Montenegro .... The Black Mountains

Spent a day in neighboring Montenegro, which means Black Mountain, named by the Italians who used to own the area - Venice.

Did you guys know that Montenegro was its own country? WHO KNEW!!!!

I have to travel with current guide books going forward. Montenegro officially separated from Serbia (yippee!) in May of 2006. In fact, it already uses the Euro, which is more than Bosnia, Croatia or Serbia can say! Here is a shot of the fishing village in the town where we caught a ferry. I took a day tour , which I usually pass on, and it was great - I learned so much more that way.What drew me to Montenegro was the old town of Kotor - what was terrific was to see that the large fjord that Kotor is on ,the largest in southern Europe, is stunning all around . Here is a shot of some of the mountains around the bay with some fishing traps in the water.

These churches are in the middle of the bay. The one of the left is Orthodox, I think. The one on the right is Catholic. The island it is on is manmade. Years ago, two fisherman found a statue of the Virgin Mary on a single rock in the water. They took it back to shore. The next day - it was gone! But turned up back on the rock - a miracle. So, local folks have sunk 80 odd boats to build a manmade island, and each year on the anniversary of the event, the MEN of the town drop rocks on the island - to continue to grow it. Its called the Lady of the Rock Church.

Enjoyed a spin around the old walled town of Kotor, a Unesco World Heritage site, then the bus took us up a hill on a 1.5 car wide road that had 26 switchbacks - for this view of the Bay of Kotor! The shot to the left is dark but shows some of the switchbacks - this particular one is in the shape of an "M", for Montenegro, or as legend has it, the Queen Melani, at the time, who the road's Italian architect had the hots for. Ubiquitous beach shot from a touristy town Budva -its the new new place to go since its still cheap. Note the "sand"... its rocks, damned rocks... and really hard to walk on. This town has lots of new hotels going in... rumor has it funded by Russian mobsters.

Montenegro is 80% mountainous - so many of the roads we were on were narrow and windy. Here is a shot of our bus being passed on a narrow road by another bus... close shot. The guide joked that Montenegrans take their driving tests on this road.

Fun doorknocker on a door in the old walled town of Budva. Fun seriously, once you have seen 6 old walled towns, you've pretty much seen them all.

Shot of part of the fort looking out to the Adriatic.

Stones stones stones. Much of Croatia and Montenegro use marble for their construction - didn't take me long to figure out it was cheap since the mountains are everywhere here.

There are cats everywhere here - so I especially liked the gargoyle that looked like a cat.

Nice peaceful scene in the old town of Budva.

You just gotta love the Cyrillic here!

A shot of Budva harbor and the mountains that extend to the sea. Montenegro used to be quite a tourist destination for the rich and famous -but hit hard times when the 12 year embargo of Serbia after the war included Montenegro. They are seeing a rebound. There was a brief shot of Montenegro in the last James Bond movie with Daniel Craig ( note to myself - see this movie again and look at scenery this time).

Oddly enough, I was in Budvar Montenegro 10 days before the Stones held a concert on the beach. I remember thinking , how much more money do these jerks need.

And I especially thought that when I heard that the annual monthly salary in Montenegro is 150 to 300 Euro a month - the folks going to see the Stones will be Russian mob guys, not local folks. Here is a shot of a house we passed 5 minutes beyond the posh beach where the concert will be held.

Last shot - on the bus watching our guide get us through the border check of Montenegro back into Croatia. This is an easy task these days - we didn't even have to flash the passports on this stop.

Dubrovnik

Hello from sunny and gorgeous Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic. The Dalmatian coastline (named for the multitudes of feral Dalmatians) is dramatic beyond my expectations - and has already been "discovered" by northern and Italian Europeans. I can tell because the tourists are getting fatter (Germans, not Italians).

Here is a shot from the walls surrounding Dubrovnik out towards the island just offshore - looks like Greece doesn't it. Below, a shot of the mountains further up the coast where I stayed a few days before heading to Dubrovnik. Dramatic!
Above, another beach shot, albeit a pebble beach (hey, that is so NorCal!). This is from a town north of Dubrovnik. I liked to get good and hot - then go and float on my back in the Adriatic and look at those mountains.

