Day 20 - Into the Deep Blue Sea (Thursday 2nd May 2024)

A free day for everyone today. Free to explore this wonderful town. Some of the more energetic amongst us rose early to tackle the steps up to the top of the fortress – a very steep climb by all accounts. Kerry and I chose to admire the work of the people who fortified the city all those centuries ago from the safety of the lanes of the old city below. A big storm blew through last night which caught some of our companions unprepared as they strolled back along the promenade from their respective evening meals. That left the city damp underfoot and the surface of the cobble-stoned streets quite treacherous. Even more treacherous on the steep walls that surround the city. I got a taste of it when I went wandering later in the day that left me in no doubt that my footwear was not up to the task of  tackling hundreds of slippery steps.

 

 

The previous evening I had booked a walking tour of the old town with a local guide. It was booked online through a website called GuruWalk. The website provides a platform for access to “free” walking tours in cities and towns all over the world. There is no payment made other than to your guide at the end of your tour in an amount that you think is fair and reasonable for the service delivered. Our tour was led by a chap who was “born and bred” in this his home town, as are most of the guides, I suspect. We learned a lot about many aspects of the city, the region, the culture and the history in the 90 minute walk. The group was only 8 – 10 in size. Following the tour we retraced our steps to visit some of the places we had passed along the way – an old and tiny Orthodox church called St. Luke’s, built by the Catholics and later donated to the Orthodox Christians because they didn’t have one. Both these branches of Christianity later built much more substantial places of worship, neither of which we visited because one was closed for renovations and the other wanted to charge five Euros for entry. It’s not the money, you understand, it’s the principle. I know it costs money for the upkeep of these places but the invading tourist army is hardly gonna wear out the marble steps to the church and aisles and pews within in the brief five minute visit they’re gonna make. They’ll take a few snaps, admire the work of the artisans who built and decorated the place and be on their way.

The rain of last night had not completely gone away so we regularly found ourselves sheltering under the awnings of shops and restaurants throughout the town. I “dips me lid” to the waiters who carried on with the lunch service to the tables in the squares despite the rain and the crowds blocking the doorways to their kitchens. All done with a smile and no fuss or angst. We stopped at one open-air cafe for a coffee in between showers. When a few spots of rain began to fall the waiters appeared and with the skill of a well-practiced Formula 1 team, ushered their guests into drier surrounds and cleared the tables of luncheon ornaments and the seats of cushions before anything or anyone got caught in the down-pour. It was a pleasure to observe such teamwork and respect for the customer!

Since last night Lovćen had been covered in thick cloud and still was early in the afternoon. We hoped that the cloud would lift, as predicted by our walking tour guide, in time for our travelling companions who were heading up the mountain to take in the view as we had yesterday. After a stroll around the lanes (and up a few treacherous steps as mentioned earlier) we headed back to the hotel to prepare for what would turn out to be one of the highlights of the trip so far.

On the agenda for the afternoon was a boat ride on Kotor Bay, all the way out to its confluence with the Adriatic Sea - not a part of the tour package, mind you, but an adventure that everyone was keen to participate in. Not cheap at 40 Euros per head but, boy, did we get our money’s worth. From a little dock near the hotel we were ferried out to a BIG speed boat where twelve of our team joined ten others on the craft. The captain fired up what must have been a massive diesel engine and we were away – at speed. This thing could fly! Half of the passengers sat on the back deck in the open air and half were under the covered canopy towards the bow. That’s were Kerry and I finished up. First port of call was one of the islands mentioned yesterday – the one with the church – which wasn’t that exciting. The best bit was the ice-cream. Thanks for the loan of two Euros, Rob. As if to support my earlier comments about church entry fees, the little church on the island wanted to charge people three Euros to enter. Everyone (that is, other tourists and our own group) who wanted to enter chose not to based on the same principle.

 

 

Because of the shape of Kotor Bay, the fact that it’s surrounded by high mountains and its narrow entrance it was determined by the Axis forces in WWII to be the perfect place to park submarines. To that end, three tunnels had been driven into the mountain-side at water level to accommodate those vessels. Our captain took his boat into one of them for a closer inspection. Back to 1977 and Roger Moore’s James Bond I went as I recalled scenes from the “The Spy Who Loved Me”. I don’t think this was the tunnel that was used in the film but it sure looked a lot like it in my mind’s eye.

 

At Michelle’s request the first mate took down the clear plastic screens that had been shielding we at the bow from the wind and the spray. The captain opened the throttle and away we went towards the entrance of the bay, the wind blowing strong in our faces. Until now, in the shelter of the coves of the bay, the sailing had been pretty smooth but now as we approached the Adriatic the swell was beginning to have an impact on our progress. Like a bunch of excited school children we rode every dip and peak in the swell as the big boat powered on through the water - sometimes slicing through, sometimes crashing through. Near the entrance the captain stopped for a moment to explain the history of the fortifications to which we were adjacent before pushing on out from the protection of the bay into the Adriatic.

Our destination for the cruise was the Blue Grotto, a cave at the bottom of a rock face a short way down the coast. Other, much smaller, boats had ventured inside but our captain rightly chose to not risk damage to his vessel. He did attempt it, mind you, coming up very close to the rocks but the wavelength of this swell was just too short. His timing would have had to be perfect to get inside without having his boat (and his customers) crushed on the ceiling of the cave entrance. A couple of hundred metres along he pulled up at a quiet bit of water behind a rocky outcrop and, figuratively speaking, dropped anchor. Bursting with anticipation Sam, Sasha, Mel, Michelle, Charlotte and yours truly stripped off to our bathers underneath and dived into the clear, blue waters of the sea. There was an other Montenegrin WOW! moment. While it’s true the water was not warm, it wasn’t cold either. Quite refreshing really. For fifteen minutes we swam around, posed for photographs, dived to the depths and just generally had a really fun time. We all could have stayed there much longer but we had a long way to get home so reluctantly we climbed the ladder at the rear of the boat, dried off a little and took our seats for the non-stop journey back to Kotor.

What we at the bow of the boat thought was “second prize” in the seating lottery turned out to be a winner. As we sped deeper into the bay the scenery that unfolded before us was almost too good to be true. Sticking in my mind was the massive rock wall of the mountain range that formed the backdrop to the part of the bay in which Kotor was located, bathed in sunlight and growing bigger with every passing minute. To the port and the starboard we had the green sides of the mountains dotted with houses and churches all along the way. Back at the dock I happily handed over our eighty Euros to the captain and walked home to prepare for dinner after a very memorable day with a great bunch of people and an experience one has only ever dreamt of.