ON SOUTH TO MONTENEGRO

8th - 10th May 2019

By bus at 12.00pm from Dubrovnik to Monty Negro! It's only about 40 miles to the border down the coast road and my destination was to be Kotor. The border crossing out of Croatia at a place called Karasovici involved long traffic queues and a tediously slow checking of passports. A couple of miles further on at, I think, Debeli Brijeg was an equally tedious repeat performance with the Montenegran customs. It must be remembered that Croatia is in the dreaded EU (but has the Kuna as currency) whereas Montenegro is not in the EU (but uses Euros). Don't ask me.

After that there were further long delays due to some chaotic road works. We were held at a red traffic light for what must be a world record 25 minutes! Then around the northern side of the Bay of Kotor, which is in effect a spectacular Fjord surrounded by mountains, to arrive in Kotor at 4.30pm, and the total distance is only about 70 miles. According to the book; "wedged between brooding mountains and a moody corner of the bay, the achingly atmospheric Kotor is perfectly at one with its setting...blah blah blah". It pissed with rain for most of the time I was there.

Kotor, top left of Montenegro, is another floating city cruise ship destination. They come up the fjord (well they would wouldn't they). Left: One of two such vessels in port. It also has an old walled city. Another walled old city which so attracts the touristi hordes.  Smaller than that in Dubrovnik but even more compact and is a total maze of unmarked alleyways. Map reading is impossible. It reminded me a bit of the Souk in Fez but without Arabs, and wetter. You just have to wander around using the sun (if you're lucky) as a compass and hope you find what you are looking for by accident as I did; a little hotel called, ambitiously, Palazzio Dusko.......

Which turned out a real winner. 45 Euros per night (low season rates). Very comfortable and very helpful staff. Right: My room which had all mod-cons including a large flat-screen TV with programmes including BBC World 24 (which, as it happens, I find remarkably 'PC' and irritating).
It took me several trips out of the hotel before I could confidently re-locate it again.

Left: The southern, Gurdic, Gate. There are three gates.

Right: The western, Sea Gate, by the harbour. Note the very large green bench/seat which provides a popular photo-op.

There is also a northern, River Gate, ouside which runs the Skurda River.









Left: A local Kotorian having a siesta. Or maybe he is on guard.

Right: One of the 28 (yes 28!) churches in this little town behind which, to the east, is a range of mountains. The near peak has 1300 steps leading up to the top. It was raining so I didn't bother. That was my excuse anyway.

Being at the southern tip of the fjord (Bay of Kotor) the  town is surrounded by mountains on three sides.

On the other side of the western range is the town of Tivat, with an airport in a mountainous valley. Easyjet fly in there. Not easy I suggest. Definitely a Cat 10 Squeaky Bum ride.

Left: Another church. Actually I think this is St Tryphon's Cathedral, originally consecrated in 1166. Apparently St Tryphon could cure all known sicknesses. Who needs the NHS with people like that around! That's enough churches.

Right: The other thing which Kotor is full of is cats. Why? Nobody seems sure but it may have something to do with ships. They infest the place. They even have a 'Cats Museum' (right) which I did not enter. The locals are obviously fond of them.













Right: One of the little streets amongst which you get totally lost.
















There are lots of bars and restaurants in the streets and small squares. Eating outside was a bit of a damp experience while I was here.

Being a touristy place most of the hoteliers and bar staff speak excellent English. There is an English/Montenegran 'useful phrases' guide in my guide book. One of the 'key phrases' is "gavoreetya lee Engleskee?" which means "do you speak English?". What is the bleedin' point of that? Why not just ask "do you speak English"?! They either do or they don't.



It is possible to walk along the top of (some of) the city walls. Not so manicured as Dubrovnik and much shorter. Left: A view down to the harbour....











Right: ....and one of the squares.

I have a friend who bought an apartment in Tivat (8 miles over the rocks from Kotor) six years ago. Probably a very wise investment considering the recent tourist developments. She offered to drive me and her cousin who was staying with her up the 'scenic' mountain route to the town of Cetinje. Cetinje, about 40 miles south-east of Kotor, was the Capital city until 1946 when it passed the baton to Titograd, now called Podgorica. As such it housed all the foreign embassies and still has a Presidential Palace.

The road up the mountain was precipitous with many (lost count) U bends and overhanging vertical drops of several hundred feet. The road was narrow and only just allowed two cars to pass. You meet anything larger and reversing, because they wouldn't, into a sort of lay-by was hazardous. Quite buttock-clenching really. It was a climb of over 6000ft.

Left: On the way up, a view overlooking Kotor from the south.

