holidays 2012 - day 06: some serious mountains, some serious rain, some seriously old place

when we get up at 7, it actually isn't raining. once again our timing is spot-on: the moment we're done packing, cleaning the tent as best we can, and are about to get in the car, guess what? yep. the sky has more of that wet stuff, and we might not know it yet, but there is way, way more to come.


freshly showered citrus fruit


we drive along the road to kotor again, but then on to new territory. despite the dismal weather, we have our hopes up that this will stop some time soon. we are not sure we'll be back this way and therefore decide to take the spectacular road to mt lovćen, the black mountain that gave montenegro its name. it's a winding road with some challenging hairpin bends, and due to the weather there is lots of gravel and even rocks on the road. we are lucky in that the fog clears occasionally, and the rain even ceases a few times, so we stop and get out to enjoy breath-taking views of the bay of kotor and its surroundings, as far as the open sea. stunning, and made all the more dramatic by wisps of white and grey clouds floating around both above and below us, by thick curtains of fog being lifted for glimpses of mountains opposite us, by the grim sky never allowing the sun to break through clouds completely.

dramatic landscape, dramatic weather: bay of kotor


after a while heavy rain sets in again, and we decide to wait out the worst. parked at one of the many passing places/vista points, we play a couple of games of settlers of catan, rolling dice and eagerly building roads, towns, and cities in an imaginary country where it doesn't quite rain so much.

eventually we drive on to the pass and decide to turn right onto the even narrower road to the famous and popular njegoš mausoleum. the closer we get, the more it rains. but - true explorers cannot be detained by mere rain and wind, right? right. but maybe they should sometimes be. or maybe a rain dance before getting out of the car might have proved helpful. anyway: we are not quite sure how far it is from the carpark to the actual mausoleum. more information would have made us stay in the car and turn around, no doubt.

so we find out that 1560 m above sea level combined with a very chilly, very strong wind and pouring rain makes for some not-so-pleasant outdoor experiences. instead of the expected 2 or 3 staircases up, there are countless stone steps, some in the open, some in a freezing, draughty tunnel. within about half a minute i am soaked to the skin anyway - at least from the hips down. the rain stings my face like needles. i run so fast that after about 2/3 of the way breathing becomes painful and i feel on the verge of a panic attack. i am too hot from running upstairs to feel cold, which seems weird.

eventually we reach the top, where they explain that there is no electricity - and no panorama, ha ha - and hand us a tiny flashlight. we are in no mood for long exploring anyway, so we just take a couple of photos of the mausoleum - a couple of dark, solemn statues in national costume and the grave and statue of montenegro's national hero, petar II petrović njegoš - and turn around for the way back, which is somehow even worse than the way up. it is so dark in the tunnel, and our glasses are so wet, that we have to be really careful with the slippery steps, which slows us down.

couple standing guard over petar II petrović njegoš


we grab some dry clothes from the car and rush into the restaurant. there is no light except a tiny little lamp in the ladies' restroom, and by that light i towel myself dry and change into dry clothes. quite an interesting pastime, if you ever get bored. some hot tea and bowls of delicious, steaming soup warm us up. and we do our best to imagine the panorama that is hidden behind walls of rain and clouds.

sad substitute for a panorama


thank goodness for heating in cars, too, as we drive down the other side of the mountain towards cetinje. more rain. on to the coast near budva. more rain. sveti stefan, the famous picture-postcard montenegrin island just off the coast, looks a lot less alluring in this kind of weather than under a brilliant blue sky, so one picture of it set against a grey sky and grey-green sea is all we take home. every time we think the sun might finally win the battle against the clouds - nah, more rain.

sveti stefan in the wind and rain


in bar (that's the name of a town, not a place to go for drinks!) i drop in at the tourist info, but contrary to what the lonely planet guidebook promises, the guy there barely speaks english and isn't very helpful. i pick up a small brochure of private accommodation in/around bar, and heinz and i find something that looks promising, in stari bar (old bar), where we want to go for sightseeing anyway. by the time we arrive there, the miracle has happened: the rain has stopped and the much-longed-for sun is out! what a difference that makes! the room we get is very communist era, but spacious, with a big, firm bed, a nice bathroom and a mini balcony - and: it's DRY! very soon, however, many surfaces inside and outside are also covered with damp clothes ...

our hotel is situated right beside a simple mosque as well as next to the old city wall and the entrance to the once big town that lies in ruins a few kilometres inland from modern-day bar. so off we go exploring - and there is lots of that to do: ruins of houses, churches, turkish baths, walls, streets, and a miraculously intact aqueduct await us.

