On my 1975 coach trip, I had stopped off in Split for no more than half an hour which had therefore only allowed me a very cursory glance at this amazing Roman ruin. This time, because of staying for two nights, we had the whole of Saturday 24^th October to explore and take in the atmosphere of the vibrant historic city centre. And after all the rain of the two previous days, our full day in Split was spent once more enjoying fine and sunny weather.

From my brief April 1975 visit, I have precisely two pictures. However, by sheer coincidence, I took pictures of the same ancient buildings from similar positions during my October 2009 visit. As with the previous examples that I have already posted from Cappadocia and Montenegro, it is fascinating to see how little has changed in nearly 35 years.

Diocletian's Palace, Split in April 1975 © Ricky Yates	Diocletian's Palace, Split in October 2009 © Ricky Yates
Diocletian's Palace, Split in April 1975 © Ricky Yates	Diocletian's Palace, Split in October 2009 © Ricky Yates

Taking the Ferry

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I hope that the map above will help to indicate the considerable indentation the Bay of Kotor makes to the coast of Montenegro as well as helping readers locate places mentioned in my previous post. What it also shows is the problem facing anyone wanting to drive along the coast road in a relatively straight line. – You can’t!!!

Fortunately, between Lepetane, (5 km northwest of Tivat) and Kamenari, (about 2km east of Bijela), there is a regular car ferry service across the narrowest point of the entrance channel leading into the Bay of Kotor. I gather there is a plan, at some future date, to build a bridge here. In the mean time a number of car ferries ply their way back and forth across the channel. Unless you use the ferry service, you are left with a scenic but very long and windy drive all around the bay!

With the BBC internet weather forecast warning of two further days of wind and rain if we were to remain staying around the Bay of Kotor, on the morning of Friday 23^rd October, we reluctantly decided to set off and drive much further north in order to find better weather for the last few days of our holiday. So we drove from our hotel at Prcanj, along the narrow coastal road that leads to the ferry terminal at Lepetane.

Ferry 1 — Car Ferry crossing the entrance channel of the Bay of Kotor, October 2009 © Ricky Yates

Ferry 1975 — Car Ferry crossing the entrance channel of the Bay of Kotor in April 1975 © Ricky Yates

When travelling along the Adriatic coast road in April 1975, the coach party I travelled with also used this same ferry crossing. Above is an interesting comparison of how car ferry transport has changed in 35 years!

Ferry 2 — Ferries at the Kamenari Ferry terminal, October 2009 © Ricky Yates

I should really have written ‘vehicular ferry transport’ for in 1975 it was mainly trucks and coaches with relatively few private cars. Now in 2009, trucks and coaches use a larger ferry specifically designated for them, seen on the left in this picture, whilst cars use the slightly smaller vessels like the one on the right.

What have changed very little in 35 years are the buildings around the ferry terminal at Kamenari. The picture below looks across to the same buildings that appear between the two ferries in the picture above.

Ferry 1975 (2) — Kamenari Ferry Terminal in April 1975 © Ricky Yates

The Bay of Kotor

Kotor 1 — Bay of Kotor with the town of Kotor to the right of a large cruise ship © Ricky Yates

In the south-western corner of Montenegro, not far from the border with Croatia, lies the fascinating Bay of Kotor. It is often described as the most southerly fjord in Europe which the geographer in me immediately wants to dispute! Fjords are the result of glaciation whereas the Bay of Kotor is a submerged river valley. However, with the whole of the sea inlet surrounded by steep-sided mountains it is very similar in appearance to a fjord.

The historic walled town of Kotor lies at the southern extremity of the bay. As can be seen in my photograph

Kotor 2 — A view along the Bay of Kotor with another smaller cruise ship moored on the right. The village of Prcanj is just off the to the left of the photo. © Ricky Yates

on the left, it is increasingly visited by large cruise ships which seem to tower over everything except the surrounding mountains. The twin towers of Kotor Cathedral on the right look miniscule compared to the multiple decks of the cruise ship.

Having reached Kotor via a road tunnel from the coast road under the surrounding mountains, we headed along the shore of the bay to the village of Prcanj, about 3 km from Kotor itself. Here we found the very pleasant and reasonably priced Hotel Bokeljski Dvori where we stayed for the next two nights. Their rate for bed and breakfast was half that of Hotel Kato in Podgorica and, in answer to our enquiry, they assured that coffee was included in the price of breakfast. We did get a rather puzzled look from the lady at the reception desk when we asked about coffee being included, until we explained about our experience the previous night in Podgorica!

Kotor 3 — Twin Bell Towers of St. Tryphon's Cathedral, Kotor © Ricky Yates

The next morning, we returned to Kotor, managed to find a space to park the car on the harbour side, and set out on foot to explore the walled town. Located in a small square in the centre of the old town is St. Tryphon’s Cathedral. As can be seen from the dates on the twin bell towers, the Cathedral has just celebrated 1,200 years of Christian worship. There is very little left of the original 9^th century building – most of the current building dates from the 12^th century. The twin bell towers are more recent being baroque in style and date from the re-building of the west front of the Cathedral following earthquake damage in 1667.

The Cathedral belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, this corner of Montenegro having a significant Catholic population as well as many Orthodox Christians. The building itself had been beautifully restored for the 1,200^th anniversary celebrations earlier in the year. Within the Cathedral there was a photographic display of the various celebratory events that had taken place.

As we wandered around exploring other parts of the historic walled town, we regularly had to find shelter from increasingly heavy rain showers. We did manage to eat lunch outside but only because of the shelter provided by a large awning over the restaurant table.

