Kotor, Montenegro
In accordance with a longstanding tradition the Panorama circled the small man-made island of Our Lady of the Rocks Church (Gospod od Skrpjela) and blew its horn before passing through the narrow straits of Verige to dock in Kotor Bay. In times past these straits were protected by a chain that would only be lowered once it was determined that the approaching ship was no danger.
The days have been hot, so we got an early start by bus to the town of Perast, home to sea captains and a town that enjoyed a special relationship with Venice. The story behind Our Lady of the Rocks Church is both unique and familiar at the same time: an icon was discovered unexpectedly on a reef and the locals decided to build the island by carrying rocks by boat and dropping them into the water until there was enough land mass to build this small, charming church. Every July they still hold a festival when the locals take boats out to the island to drop more rocks in honor of this tradition. The church houses a diverse collection of votive offerings such as paintings of ships in distress that have been saved through the intercession of the Madonna.
Back in the town of Perast we visited the Maritime Museum as well as the Church of St. Nicholas under whose altar the flag of Venice is said to have been hidden to save it from capture. The bell tower has been recently renovated and is now open to the public. The walled city of Kotor is compact and very Venetian in character. Our guides Stefan and Andjelina provided us with an informative walking tour and a brief history for orientation. We then had free time to explore the Orthodox churches of St. Nikola and St. Luke and the Catholic cathedral of St. Trifon (the city's patron saint) or sample the wares at the farmers market with its colorful array of fruits and vegetables, cheeses and herbs. Some intrepid travelers trekked up the city walls to St. John's Fortress high above the city.
In the afternoon, Milos, the extremely skillful bus driver, took us up the serpentine road with 26 switchbacks to the mountain village of Njegoši so we could experience the dramatic contrasts in the geography of Montenegro. Sharon led one group off to the meadows in search of crocuses and found a raging forest fire (a sober reminder of the fragility of nature).
Tom and Grace found their old friend Boško who has a smokehouse for the pršt specific to this village. As he deftly shaved off paper thin slices of the ham with a simple paring knife, Boško explained the process of packing the meat in salt and letting it air dry for 15 days, then pressing out the liquid and salt under heavy weights for another 15 days, and finally smoking it for 30 days using local birch wood.
We ended our visit in a local restaurant listening to Stefan play the gusle (a one-stringed instrument used by bards to accompany the epic ballads of Montenegrin struggle against the Ottoman Empire) and enjoying the local products: pršt, cheese, beer, wine and mead from honey.
We returned to the Panorama for our briefing on tomorrow's visit to Dubrovnik and the general consensus was that Montenegro was a place that deserved a return visit.
