Kotor - a walled city nestled in mountains
Trip Start
Nov 10, 2011
1
11
Trip End
Nov 28, 2011
Kotor, Montenegro
Friday, November 25, 2011
We arrived in Kotor about 45 minutes later than the 10am scheduled time. And then it took another hour for all the excursions and priority tender passengers to be tendered to the shore. Elite passengers are given priority tender passes so they get to go first.
We toured the old walled city, the 'Stari Grad', for a couple of hours. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site like Dubrovnik but it isn't as large as it. It also seems like the tourism services aren't as developed as in Crotia. There were only a few stores of interest as they had antique stores that also sell women's hosiery and there was a 2nd hand clothing shop.
A couple sites to note:
We first viewed the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon. It dates from the mid 1100's. This is where we took the photos of us behind the copes (vestments). This is where a couple, Miriam and Andrew that we meet on a previous tour, called to Andy from the cathedral's outside mezzazine to come inside. Andy told her he never had his name called from a medival European tower before.
Next, came upon a small square with an even smaller domed church and there was a priest standing in the doorway beckoning tourists to come inside. The priest wore a cassock and had a very white beard - you can partly see him in the picture I posted. Inside, we did discover a very old church - St Lucas - dating from 1195, one of the few buildings to survuve a 1979 earthquake. The priest took Andy's camera from his hands and Andy gave it to him. He just wanted to take our picture for us (It wasn't good enough to post - a little shaky was the old priest...). He also guided us to a small chapel to show us a couple of old icon screens. Before leaving, he handed me a brochure for a restaurant! Maybe he's part owner...We did leave a coin offering in the small wooden box hanging on the wall...We left with Miriam and Andrew - she said he waved and said 'bye bye' as we left, the only words he spoke the whole time...
Next time we visit Kotor, we'll have to climb the hills behind the old city following the trail to the old fortress ruins. We were told afterwards that the walk to it only took about 45 minutes. We tought it was a longer walk so we didn't attempt it.
Back on board, Celebrity has instituted a 'no self serve' policy to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal disease. They must have had a few norwalk like illnesses onboard. You now have to ask a Celebrity staff person to get your coffee/tea/water in the refreshment station or the buffet food areas. It slows things down a bit but since we usually eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the main dining room instead of the oceanview buffet, it doesn't affect us too much.
For dinner I had:
- Green Lentil soup with Mediterranean vegetables
- Beef Wellington cooked with mushroom duxelles and wrapped in puff pastry served with Cabernet veal reduction, petit sauteed vegetables and a potatoe tart
- Apricot Amandine Tartere with pistachio ice cream
Kotor was our final port. We have 2 days at sea before returning to Barcelona. So that means 2 more days of sleeping in, lounging by the pool and overeating.