From the fountain in Dubrovnik -people used to get their drinking water from this centrail fountain.

Took a turn around the walls of Dubrovik - they have protected the city from would be invaders like Venice for centuries - only Napolean succeed in breaching them. WARNING -MORE WAR COMMENTARY COMING......In Dec 1991, after a seige from the hills above town and the sea, the Serbs started bombing the entire area, including the old town surrounded by these walls. No military purpose, just to be dicks. 80% of the roofs were destroyed, 100 people killed in town, and 200 Croatian troops killed, some in hand to hand combat, over the next 8 months. You can see the new bright orange tiles on these roofs next to the older undamaged ones.

Europe's clothes dryer!

A charming "street" - they are shown as streets on the map but are more like staircases and alleys. Didn't need the width 1,000 years ago when they didn't have cars.

Interesting architecture. The windows all have shutters which are shut midday to keep the heat out. All stone architecture.

A view back towards the main "new" section of Dubrovnik. The stone building to the left is another fortress frequently used for the Dubrovnik Arts Festival. The guy who plays Lucca on ER, Gorin Iamababeic, occasionally acts in plays there. Like we care if he can act.

A view along the walls up to a corner fort. The Serbs took those hills inthe background and then shelled the city from them.

I bet you are happy that I am leaving the war zone tomorrow -I am a bit obsessed with it!

Cats cats everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shot above is of the main drag in the old town - the major activity is eating ice cream , sitting at a table paying too much for coffee, or strutting your stuff. Note the street - its paved with marble... so slick it reflect light... I think it would be fun to sit under an umbrella while it rained and watch tourists slip and fall.

Swimmers on the rocks just outside the old town walls. Sorry Adil -they all have their tops on!

Still a major fishing area - the area hasn't been overfished by large commercial boats yet, mostly family owned.

Towards the end of "our" walk around the town - the walls are 2km long, 3-6 meters thick, and as high as 26 metres. A highlight of my stay in Dubrovnik.

I can already hear my nieces saying "YUCKKKK"... squid of all sizes!

Saw this in English with Croatian subtitles... I listened to the English. George gave it a Thumbs UP!!

Took a tour of town with a ...... Yes, indeed War theme! The guide was a local and had many color stories I intend to capture in a separate message. Here is he standing in front of a map of the old town of Dubrovnik with dots for every Serbian bomb dropped on the city, plus red for houses that burned down.

A shot of my birthday dinner - ate at a restaurant at Lapad Bay, facing a western sunset - very nice. I was visited by a Cheese Bandit - this little bird was very aggressive and managed to take a piece of cheese as big as his head. The bottle to the left is 200 ml, or about a quarter of a regular wine bottle, to give you some idea of how small he was.

Sunset at the same spot below.

Walking back from dinner came upon this family who had a pretty pooped looking kid who still wouldn't give up his beach ball.













Shot of the place I am staying. Staying in a private home is very common in Croatia - they are called Sobes, and usually involve a woman hosting you in a bedroom in her house, while you share her bathroom. My hostess Ivana, has a great garden outside, where I could take my morning coffee and read or journal. She also has a 1 year old german shepard named Bellina, who would not stop pestering the little gray kitten who also lives here.

Beautiful Bosnia

Arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia after probably the worst train ride I have ever taken. Not trying to be dramatic - but let's say it was 13 hours in a car roughly 90 degrees all day, dirty windows with condensation so you couldn't see, toilets that backed up and repeated stops every 30 feet for no reason..... arghhhh ! I gladly overpaid for a hotel so I could shower and watch CNN while I drank gallons of liquids to recover. But I have learned that bad arrivals for me usually turn into great visits, and Sarajevo is no exception.

This is a stunning town - and all the more sad that it is still so war damaged (huh,is that superficial of me, like being sadder when an attractive person dies vs an ugly one... hmmmm). Sarajevo is situated between mountains ranges with a river running through it. Houses run up the side of the hills and overlook the modern downtown as well as the old Turkish town, shown in the pics to the side. Bosnia (as I am sure ALL of you know), is mix of Muslims, Catholics (Croats) and Serbs (Orthodox) people. Sarajevo is in the Muslim area and heavily influenced by the Turkish occupations over the centuries.