About half-way up there was a sign advertising a zip wire. I reckon myself to be a bit of a connoisseur of zip wires which in South America and Asia have delightful and long (2km) zips through forests from stand to stand, passing through the tree tops. Fun. About 50ft off the ground for the most part. So I asked my friend to stop and I would have a go here. As it happened, when we stopped at the zip wire start we (or I) were a) the only takers and b) it was in cloud. The zip man said it had just clouded over. The line was only about 500meters long, he said. Pathetic, I thought. I strapped in (right) and waited a couple of minutes. The clouds began to clear.

In retrospect I wish they hadn't. Just off the launch platform there was a drop of about 2000ft! I nearly shat myself!

It went fast and furious and the 500m trip over a vast drop was somewhat 'exhilarating' to say the least and not quite what I had had in mind. 

I had been told to keep my legs horizontal and just as well I did because arriving at the base station we were doing about Mach 1 and if I had hit the platform with my legs down they would have been snapped off! Bleedin' Nora! 

Very efficiently someone was waiting at the bottom in a car to take me, recovering from shock, back up again. 

All's well that ends well, but be careful what you ask for.

After that little interlude we wiggled our way on up the mountain and then down towards Cetinje. We passed through wild country, a nature park, and impressive scenery with a surprising number of small 'chalets' which seemed deserted. I was told they are used in the summer months by hikers and travellers. 

Enough for now and further drivel to continue from Cetinje and onwards. So far so good.

PS. According to my useless phrase book the Montenegrin for "there's a mistake in my bill" is "neka je greska na racunu". Can you imagine the ongoing lack of communication if you said that! Pah. 

SPLIT TO DUBROVNIK - CROATIA

6th - 8th May 2019

Dubrovnik? Well do they? It is on the Adriatic coast at the southern end of Croatia. I took quite a large speedy comfortable twin-hulled craft from Split, The Eclipse, which called in at four of the many islands which line the coast (can't remember their names) on the way south and it took about 5 hours arriving at 12.50pm. I decided to walk from Dubrovnik port to the Old City (Grad) at the eastern end of town in which I was to stay a couple of nights. It didn't look too far on my little map. In fact it was about 2 miles and a lot of uphill to begin with and it started to rain halfway there. I suppose the exercise did me good. I discovered later that there is a regular cheap bus service (#3 )from the port which I suggest you use if you follow in my footsteps. The city took a bit of a pasting during the civil war in the early 90s and many of the buildings were badly bomb damaged. They have been restored magnificently but with shrapnel and bullet holes still visible in parts. They make for good stories by tour guides.

Left: The entry to the old walled city at the eastern end of town..

There seemed to be a constant queue of tourists entering (right), and this is not even the busy season. Like Split, I dread to think of the crowds during the 'high season'. Again, as per Split, many of these tourists were on day release from the visiting mega-sized cruise ships.

Inside the walls there were scores of little streets and alleyways with one main one, Placa, running down the centre. It is a bit of a maze, but fortunately they were arranged in (almost) a grid pattern and most of them had rather quaint street signs carved into the wall, so navigation was not too difficult. It does not cover a big area, probably only 500 x 500m.

Having said that it took quite a long time, even with the aid of GPS, to find my little hotel, the Roko, hidden away in a backstreet. There are lots of small hotels/guest houses and they only advertise their presence by tiny little plaques above or beside the door (very tasteful but not particularly helpful). Right: I think it's the door on the left, but so many look the same! It is a jolly decent little place with a very helpful manageress. So far all the people running and working in the hotels and restaurants I have visited speak excellent English.

Left: Most of the streets were lined with bars and restaurants. There were hundreds of them, and not cheap. The Croatian currency is the Kuna (even though they are in the EU) and there are about 8 Kunas to the £. Most of the main courses cost bewtween 150/200 Kunas and, in my limited experience, the food was not great. I remember going for a 'cheap' spag bol at 120 Kunas, and it was a very small unappetising  watery micro-waved version.

Right: The central square, cathedral and 'treasury'. Fortunately the rain had cleared and it stayed sunny for the time I was in town.

Left: The market in Gundulic Square. There is also a small supermarket here which proved useful.

Right:......and the inevitable 'Oirish Bear'. There was at least one in Split also. It would be interesting, and easier, to note all the cities in the world (excluding the Arab lands) which don't have one.











Left: Another crowded little alleyway.

Right: A visiting potentate drawing money from his Swiss bank account. There is no shortage of ATMs.

Left: It's not all flat. Some alleyways have steep steps.

Right: An example of another of these attractive, clean and shiny paved streets which are lethally slippery when wet.

Left: A 'human statue'. Yes, there were some of these standing, begging hopefully, at the entrance end.

Right: A shop front in the Old City. This was hard to credit. I really wasn't expecting to be reminded of Christmas quite so early. Even UK stores resist being 'festive' until at least September!

