After our stressful drive yesterday we decided that we would spend the day exploring Kotor on foot. It felt like we were on holiday, rather than travelling, which was a nice change.
Set off early to climb the track up to the San Giovanni Fortress, built on the mountain 280 m above above the old town. The climb is over 1,300 steps and you have to pay for the privilege, but many people (like us) use an alternative path that zig zags up the mountain. The path was pretty stoney and uneven in places, but it was gradual an not too challenging. Definitely preferable to climbing all those steps. Near the top of the fortress, the is the ruin of an old church where the incredible ceiling paintings are still slightly visible. Apparently there used to be a way to get into the fortress from the alternative path but that has recently been blocked off. We were happy to have seen what we did and the views looking down to the bay were amazing. There is even a cheese shop further up from where we climbed - go figure!
There was a fascinatingly diverse group of people climbing the path, including runners, an old lady carrying shopping bags, quite a few Americans and a couple from Tauranga. Always nice to hear a Kiwi accent when visiting far flung places.
By the time we had returned to the bay, the temperature was staring to increase, so our early start was a wise decision. We wandered the old town, climbing more steps and walking along the wall which is long - we didn't walk all of it! Couldn't believe the cats that were sunning themselves while tourists and workers walked around them. There are bowls of food all over the town and you can get food by returning two recyclable bottles, so that you can also feed them. The town is full of narrow street, squares with restaurants and cafes, and cats. The is an interesting range of small shops, mainly full of cat themed items. There was a cruise ship in so the town started to become pretty crowded, time for us to leave.
Back to the apartment for lunch - very civilised sitting in the sun rather than on the go. On the away back, David discovered a turtle wandering along the path. It was initially being stalked by a cat, but the cat decided that it wasn't that keen on getting too close. Apparently it was a Hermann's turtle that are quite common in Montenegro, but it seemed odd to find one on a concrete path some distance from the water. The other thing we were wondering about, while climbing up the mountain path, was whether or not there are snakes here. The answer is yes, there are about 14 different species, including the highly venomous Nose-horned Viper. Glad I didn't know that when we were walking through the grass! After our climb, we decided that we would go for a swim. Hard to turn down the opportunity to swim in the Adriatic Sea. It was a bit chilly initially, but was so nice to cool off. We walked along the water front road that was the scene of the mega traffic jam yesterday and it was hard to believe that it was the same place. There were hardly any cars and people were walking along the road enjoying the sunshine.
We had one more visit to the old town, before heading back up the hill for dinner, washing and preparation for moving on tomorrow. If you lived here you would certainly be fit from the constant climbing up and down the hills. Have loved our visit, just have to negotiate our way back out again tomorrow.
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| The switch back track we climbed |
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