Author: Nicole (Page 13 of 46)

We pass through so many countries so quickly, we struggle to learn the language. We do our best to learn the basics (“thank you” on day 1), and we slowly add from there. Fellow cruiser Sande found that the back of a napkin at a local Tivat restaurant had all the basics listed for us perfectly…..

The Ladder of Cattaro (Venetian for Kotor), is a series of switchbacks that go up the Scurda Canyon alongside the fortress overlooking Kotor. It was built as a mule track, connecting Kotor to Njegusi and Cetinje (former the royal capital of Montengro).

It’s not a difficult hike, but it’s a lot of constant plodding steadily uphill, always just a couple of feet from a plunging edge, but spectacular views.

We stopped at the Sveti Juraj chapel and tested our Latin skills counting the engravings to determine when the church was built (what do you mean 9 can be either VIIII or IX?).

We did not make it to the summit, but we did climb significantly higher than the top of St John’s fortress, and had quite the view during our lunch stop. On our way back we stopped a a local house for local beer, cheese, bread and raki.

Someone asked at pasta night where one could find sage locally, and our instructor said it grew wild in the hills. Sure enough, I found some on our hike the other day!

The weather has been crap here – overcast, lots of rain, and a short burst of sunshine. This means we have no excuses to avoid boat projects. We had intended on chucking our bikes at the end of the season as we just don’t seem to be riding them much (I prefer walking here). But we just put a deposit down on Monastir in Turkey, and a fellow cruiser said bikes are incredibly useful there. So we’re gussying things up and wiping off the rust (from all the non-stop rain), and tucking them back under the forward berth before we leave.

Trip also made a wooden anchor roller to fit over the transom of the dinghy to pay out an anchor and line should we need to anchor from the stern as well the bow. (A strong possibility, but I’m hoping to find empty bays and reasonable depth for our anchor!).

One of the hottest tickets of the season was scoring a spot in the cooking classes that the marina organized in an old monastery near Kotor. We were out of the country for the first two, but managed to snag a spot once we came back.

My family has homemade ravioli at every holiday (thank you Grandma O and cousin Chris), I make pasta regularly, and even used to teach classes myself. But the chance to drink wine, tour an old catholic monastery, and cook on top of it? Sign me up, please!

The St Nicholas monastery was built ~1735, and served as a Catholic Church, housed monks, and later housed Captains in this sea-faring region. In a country dominated by Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism had its footprint thanks to 300 years of Venetian rule.

As I ooed and aahed at the artistry of the altar, our guide pointed out something very interesting – the ‘marble’ was actually painted wood, and a very clever mimic at that!

After the tour we refilled our wine glasses and got down to business. The instructor had already made the pasta, but showed everyone how to make ravioli and tortellini. Ravioli was my thing, but having never made tortellini before I headed to that table. The dough was a little tricky to work with (not enough flour to absorb the moisture from the spinach coloring the dough), but Tascha, Dudley and I persevered with quite a good result. None of ours broke in the water, and the cashew sage brown butter sauce made them delectable.

A successful and tasty evening, we’re hoping to do it again! (We’ve asked if they’d feature local Montenegrin foods in future classes)

I was at the local cosmetics store shopping for new moisturizer with sunscreen when I spotted this and snapped a shot as I laughed. Little did I know until I posted the picture on Instagram and FaceBook, was that this is a real thing. Apparently fishermen collecting snails to sell to restaurants for escargot noticed how silky smooth their hands were from handling all the snail slime. Lab tests have also indicated that it may repair sun damage and reduce the risk of melanoma. I slunk (no pun intended) back to the store and bought a tube to add to my summer regimen.

There’s a brave group amongst the liveaboards here that participate in a weekly cold swim. I passed on the first Friday as the weather was bleak, but joined in our second week back. I learned that the best advice is to jump or walk directly in with no hesitation. These professionals do it with a smile on their faces, as opposed to the yelps that escaped my lips. I have to admit it really did feel invigorating, and I lasted 15 minutes at 13C/55F!

It was off for a coffee afterward with Jen & AJ, and Trip (who had just stood on the beach and shook his head at all of us). Till next week!

It’s still quite chilly here at night, so nothing beats hand knit wool slippers, a roaring fire, and an old school water bottle tucked in the sheets.

It was Karneval time! We jumped on the small local bus that takes the looooong way around the bay, going through all the charming little villages, rather than the quick way through the tunnel. It was Sunday morning and there wasn’t too much traffic. I can’t imagine how long it would take in summer, as there were multiple points where only one vehicle could fit down the street.

We arrived long before the festivities were due to begin, but we hadn’t been in Kotor in months, so we wanted a chance to wander around again. We stopped in at our favorite restaurant Konoba Santa Scala, and this time ate inside in the cute little cozy interior with Sande & Mike from Square One Sailing. Little did we know the other sailors from our marina were sitting outside at a table, and only realized it when Doug, of s/v Ambiente, came in to use the facilities.

We finished up and walked out to the main road to find a good spot to watch the parade. The contestants and costumes ranged from simple home-made affairs to some rather extravagant getups!

At the very end trailed the Manola de la Montanja, (The Man of the Mountain)

He was brought around to the very edge of the town (concrete) pier, where a mock trial was held and he was executed by burning at the stake. This represents a banishment of all the bad things that happened in the past year.

We meandered back to a bar for a drink while we waited for the bus home. Of course, Trip had to stop and pose with some of the revelers.

One of the liveaboards here in the marina, Tim, has been in Montenegro for over a decade, is an amazing amateur historian, and organizes hikes for the group when the weather cooperates. The first one we joined him on was a trip back in time.

Montengro as we know it, was carved into multiple regions that passed through many hands over the centuries. Boka Bay and the coastline (pretty much up to the ridge of mountains) was ruled by Venice for a few hundred years, before being ceded to Austria in 1815 via the Congress of Vienna. During the Austro Hungarian rule (1815-1918), over 100 fortresses were built to support the naval base in the bay. When they lost power, they bombed as many of the fortresses on their way out, leaving many in a complete state of ruin today, abandoned by the government.

Fort Lustica was the first fortress that we visited. It was built on a hill in 1890 as a second layer of defense at the narrowest part of the entrance of the bay (first layer being the islands at the entrance to the bay). It was bombed to near oblivion in 1918 in the retreat of defeat. It’s wildly overgrown and not easy to explore, but we were determined.

We climbed around the remnants, explored, and imagined what it might have looked like in the day. Of course the great views of the Adriatic and the mountains were a constant distraction.

Then it was on to Fort Kamala. Only 20 minutes away by foot, this was another fort that for unknown reasons (they ran out of weaponry?) was not demolished and therefore in much better shape to explore.

The anti-personnel ditch (think moat without water) was not as overgrown as at Lustica, the steps were safer to climb, and more was intact to explore.

We weren’t done with are war history yet. We backtracked a bit by car to the fishing village Rose. Walking down a dirt path to the water’s edge, we came upon one of several submarine tunnels built in the 1970’s by the Yugoslavian Navy (after WWI, Montenegro and the countries around it formed the country of Yugoslavia.)

The tunnel is 100 meters long and despite needing a flashlight to mind our steps, had good visibility at the very end (plenty of light to enjoy the creative graffiti). There’s an entire network of tunnels and passages adjoining that we didn’t have time to explore.

A few days later, Trip and I walked through the Naval Heritage Collection (museum) at Porto Montenegro. Unfortunately the museum is closed indefinitely, but we had a chance to wander around outside inspecting old submarines and boats that could have easily hidden out in the tunnel we explored only days earlier.