A few blocks from my hotel as I walked down the hill, I already saw evidence of the damage of the war. Here are sniper bullet marks still showing.. you see them all over. In 1991, the Bosnian Serbs, with help from the former Yugoslavian army and Slobodan Milosevic, surrounded mostly Muslim Sarajevo, and began a deliberate war of terror on its citizens. The serb commanders told their troops to fire, fire fire and completely break the spirit of the Sarajevans.

It really shook me to see apartment buildings like the one to the left. The walls would be completely pocked by bullet marks.... and you realize looking at this that the Serbs were targeting people in their homes. Not only walking out on the street on Sniper Alley, the main thoroughfare through town, but trying to kill people in their homes. Just trying to live and raise their kids. Pure terror. I hate the Serbs... that is simplistic but I just can't get to a point where I can understand dehumanizing people to this degree without some complicity.

Here is a famous spot - the Latin Bridge. Here, on June 28th, 1914 (yes, my birthday) a Bosnian Serb shot and killed Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria - he was the heir apparent to the Austrio-Hungarian empire, which occupied Bosnia at the time, and the Serb shot him to draw attention to Serbian independence. This local Bosnia incident had a domino effect when aligned countries fell in step.... and thus World War I started. Winston Churchill said, "The Balkans are able to generate more history than they can absorb". This was pointed to this incident but recent events show it continues.

It was about 137 degrees that day - so hot - but this local woman was walking in a coat......

Between hydrating, I shopping in the many little stalls and alleyways. The speciality here is very beautiful and detailed silver work, especially little Turkish coffee sets. Having to live out of a suitcase for 4 months prevented any purchases!

One thing that surprised me is how unbelievably gorgeous the country is. Here is a shot on the way from Sarajevo to Mostar, following a lovely river with spectacular views of the mountains. Bosnia would make a great playground for sporty tourists that like biking, hiking and rafting..... if it weren't for all the land mines that remain off the more beaten tracks.

Last war shot, I swear. A bombed out building in Mostar - only this city was not bombed by the Serbs, but by the Catholic Croats. The Muslims are simply caught between two more nationalistically violent groups. More musings on the war in a later section.

Mostar was another lovely city -again, between mountains, with a river in the middle. The town is divided along Croat and Muslim lines to this day. I spent my time in the Muslim Turkish old town and the bridge. Here is a shot at dusk walking around the Turkish Old town. It was an overwhelming sensory experience - could see so many exotic things and people, smell incense, and hear music of all types. Amazing. Note the minaret of a mosque in the background.

Ahhhhh , the Mostar Bridge at last - see it behind me in the distance. Its called Stari Most - and is 700 years old. The Croats made a symbolically deliberate and militarily pointless decision to destroy it. The people rebuilt the bridge using at much of the original stone as possible after retrieving it from the river, and had a huge ceremony to mark that occasion (thank you Azur for the video).

Its surrounded by several buildings that have been used as prisons or armories over the years.




Young men in town jump from the bridge - yikes!

Sitting at dinner looking at the bridge with the view to the left and below - I was delighted to see fireworks go off on the hill across the way. I kinda have a crush on this bridge -can you tell?









Next up, Medagorie, Bosnia. I met some guys in Sarajevo that were headed to Mostar, so I got a ride with them. They invited me to keep going so I got to see stuff like Medagorie, which I wouldn't have seen otherwise. A very weird place. In 19814, 6 kids saw a vision of the Virgin Mary on the hill above their small town. (hmmmm, does anyone else suspect they had homework to do?). They told people and from there things snowballed and Medagorie has thousands and thousands of Catholic tourists visit each day! Its not sanctioned by the Vatican, but people come anyway. If for no other reason, I appreciated the fact that they had slightly different tourist trinkets here than most places - see below.

Also stopped at a nice waterfall oasis near the border with Croatia.

On to the Croatian coast and Dubrovnik next!