Kotor

Up to 7 countries so far this trip (including Bosnia, which I just passed through but will be going back to next week).

Not too shabby!

So today is my last in Kotor; I could stay an extra couple days since the hostel is having a special which would basically give me another two nights free, but I'm ready to move on.  Kotor is a small city and once the sun goes down there's not a whole lot to do around here.  I'm sure it picks up during the busier season but this time of year it's pitch black by 6pm and I'm running short on ideas that don't involve more hiking, which my legs would protest vehemently after yesterday's jaunt up to the fortress.

So I arrived in the early afternoon on Monday, and proceeded to locate myself an overpriced beer at an outdoor cafe before going in search of lunch.  The weather here has been unbelievable; bright, sunny, and blissfully warm.  I found a restaurant with outdoor seating and ordered calamari stuffed with shrimp, which was an excellent idea.

It was of course served with the mash of potatoes, greens, and garlic that I have become so fond of.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around old town and getting my bearings.  Which didn't take a lot of effort since Kotor's old town is this big.

View of the fortress from the north gate.

For dinner I took down a package of cookies (healthy lifestyles of the traveling Swan) and fell asleep at a really reasonable hour.

Yesterday I decided I was going to hike up to the old fortress, which from online blog postings I had heard was both not that hard and well worth the effort for the view of the bay.  To prepare myself I asked the hostel for a lunch recommendation, and discovered this gem of a butcher shop that serves food.  Enough food to take down a yak for 5 euros?  Yes, please.

Pork cooked to order, roasted potato wedges, and salad.  Oh, and an entire loaf of bread.  Nirvana.

So, onto the fortress.

As it turns out, "not that hard" is definitely subjective.  It doesn't look like it's all that far from the bottom, but it's up a very, very steep pathway complete with questionable stairs bordered by a wall that barely reached my waist.  I was wondering why people kept saying the hike there and back could take up to two hours...  Now I know.

Terrified of heights?  Then this is the hike for you!  Just ignore the sheer drop to your immediate right or left.

Even though it was more difficult, I mostly walked up the pathway beside the stairs because I figured hyperventilating and subsequently pitching off the cliff was not the best plan.  Lucky for me, the camera offered a good excuse to stop often along the hike up.

The first viewpoint.

To my chagrin I was prevented in stopping a couple times by a couple aggressively making out along the trail.  Keep it PG, please.  Nobody wants to see that.  And I'd venture a guess that if they do want to stop and watch you would be quick to scamper off, because that's creepy.

But anyway.  I made it up to the first main stop by a small church, then stuck around for a few minutes to catch my breath before moving on.

Onward and upward we go!

At this point I was starting to wonder just what I had gotten myself into, but was too stubborn to quit, because I'll be damned if I'm turning around now.

I made it up to the lower part of the fortress, and stopped there for some views and much needed oxygen.

You see it doesn't really look that far up, but tell that to my legs and lungs.

It sure is gorgeous, though.

At this point, of course following the wrong pathway, I wound up at the top of that tower instead of taking the easier route alongside it.  Steep, narrow stairs are my favorite.

The triangle below is the old town.

The bay.

I did actually make it to the top, which included a harrowing finishing line straight up the cliff without the benefit of stairs or wall. 

I hung out on the grassy ledge for a few minutes enjoying the view before heading back down.  

I'm honestly not sure what was worse, going up or coming back down.  At least when you're walking up you're not looking at the drop.  I stopped a couple times to give my legs time to recover, because while human legs are fairly decent at going uphill, they truly suck at going downhill.

I stopped again at the church to give my legs a few minutes because by this point they were shaking hard enough that I was keeping my fingers crossed they wouldn't just quit on me.

I still look pretty cheerful at least.  And yes, I am wearing a tank top in February.  Haha!

I made it all the way down without collapsing and had myself a victory beer to celebrate my superior hiking skills.

I did go out for a bit that night and walked around Kotor, but didn't find much aside from moderately creepy dark alleys.  The fortress does look pretty cool all lit up at night, though.

This morning I had planned on walking around the bay, but due to my calves which were saying something to the effect of "what the fuck did you do to us yesterday, Swan?" I instead opted for a giant sandwich from the butcher shop and some light exploring around old town.  

I then spent the bulk of the afternoon at a popular outside cafe drinking multiple cups of lukewarm "white coffee," which is what they call coffee with milk around here.  My legs approve of this decision.

Tomorrow I head to Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, where I will be spending two nights before going in search of skiing, probably in Žabljak.  As it turns out, skiing in Montenegro is both ridiculously cheap and, apparently, not terrible.  Never mind that I haven't been skiing in about 10 years; when in Montenegro...

~Swan

So Long For Now, Croatia - Split and Dubrovnik

Another day, another country.

Today I took the bus from Dubrovnik to Kotor, Montenegro, and for a little over $20 and two hours of my time I gained another stamp on my passport.  They actually took my passport off the bus to inspect and stamp it.  But I digress.

First let me tell you about my favorite Croatian city, Split, and then we can follow that up with Dubrovnik.

Upon arrival in Split the first thing I noticed was the palm trees.  Note: anyplace that can sustain enough heat for palms to thrive year round is my kind of place.

So I made my way to the hostel, which took under 20 minutes and was blissfully uncomplicated.  Philip, the hostel owner, turned out to be a great guy and, finally, I had room mates!  I quickly became acquainted with one of my room mates, a fellow American from Iowa, and we took a trip to the supermarket together and then spent the remainder of the day watching Game of Thrones.

Fun fact, it's filmed in Croatia, specifically Split and Dubrovnik.  It's also one of the most incredibly twisted shows I've ever watched with a merry combination of gorey violence, graphic sex including lots of brother sister incest, and about a million characters whose names you cannot keep straight without a friggin encyclopedia.  But it sucks you right in.  Thankfully I had things I actually wanted to see in Split so I did not spend the entire three days in a puddle on the couch.