The Bell Tower of St. Nicholas's Church, Perast looking across to the channel leading to the Adriatic Sea © Ricky Yates — Bell Tower of St. Nicholas Church, Perast looking across the Bay of Kotor to the channel leading to the Adriatic Sea © Ricky Yates

After lunch, we set out in the car to explore further around the shores of the Bay of Kotor. We drove to the village of Perast which overlooks the narrow entrance channel that leads from the Adriatic Sea into the bay. The main Church of St. Nicholas has an amazingly tall bell tower with architecture that is very Venetian in style, reflecting the past history of the area. In the square in front of the Church, a French film crew were trying to film an outdoor sequence but were struggling with the increasingly inclement weather.

Much as I would have loved to explore further along around the shore of the bay, we reluctantly decided that the wet and stormy weather precluded us from doing so. We therefore retraced our steps and returned to the shelter and warmth of our hotel in Prcanj.

Overnight, the weather became extremely stormy with very strong winds and heavy rain, as a large depression made its way across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, into the Balkans.

Stormy View — Stormy weather across the Bay of Kotor viewed from Perast © Ricky Yates

Travelling through Montenegro April 1975 and October 2009

First view of the Adriatic Sea 2009 © Ricky Yates

First view of the Adriatic Sea 1975 © Ricky Yates

As I mentioned in my previous post, our journey from southern Serbia into Montenegro took me along the same route I had traversed by coach when travelling overland from Kathmandu to London during a period of two and a half months in the Spring of 1975. Leaving Podgorica, we continued on that same route, passing Lake Skadar and then proceeding steeply around numerous hairpin bends to cross the Rumija mountain range before being rewarded with our first view of the Adriatic Sea. A similar steep decent around many more hairpin bends, brought us to the coastal resort of Petrovac.

I still remember the thrill of seeing the Adriatic for the first time in my life in 1975 and, as you can see from these two photos, the view is still pretty spectacular.

About 5 km north from Petrovac along the coastal highway, is probably the most iconic site in Montenegro if not the whole of Adriatic coast of the former Yugoslavia. This is the tiny island of Sveti Stefan, connected to the mainland by an isthmus. Sometime in the 1950s, this former fishing community was turned into a luxury hotel which is what it was when I passed by in 1975. When we tried to venture on to the island in October 2009, access was forbidden as the whole complex was undergoing renovation work so it can re-open for the 2010 season. If you look closely at the 2009 photo, you can see the workmen’s yellow vehicles parked by the entrance and a green crane to the left of them.

Sveti Stephan 2009 © Ricky Yates — Sveti Stefan 2009 © Ricky Yates

Sveti Stephan 1975 — Sveti Stefan 1975 © Ricky Yates

Podgorica – Europe’s newest capital city

Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, Podgorica © Ricky Yates

On the evening of Tuesday 20^th October, we drove into Podgorica, the capital city of Montenegro having crossed the black or dark mountains that gives the country its name. The name Montenegro comes from the Italian for black or dark mountain and dates from the time of Venetian control of the Adriatic coast. Montenegrins themselves call their country Crna Gora which is black or dark mountain in Montenegrin!

There are some who would challenge the title I’ve given this blog post by saying that Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, is Europe’s newest capital city. However, Montenegro is internationally recognised, even by Serbia from whom it separated following a referendum in May 2006, and the country has since become a member of the United Nations. On the other hand, Kosovo is still only recognised by 64 counties worldwide though these do include the USA and the UK but obviously NOT Serbia.

A few kilometres south of the Serbian town of Novi Pazar, we joined the road that leads from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, via Pristina, heading westwards into Montenegro. Here once more I began retracing my journey of 35 years ago, but this time in the same direction as in April 1975. The mountainous scenery we passed through and the various viaducts and tunnels en-route were very much as I remembered them, but unfortunately, the fading light meant I didn’t get any photos to reproduce here. Sadly, some of the most scenic parts of our journey this time took place in complete darkness, the disadvantage of travelling in late October!

When travelling in 1975, I stayed overnight in Podgorica but I have no recollection whatsoever of the hotel in which I stayed or of the city itself. Actually, I stayed overnight in Titograd, the name by which Podgorica was known from 1946 until reverting to its original name in 1992. As we searched for somewhere to stay, a helpful policeman directed us to Hotel Keto, a modern hotel about ten minutes walk from the city centre. We booked in, deposited our belongings in our room and then walked into the city centre, eventually finding a pleasant bar-restaurant in which to eat.

Whilst the accommodation was perfectly good, I was greeted by two surprises when I came to settle my bill the following morning. The first was that the invoice declared that my place of residence was Sjeverna Irska which is Northern Ireland in Montenegrin. Bearing in mind that I have never set foot in Northern Ireland during the whole of my life, I found this a little odd. It no doubt arose out of the receptionist completely misreading my passport which states that I am a citizen of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’!

The second surprise was that, in addition to the amount agreed for bed and breakfast, there was a further charge for three drinks from the bar. When I queried this, pointing out that we had not drunk at the bar during our stay, the explanation was that it was the three cups of coffee we had drunk between us as part of our breakfast. Please therefore be aware that should you ever have cause to stay in the Hotel Kato in Podgorica, breakfast doesn’t include coffee!!!

Sadly, there is very little in the way of historic buildings in Podgorica as the city suffered severe structural damage during the Second World War. However, one of the most striking new buildings is the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. Begun in 1993, it is still under construction but it does make a most stunning addition to the skyline. Inside, floor mosaics were still being laid. But the outside is almost complete except that the front doors are yet to be hung. On the outside there are these two wonderful stone carvings shown below.

Stone carved illustration of Noah' Ark on the exterior of the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, Podgorica © Ricky Yates

Stone carved Chi Rho symbol surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists on the exterior of the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, Podgorica © Ricky Yates