a visit to Kotor!

Bosnian coffee

My coffee preparation method these days.  Lots of people drinking the instant Nescafe around here.  Not me, I like it stronger.    Here we call this style "Bosnian" vs. "Turkish".  This little pot is probably supposed to serve about 4-5 people.  I drink it all in one go; my roomate says it is enough to kill a horse but she is wrong.  I just feel a nice, mild caffeine push.  :)  (I am always hoping that anyone reading my blog appreciates my sense of humor... )  

Hi & how are you??  Dobradan!

That is one of my five Serbian words/expressions that I have learned, meaning hello & good day!  Recently I have mastered good morning as well as goodbye and beer.  HA!  Slow progress.  My mom would be happy to hear I am at a sports cafe watching Wimbledon right now.  It is the semifinal between Federer & Djokovic, I am feeling particularly connected because Novak Djokovic is Serbian.  Which is not Montenegrin but, is Balkan enough.  Did you know that Novak is only 25?  Just a young pup.  Anyway, he needs to turn the tables on Roger pretty quick to win!!!

Things are A-ok in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.  I have had a few new people coming to my yoga classes which is fulfilling.  I would like to see a bunch more people show up though!  After morning yoga during the rest of my day, I am perfecting the Montenegrin art of resting.  Despite my active nature, the heat is helping me to hone my resting skills.  Yesterday I took a day trip to the city of Kotor which is located at the very end of the bay.  People actually call the Bay of Kotor the southernmost European fjord because it is so long, narrow & deep like the fjords of Norway.  What is crazy to me is that huge cruise ships go all the way to the end of the bay to dock in Kotor to stop for the tourists.  It detracts from the ambiance.  All the small towns along the fjord are very charming, yesterday all along the shore everyone was in the sea or in the shade.  It was HOT!  No one is doing anything in this heat.  But I am, I spent the day walking around old town Kotor, going for a dip & then climbing the ancient city wall to a fortress.  It was a great day (which did include a fair bit of resting too).

took a ferry across the bay

small, cute towns along the shore

lots of oleander flowers everywhere

there aren't so many beaches, most people hang out on these type of cement platforms

many people are just bobbing around in the water like this guy on the right

there were actually a few clouds in the sky, the very first clouds I have seen since I have been here!  It's normally a full-on sun blast.  

town of Perast

Federer just won!  Rats!  He is a nice guy & all but Djokovic's personality is a bit more charismatic & spicy.

lots of hydrangeas around here

generally doors & shutters on the old stone buildings are painted green

Here is Kotor with the mtns. in the background.  It is a real touristy spot.  

candles for offering

taking a shade break to beat the heat

there are a few small & nice churces in town

some oversize laundry hanging out for the tourists to enjoy.  Kotor may be  the most popular destination for tourists in Montenegro.  Herceg Novi is also very popular but more for the sea than any history & mostly with Balkans & Russians.  I heard many people speaking English & Italian here unlike in HN.

really green looking river flowing by the old city walls

some tourists squeezing by the beer cart in a narrow street

dogs are resting

cute little guy

these art installation type red umbrellas were interesting

super arty

view of the bay including 2 cruise ships.  the one on the right did a full 360 spin to exit the fjord while i was at "the beach"

some typical Balkans in their aqua socks

And then...  waiting until about 17:30 when I hoped it would be cooler, I decided to do this hike up the ancient walls.  It was still roasting out but I couldn't wait any longer because I didn't want to arrive home too late.  I was relaxing down in town in a piazza & had kind of befriended this dog.  (this is going to be a really good story, just wait for it...! :)  When I set out to head up to the fortress the little guy followed me.  I think he liked me because he thought I had left a slice of pizza for him under the bench I had been sitting on, really it was just there to begin with.  Anyway, as I bought an entrance ticket I said, oh this dog followed me & the ticket takers said he will follow you all the way up.  I thought, whatever, but turned out he did.  And, we became the best of pals even though I don't really like dogs much.  :)

aw, it was a cutie!  it had a collar, so he must have belonged to someone.  

it would play this game that my cat used to do.  it would lag far behind & then would stop walking when I looked back at it.  then when I looked away he would race up behind me.  all the people on the trail thought he was mine & would say "your dog is tired"...  i would say "i know, he's crazy!!" :)

see the red roofs of the old town  (also that damn cruise ship pumping out some nasty smoke)

the "fjord" here you get an idea of how big that cruise ship is

it wasn't such a clear afternoon but, the view was still "eyepopping".  why build the fortress SO far up the mountain?  what a lot of work!

old town Kotor

my friend on the way down (alright, maybe i like SOME dogs)

and then we had a bird bath at this fountain to cool down.  he followed me all through town & as soon as i left the city walls he stopped & turned back.  i thought really, this is it??  but, it was time we ended things.  :) ha!

the cats are all passed out in the heat too.  TONS of cats in Kotor, this one cuter than most.

And in other news I've made some nice Lithuanian friends here!  It has really been great to have a couple of friends because I've been a bit bored.  However, I'm trying to adopt a Montenegrin attitude and tell myself that I'm not bored I'm just really relaxed.  This is working!

my new friends are nice!  we went to Dubrovnik together & I showed them the secret, awesome swimming spot :)

And, that's all for now my friends.  I leave you with a parting shot of morning yoga class today.  Doing some twisting by the sea.  Not a bad location!!!

Big hugs! xx :)