Serbia – Montenegro – Croatia, Oct 2009

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

Collecting stickers whilst driving across Europe

We bid farewell to our couchsurfing hosts in Istanbul on the morning of Monday 19^th October and set out on a two day drive to reach Montenegro. Using the older of the two suspension bridges that span the Bosphorus, we crossed into European Turkey and headed out of the city on the motorway that leads to the border with Bulgaria.

Once out of the immediate urban confines of Istanbul, the motorway is subject to toll. On entering the section subject to toll, there is a barrier where you obtain a ticket that shows the date, time and location where you joined the motorway. When you leave the motorway or reach the end of the section subject to toll, you present your ticket at another barrier and pay the appropriate fee. Motorway tolls are collected in the same manner in Serbia and Croatia as they also are in France, Spain and Italy.

However, many other European countries that charge motorists for the use of their motorways do so by means of a ‘vignette’. A ‘vignette’ is a sticker, usually purchased from a roadside shop or garage, indicating that the appropriate road toll has been paid for a certain period of time which can range from a few days to one year. Cameras and random police checks are used to enforce compliance.

Whilst the system is good in principle, it does mean that if you drive in and through as many countries as we have in 2009, you end up with a windscreen full of vignette stickers! Different countries require vignettes to be displayed in different locations on car windscreens meaning that we now have stickers in three separate places!

Vignettes from Slovenia (top left), Switzerland (top right) and Austria (bottom right) © Ricky Yates

Vignettes from Slovakia (left) & Montenegro (right) © Ricky Yates. Although Montenegro has no motorways, a 10 Euro environmental charge has to be paid by all foreign vehicles entering the country. — Vignettes from Slovakia (left) & Montenegro (right) © Ricky Yates. Although Montenegro has no motorways, a 10 Euro 'environmental charge' has to be paid by all foreign vehicles entering the country.

Vignette from Czech Republic (left) & Bulgaria (right) © Ricky Yates — Vignettes from Czech Republic (left) & Bulgaria (right) © Ricky Yates

On reaching the Turkish-Bulgarian border, we began retracing our steps, travelling the same route across Bulgaria as we had used for our outward journey but in the reverse direction. We continued along this same route in reverse as far as Niš in southern Serbia where we once more stayed overnight. The following day, we ventured into new territory, wending our way across southern Serbia towards Montenegro.

I deliberately chose a route through southern Serbia that avoided passing into Kosovo as the car is only insured to be driven in ‘those parts of Serbia under the control of the government of Serbia’. Our route therefore took us through the mountains of the Kopaonik National Park just north of the Serbia-Kosovo border.

Only three days earlier, we had been experiencing daytime temperatures in excess of 25 degrees Celsius. It had become much cooler ever since passing through a series of thunderstorms as we drove into Istanbul. But as we climbed into the mountains of the Kopaonik National Park, through ever increasingly attractive scenery, the temperature dropped sharply and, much to our surprise, we found ourselves surrounded by the first snowfall of the winter. Fortunately, the road had been cleared which allowed us to cross the mountains, drop down the other side and make our way to the border with Montenegro.

Snow alongside the road through the Kopaonik National Park, Serbia © Ricky Yates