Kotor Montenegro
During the night we passed into the waters of Montenegro, leaving fine memories of Croatia in our wake. When we awoke the skies were a bit grey and some light rain had begun to fall. This seemed appropriate in that we were entering Kotorfjord which is rimmed by 3,000 ft mountain peaks. This made a nice backdrop as we approached Gospa od Skrpjela, a small church built by and dedicated to mariners. We circled the manmade island, paid tribute to church and then made our way southward for Kotor.
After breakfast we departed the ship and headed for the small town of Perast and an opportunity to explore Gospa firsthand. This island was created by the people of Perast and by local sailors who brought stones out by boat and dropped them over an already existing reef. They were drawn to do this by a local legend that told a tale of some sailors that found a statue of the Virgin Mary on the reef after a great maritime tragedy. It is also said that some pirate ships that had been captured and other vessels well past their prime were filled with ballast stones and sunk on the site as well.
Construction on Church of Our Lady of the Rock began in 1630. It is small but well decorated with silver votive plaques presented to the church in hopes that they would be blessed in their journeys and with good health. There were also many paintings depicting religious icons within the church and others showing maritime history throughout the museum.
We returned to Perast for some time to wander the town, visit the local museum and eventually to return to Kotor. Some of the guests chose to wander on their own while others remained with our local guides to wind through the narrow streets within the walls of the old town. It rained a bit, but this was well timed with our visit to the local cathedral.
The town itself was already in existence in the third century BC and construction began on the present walls in 1420 to protect the community against raiders. There were no raiders or pirates during our visit, but it was fun to imagine the Kotor from many years ago as we made our way through the town.
In the afternoon a number of brave souls boarded our motor coach for a journey up to the rim of the fjord walls and a visit to the small village of Njegusi. The road we took was not designed for full sized motor coaches but the skill of our native driver was very evident. Twenty five very tight switchbacks and approximately 3,000 vertical feet later we were at Njegusi. It is said that this is a good place to come for clean air, good prosciutto ham, fine cheese and some good local honey wine. We sampled all of these and made a short visit to a local farmers’ smoke room before we departed back down the fjord walls.
At the end of dinner the Panorama departed Kotor on a calm sea and under a clear sky on our way to Albania.
During the night we passed into the waters of Montenegro, leaving fine memories of Croatia in our wake. When we awoke the skies were a bit grey and some light rain had begun to fall. This seemed appropriate in that we were entering Kotorfjord which is rimmed by 3,000 ft mountain peaks. This made a nice backdrop as we approached Gospa od Skrpjela, a small church built by and dedicated to mariners. We circled the manmade island, paid tribute to church and then made our way southward for Kotor.
After breakfast we departed the ship and headed for the small town of Perast and an opportunity to explore Gospa firsthand. This island was created by the people of Perast and by local sailors who brought stones out by boat and dropped them over an already existing reef. They were drawn to do this by a local legend that told a tale of some sailors that found a statue of the Virgin Mary on the reef after a great maritime tragedy. It is also said that some pirate ships that had been captured and other vessels well past their prime were filled with ballast stones and sunk on the site as well.
Construction on Church of Our Lady of the Rock began in 1630. It is small but well decorated with silver votive plaques presented to the church in hopes that they would be blessed in their journeys and with good health. There were also many paintings depicting religious icons within the church and others showing maritime history throughout the museum.
We returned to Perast for some time to wander the town, visit the local museum and eventually to return to Kotor. Some of the guests chose to wander on their own while others remained with our local guides to wind through the narrow streets within the walls of the old town. It rained a bit, but this was well timed with our visit to the local cathedral.
The town itself was already in existence in the third century BC and construction began on the present walls in 1420 to protect the community against raiders. There were no raiders or pirates during our visit, but it was fun to imagine the Kotor from many years ago as we made our way through the town.
In the afternoon a number of brave souls boarded our motor coach for a journey up to the rim of the fjord walls and a visit to the small village of Njegusi. The road we took was not designed for full sized motor coaches but the skill of our native driver was very evident. Twenty five very tight switchbacks and approximately 3,000 vertical feet later we were at Njegusi. It is said that this is a good place to come for clean air, good prosciutto ham, fine cheese and some good local honey wine. We sampled all of these and made a short visit to a local farmers’ smoke room before we departed back down the fjord walls.
At the end of dinner the Panorama departed Kotor on a calm sea and under a clear sky on our way to Albania.