Left: The 'thing' to do here is to take a walk around the top of the city walls. It costs 200 Kuna (£25) for the privilege and includes entry to Fort Lovrijenac overlooking the main entrance (far right in pic). The narrow walkway around the perimeter took me over an hour to complete involving several sets of steps and some quite precarious sections with only a low wall separating you from a long drop into the Adriatic.

Right: A view of Fort Lovrijenac from the top of the wall.

Left: A view over the top of the Old City to the east towards the Island of Lokrum which, I think, has a castle on it and is otherwise uninhabited. I may be wrong.

There were several escorted 'Game of Thrones" tours advertised. I have never watched this TV series but assume that some filming was done here. I couldn't be less interested.

Right: There were several of these old boats offering tours.

Left:....and pit-stops en-route

Right: A view through the wall over the eastern harbour. This was merely  to humour my photographic artistry.

Left: The eastern harbour from which several boats of varying size were offering short cruises and 'glass bottomed' views of local fish etc. I expect the fish were professional models.

Right: Including a submarine (well, semi-submarine) trip. I wanted to try this but was told they had no other customers at the time and it required a minimum of 3 passengers to set sail, or whatever submarines do. I spent several  minutes wandering around looking for likely takers and accosting them, to no avail.

Left: Outside the eastern gate on the harbour terrace was a nice little restaurant with this 5 piece band. They played traditional jazz type music and  were excellent. I spent a happy hour listening to them. I take sound videos of these things but have yet to find a way of inserting them here. It must be possible somehow.

To get my 200 Kunas worth I paid a visit up and into Lovrijenac Fort. Nothing very special inside but some decent views from the top. Right: Over the Old City. Walking the wall of the city, along the right side shown here, was not good for those suffering from vertigo; a low wall separated you from a long plunge.

Left: The canoe harbour. For some reason 'canoeing'  seemed to be popular. There were several little flotillas of them paddling around the coast.

Right: For advice to anyone contemplating a trip here I show the advert for the Dubrovnik Card, sold at the tourist info offices, which offers discounts. It is worth getting.

On the second evening I went to an advertised performance by a classical guitarist in one of the many churches in the city (the small Domino's Church) close to my hotel. There are several churches; many more than you would think a place this size deserves. Anyway, the guitarist, Tomislov Zerovnik, was absolutely brilliant! He came in, never said a word, and just played for over an hour. Such enormous skill and talent. There were only about 30 of us in the audience but his performance deserved many more. I suspect that there is a lot of possibly unrecognised musical talent in this part of the world.

The rest of this town/city was pleasant enough and boasts several beaches, restaurants, smart hotels and other tourist spots outside the 'picturesque' old walled city, but I only travelled briefly through it. The Old City is definitely worth visiting and I enjoyed my brief stay, but suspect it becomes over-touristed in the peak summer season and unpleasantly crowded.

OK! On next further south into Montenegro........

DOWN TO SPLIT, CROATIA

4th - 5th May 2019

The peninsular of Split from Marjan hill

Next from Ljubljana to Split via a stop in Zagreb (capital of Croatia) in another comfortable 'compartment' train. I shared the compartment with a Slovenian scientist, a lepidopterist, who worked for some international natural science organisation. He specialised in moths in the permafrost area of north-east Siberia and spent a lot of time up there near a town called Alyatki above the Arctic circle, close to the Bering Straits. I learnt a lot about that part of the world, and moths, during the two hour journey to Zagreb; not least that the temperature in that part of the world drops to minus 60ºc for most of the dark winter. Bloody hell! I hope he was paid well and well wrapped up, and they must be very hardy moths up there. Actually he was a very nice chap and spoke good English. We arrived in Zagreb at mid-day after customs checks on the border at Dobova. I had over 3 hours to kill so took a wander around Zagreb before the train to Split was due to depart at 15.20. First had to buy some Croatia 'Kuna'. Interestingly, Croatia is in the EU and has it's own currency whereas Montenegro is not in the EU but uses Euros.

Left: Zagreb central station. I'm told it was once a palace.

I had a light lunch in a pleasant café in which this trio (right) were playing and singing some jolly songs.

Knowing I would be late arriving in Split I took the opportunity to book some accommodation 'on-line' and got an 'apartment' at a very reasonable price. I suspect a lot is still available because the main tourist season hasn't kicked off yet, thankfully.

All caffs and bars seem to have good free internet in this part of the world. I expect the UK will catch up one day.

Left: King Tomislav Square and gardens opposite the railway station with statue of, presumably, His Royal Highness (ruled 925-928).










