By Ricky, on December 27th, 2009
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
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 . . . → Read More: The Bay of Kotor
By Ricky, on December 20th, 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, . . . → Read More: Travelling through Montenegro April 1975 and October 2009
By Ricky, on December 19th, 2009 Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, Podgorica © Ricky Yates
On the evening of Tuesday 20th 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 . . . → Read More: Podgorica – Europe’s newest capital city
By Ricky, on December 13th, 2009 We bid farewell to our couchsurfing hosts in Istanbul on the morning of Monday 19th 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 . . . → Read More: Collecting stickers whilst driving across Europe
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