ottoman aqueduct, outlasting even disastrous earthquakes


vines strangle many walls, intact or broken, grass and wildflowers grow in abundance. what a project they've got on their hands there, trying to reconstruct this place! a few places have already been done, but this is something that will take immense amounts of time and money. i love such places - imagining the lives of the many people who lived there, under slavic, venetian or ottoman rule, how elders might have met in the bath house, young girls whispered behind the church after mass, watchmen run up and down steep staircases bearing good or disastrous news.

the ruins of stari bar


i also find a church dedicated to sv veneranda - which is interesting as my father's grandmother's name was veneranda, the only veneranda i've ever heard of. to one side of the old town, olive groves cover the hills, many trees old enough to have seen the rise and fall of this place. it only drizzles for about five minutes, although dark clouds hang threateningly over the hills just behind this place lost in time. this makes for rather gorgeous light though, and the sky to the east attracts attention with ever-changing cloud formations that stir the imagination.

bird or dolphin?


dinner at our hotel's restaurant turns out to be a marvellous affair: grilled calamari for me, and about 5 tons of food for heinz (ražniči and peppers stuffed with cheese), and just when we think we're finally done, they serve figs and watermelon, on the house. a little walk around the block, so to speak, is perfect before retiring to our room.

and just when i'm about to turn off the light ... thunder, na na na nah na! just in case, i move some of our stuff from the balcony to the room. and just when i'm falling asleep ... rain! even heinz wakes up, and for about two minutes there is crazy hail, really big hailstones! after that, it rains for another 15 minutes, and that's that. at least we've got a real roof over our heads!

photos of day 06

holidays 2012 - day 05: montenegro/monteregno

uncanny timing: we wake up just before 5 am to go to the bathroom - there is a little thunder in the distance, so we take the washing off the line. as soon as we're back in the tent, the first drops of rain fall. and that's how it starts. five hours later, massive thunderstorms are still raging. and it's lightning and thunder, lightning and thunder, in incredibly quick succession, and practically without a break. and the rain? well, let's just say that all the rain that didn't fall between may and mid-september is pouring down now. it's as if the rain gods are on duracell batteries. seriously impressive, and seriously wet. after 10 am it does occasionally get a little brighter, the rain nearly ceases. but that's just the sky drawing a deep breath, before it's full steam ahead once again. camping at its best, not.


shelter from the rain


we doze / sleep away most of the morning, but it gets a little uncomfortable, as the walls are getting slightly damp, and of course we need to leave our little shelter from time to time. outside it's messy. only the plants appear to be thoroughly happy. thank goodness we bought delicious pastry for breakfast in kotor the night before, so eating is not quite as impossible a task as it might have been. when i go to brush my teeth, i can actually see the top of one mountain, and it stops raining for about a minute! however, while i'm on the toilet - wham! big, big drops start falling, and i'm half wet by the time i reach the tent about 15 m away. time to rename the country "monteREGNO" (german: regen = rain).

around 12.45 we decide to venture out into the world for some hot drinks and to prevent cabin fever. we drive to nearby risan, where the rain actually stops for a little while, and we can take some pictures of the grim-looking bay and some palm trees lining the freshly washed road.

waterfront palms, risan


we find a little restaurant and grab a table next to four british folks. i get a delicious hot chocolate, and we both have some cheap and very tasty omelet. the lights go out, when the thunderstorms come back, so we have a very romantic impromptu candlelight lunch! :) we play a couple of games of "settlers of catan" (the dice game), welcome some indian brits, and chat with the other guests.

warmed up and bellies full, we are ready to do some sightseeing. just around the corner there are remains of a roman home with some stunning mosaics. the friendly guide tells us how the villa was found by chance, and how it is suspected that a lot more were destroyed when a road was built years ago, and people just didn't care much. also, it is assumed that many locals found artefacts and ruins on their land when building houses, but they didn't report any findings, because it would have caused such a hassle, and they just wanted to get on with their lives. until relatively recently the mosaics at risan were not even sheltered from the elements, and many people came and took valuable objects away - almost all amphorae and pots are gone, and some of the mosaics are badly damaged. there's one particularly beautiful mosaic of hypnos (somnus), in what is supposed to have been the master bedroom.

sweet dreams: hypnos decorating the bedroom floor


the dining room mosaics feature pretty patterns including suns and octopuses, geometrical shapes. our timing is just perfect, too, because we are almost done when a big group arrives.