The train from Zagreb to Split was due to leave at 15.20 and I boarded in good time. It was a small 4 carriage (clean) regional job with no buffet service but reasonably comfortable seats. The distance to Split is 420km and it was to stop at many little stations en-route supposedly arriving Split at 21.30. In fact we sat motionless, for no explicable reason (possibly like in UK because 'the driver hadn't turned up'), until it eventually moved off at 16.00. Right: Not my train. It was one on the adjacent platform and in keeping with the Balkan predilection for graffiti.                                                                                                                                                     

It was a very scenic (while it was daylight) journey through what I think are the Dinaric Alps. We eventually pulled in to Split at 22.20. I had called the apartment manageress to say I would be late which, apparently, being familiar with the vagaries of the Croatian railway system, she is quite used to. It was raining and late and although not far to go I took a taxi (I rarely do that!). Just as well as I discovered that the town, although smallish, is a maze of streets and easy to get lost. Anyway I was greeted warmly and shown to a remarkably luxurious apartment with all mod cons; much more than I needed. It is called 'Old Mill' and was (then) very good value for not so much money. I recommend it if you are looking for somewhere to stay in Split.

Split is on a westward pointing peninsula on the Adriatic coast and is the main city in the Dalmatian region. It has a large harbour and lots of islands just off-shore which stretch all the way south to Dubrovnik. It is popular with yachtsmen and those enormous cruise ships and, of course, many other tourists. It is centred on the ancient Roman 'Diocletian's Palace' which is in effect a 200m x 200m walled compound and takes up half of the 'old city'. Emperor Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian (known to his friends as Dennis) had it build as a holiday/retirement home at the beginning of the 4th century. It is around this that the town has expanded, considerably.

The Palace is divided into 4 quarters of a square,  with a grid pattern of narrow streets and a gate at the centre of each of the four sides. The North Gate has this statue outside it of Gregorius of Nin; some medieval Croatian bishop and nothing to do with the Romans except I think he had a bust up with the Pope at some point.  He has what looks like a lightning conductor on his helmet and a very shiny left toe-cap as tourists rub it for good luck on their way down the steps. I've lost count of the number of bronze statues I've seen with shiny bits rubbed for luck.....one or two in slightly improper parts of their anatomy. 

Split is obviously on the 'Jap Check-List' of places to visit. There were a lot of them, in groups, madly taking photos, mostly of themselves. I have nothing against our friends from the Land of the Rising Sun; in fact they are usually charming and the ladies give a little bow of the head if they pass  close in front of you. 

However they do have one irritating habit. If a group of 12 (say) are standing in front of something you want to take a quick snap of, each one of them has to take a photo of all the others before they move on. It takes ages. 

Left: There are lots of narrow little streets both inside the Palace and ouside the West gate in the old city. 

                            
Right:........and these little streets frequently had pedestrian jams. This was of in the 'dungeons' at the South Gate which are now full of souvenir/tat shops. This is not yet the 'high' tourist season. Goodness knows what the crowds will be like then. I sometimes feel that these attractive tourist sites can become victims of their own success. Too many tourists and it becomes unpleasant for all, especially the locals (or those not involved in selling things to tourists). I expect prices double, especially for accommodation, from the end of May until the end of September. 

Left: Centre part of the Palace, the Peristil, with the Cathedral (Roman Mausoleum) on the left.

Right: Roman Legionnaires/Centurions/Soldiers posing for a photo op. In the main season they perform a Roman 'Changing of the Guard' in the Peristil at mid-day (except Sundays and Bank Holidays perhaps).

Left: Narodni Square outside the West Gate with a multitude of outside restaurants, cafés and bars. There were also lots more in the surrounding little streets.

Talking of the streets, they were constructed of cream coloured limestone (I think) flagstones which, due to the passage of many feet over the years, had become shiny, like marble. They look lovely but after a bit of rain, which was the case when I was there, are lethally slippery.

Right: ...and a long line of retaurants alomg the harbour front. They were doing good business. Main touristing hours seem to be between 10.00am, after the cruise ships have disgorged their human cargo (or 'self-moving freight' as it's sometimes referred to) and about 4.30pm when they  set sail again, onwards to swamp another city.

Left:: Poor photo of some of the cruise ships in the harbour.

Right: A smart normal (slippery when wet) street in the town which has some expensive designer shops on it. 

Left: At the far end is this extraordinary fountain; a finger pointing out of the wall and squirting water into the cup. It switches off for a few minutes and starts up again to give pedestrians a bit of a fright.

Right: To get a bit of exercise, and a photo, I climbed Marjan Hill, overlooking the city from the west. It was 300 steps up to a viewing platform and bar/restaurant. The steps/path went further up and I, hoping for a better view, set off and ended up eventually at a meteorological station and radio mast on top of the hill, but surrounded by trees, and sweating. Back down to the viewing platform for a photo and drink.

Left: Even touristy Split is not free from the curse of Balkan graffiti. There was quite a lot of it, but nothing like Ljubljana.

That is about it from Split. On south next by boat; this twin-hulled vessel the 'Eclipse', to Dubrovnik at the southern end of the country.