Night one Iowa, our British room mate Jamie, and I went out for drinks and I woke up the next morning with an acute headache that insistently lingered the remainder of the day.  You would think that at a certain age it would sink in the red wine, beer, and rakia is really not a good mixture.  As dad would say, "you're a slow learner, aren't you kid?"

But I rallied and dragged myself out to lunch at a place recommended by Phillip called Fife, where I indulged in a local dish called pašticada, which is basically beef marinated in red wine, cooked slowly, and then eaten on top of fresh gnocchi.

Ohmygodgood.

I then slowly made my way back to the hostel where I met up with Iowa, who invited me to tag along with him to meet a girl he had met through couchsurfing.  Figuring it was best I peeled myself away from Game of Thrones I said what the hell and we wound up spending the rest of the day and late into the evening with Yelena, a Split local who showed us around and gave us an assortment of random insider knowledge about Croatian politics, social systems, and recent history.  Her friend Anna joined us for a while, and we generally spent several hours drinking beer, eventually finishing off the night with some really outrageously big and tasty sandwiches before crashing for the night.

Here are a few shots from the city.

My last full day in Split I took myself back to Fife for lunch again (this time for veal with green peas and mashed potatoes), then took a walk up into the park overlooking the city, where I climbed approximately 100,000 stairs but got the most glorious view to show for it.  

This is only the beginning...

School picture head tilt...

So many fucking stairs.

Chain of caterpillars.  

I think the saddest part was there was one guy who clearly got separated from the group about four steps up.  "We lost Joe!"

Made it all the way to the top!

As an added bonus I saw two old men peeing in the woods, which makes three this week.  I think I'm setting some kind of new unfortunate record.

That night Iowa and I went out with a girl from the hostel for more drinks, and finally had a drink at this bar which had become a bit of a joke because every time we passed/tried to go they were slammed.  There we met an ex pat from Detroit who owns the place and generally had a great time.  By the time we returned to the hostel our new friend had unfortunately surpassed her tolerance for alcohol so there ensued what probably looked like a comedy sketch.  But all's well that ends well and our friend did eventually fall asleep on the couch and I made my way to bed for a few precious hours before my morning bus to Dubrovnik.

Bright and early the next morning I was mildly hungover, exhausted, and more than a little disappointed to be leaving Split, a city I had come to really like in just a few short days.  But I figured I'd better get a move on (although god knows why, it's not like I have a schedule) so I caught the 10am bus and spent the next four hours in abject misery while we crossed from Croatia into Bosnia and back into Croatia again.  Finally, we made it to the end of the line in Dubrovnik, and I had all of a three minute walk to the hostel.  

The hostel itself was ok.  The woman running the place was infectiously friendly, and it was set up apartment style so I was able to make myself dinner in the full kitchen.  It wasn't the best place I've stayed at but it wasn't the worst either.

I spent my first afternoon in Dubrovnik walking to the old town, which despite claims of being 25 minutes away turned out to be more like 40.  Which for someone hungry and tired wasn't the best first impression.  Follow this up with good but overpriced pizza (which later gave me a stomach ache) and an overly friendly local who took a shine to me and I wasn't thrilled to be spending a whole four days in Dubrovnik.  Luckily I turned out to have a perfectly normal and nice Canadian room mate who, coincidentally, is also my room mate here tonight in Kotor.  

My first full day in Dubrovnik I walked back to old town, where I wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, until my new local admirer (a much older Croatian gentleman) ran into me on the street.  Sometimes I wonder if I emit some sort of sound frequency, like one of those soundless dog whistles, that is bait for strange clingers and really nice but sir-you're-twice-my-age older men.  Sigh.  I escaped to have lunch and then, when I saw him down the street again, I'll admit I did a quick dodge behind a parked motorcycle because I was past my tolerance for politeness.  Lunch, at least, was excellent, but I'll admit I didn't go back to old town again.

On the way to old town.

Island off old town.

Old town from the port side.

Lunch - assortment of grilled sea creatures with some sort of glorious mix of potatoes and veggies that is a popular side dish all over the place, even here in Kotor.

The evening I made myself dinner at the hostel with Matt, my Canadian roomie, and we wound up just hanging out and chatting about travel stories and such.  

The next day I decided to explore new town, which aside from being a shorter walk was also, presumably, in an area where I was less likely to have awkward run-ins.  This was the one day that restored my faith in Dubrovnik.  I managed to find this absolutely glorious pathway along the coast, complete with private little inlets where one can sit by the sea and relax in the sun.  I found my own little slice of heaven and spent part of the afternoon sunning by the water, lulled by the waves.  

Peace.

Got my feet wet!

I did eventually require food so I made my way through town until I found a place with outdoor seating, and ordered myself a pizza and a beer which was actually quite excellent.  It was only at this point that I realized it was Valentines Day.  Happy Valentines Day to me, thank you very much.  For once I harbor no I'll feelings towards this Hallmark holiday.

The walk back.

I polished off the afternoon with a nap, a box of cookies (my new addiction/guilty pleasure), and a half a bottle of red wine, and watched almost all the episodes of Outlander they have released so far.  Having read the books, there are some definite discrepancies that irk me in the series, but I still (mostly) approve.  Then again the character that plays Jamie is both charming and easy on the eyes so yes, I'm easily swayed.

My final day in Dubrovnik I had planned to return to my slice of heaven with picnic supplies, but was, of course, met with rain.  So I made an elaborate vegetable and chicken soup involving homemade stock instead, which was very relaxing and just as well.  

So here we are, up to date!  It will last briefly but hell, I revel in it when I can.

That's all for now.

~Swan