the rain seems to take a longer break, so we move on to perast, one of the next villages down the road, a lovely, romantic-looking little spot, chock-full of venetian palazzos and churches. the wind's rather strong, but it's actually not cold, so we enjoy walking around, taking in old buildings in various stages of decay, the lovely building housing the museum, the cosy-looking waterfront restaurants.

venetian echoes, perast


we pass boats that are filled with rain water, watch the clouds rushing across the sky, the fog lifting, then hiding the mountains once more behind thick grey veils.

still, we venture on to budva - it doesn't look so bad, but when we leave the tunnel past kotor: almost coal black clouds await us, and the rain is back. we park near the old town of budva, and believe it or not, the sun actually comes out for some glorious moments. nevertheless, waves crash against strong walls, everything in the beach bars is bundled up and safely tucked away.

heinz at budva beach


we take a walk, glad it's dry and brighter. but when heinz decides to go visit the citadel, and i stay outside to take some pictures of the surroundings, well ... lightning, thunder, rain. hooray! heinz enjoys the citadel and its fabulous library that boasts many valuable books and old maps. i don't enjoy waiting for him quite as much ...

brooding budva, from the citadel


we decide to drive back towards morinj - it's slow, what with flooded roads, and more water coming down from above. all my prayers to rain gods and goddesses clearly were in vain. at least the car is clean! ;)

we have dinner at the same place where we had lunch in risan, but this time there is no need for candlelight. we get a drink on the house though, which is nice. and i so totally get a kick out of the adventurous spelling of international drinks on the menu!

džek, džoni & their friends


back in morinj, it's a miracle that our tent is not completely flooded, though parts of the bedclothes are really wet. still, it's a relatively dry place, and there isn't another option now anyway.

photos of day 05

holidays 2012- day 04: Dobrodošli u Crnu Goru

while i am up early and follow the cat walk of fame

cat(-)walk of fame, plat, croatia


to the beach in order to wake up properly, heinz turns over and sleeps some more. we're off towards the border around a quarter to nine, and along the way the scenery changes - more hills, mountains in view, cypresses stand like neatly folded dark green umbrellas. just like the guide books said, the croatians seem reluctant to let anybody go. why the procedures of checking passports for about 15 cars takes about an hour, is anyone's guess. a little further down the road, entering montenegro takes mere minutes.

our first stop is herceg novi, gateway to the bay of kotor. it's hot and sunny, and we park the car at the foot of some serious stone steps. think dubrovnik has many of them? think again! there simply isn't much space between the sea and the ubiquitous mountains, so it's up and down steps practically all the time. good and cheap workout! no wonder montenegrins can eat all those huge portions of food and still stay slim.

we wander around the old town, have a drink in the shade on trg herceg stjepana, opposite archangel michael's church, then head down to the sea for a walk along the beach.

njegoševa, herceg novi


eventually we find kayak montenegro, where we want to book a kayak tour for the next day. but - the friendly guy informs us that the weather forecast for the next day or even the next two days is bad, and we'd better come back or call after that. valuable information, though not quite what we wanted to hear.

so we drive on along the terribly beautiful road that runs along the fiord-like bay of kotor, stopping now and again to take a few pictures.

boka kotorska


due to the way it was formed, the bay is not a fiord, but it does remind me of both norway and new zealand, with the dark water and the mountains rising from it wherever you look.

we find a neat camp in a tiny place called morinj and set up our tent beneath mandarin trees. the awful weather forecast is confirmed by the owner, who urges us to look for a sheltered spot. the camp is situated next to a creek that serves as a natural fridge - it's a rather chilly 10 degrees! the small local beach is barely 5 minutes away, and while heinz spends most of the time there resting, i go for a long swim, while overhead clouds move in and darken the already grim-looking peaks even more. i even spot a perfectly duck-shaped cloud!

later that afternoon, we drive further along the bay to kotor. lovely views of the tiny islands just off perast and the bay itself.
our lady of the rock, off perast


kotor, proud of its UNESCO heritage listing, boasts an old town that is a maze of narrow lanes with tucked-away piazzas and plenty of old buildings, which remind me of parts of venice. the place is also full of stray cats, and a little ginger one seems to have adopted me, as it begins to follow me around.

my little feline friend, kotor


all this exploring makes us hungry, so we have a fabulous dinner of risotto with saffron and shrimps (me) and fish with potatoes (heinz). afterwards, we take another stroll to make some room for delicious ice cream, before taking some more pictures of nighttime kotor

square of arms, kotor


and the yachts of the super-rich down by the sea.

seriously big boat, kotor

photos of day 04