Today started off early… too early. Because I couldn’t sleep, I went to bed sometime after 4:30… only to have to wake up at 7:45 for church. Whee!
I can’t remember if I mentioned it here or not, but here in Sveti Stefan, we’re actually staying with a coworker of mine whose husband’s family lives here. In fact, they used to live ON the island of Sveti Stefan, until the Communists decided in the 1950s that it’d make a nifty summer resort, so they evicted all of the residents. Yaay for an equal society, right? Sigh.
Anyway, initially the plan was to stay on their couch, but it just so happened that a relative who stays for the summer in a small apartment on the first floor is not here yet, so we get to stay there. Sweet! I owe SO MUCH to my coworker for letting us stay here — she’s wonderful. :-)
Anyway, this morning I went to church with her and her four daughters. Church was at a Serbian Orthodox monastery on the hill above the town of Sveti Stefan. After the service, we got to wander around a bit, and I (of course) took a bunch of pictures. I opted to upload a few now just because, but whenever I get the rest of my pics processed, I’ll get those online. Of course.
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Altarpiece at the monastery we went to
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It was raining when we went into church, but by the time we got home, the sky had cleared up, and it was absolutely GORGEOUS.
Holy Technicolor, Batman!
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Oh yeah, and ummm, shortly after I took the above picture, we got on the wrong bus, and ended up on a journey that took at least an hour and cost us 8 Euro total. WHOOPS. Sigh.
After church, John and I headed to Kotor, an ancient port city about 45 minutes north by bus from here, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Honestly, this is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been. Ever. It’s an old Roman walled city with a bunch of churches. Architecture-wise, it’s mostly in the style of the Renaissance and the Venetian Republic. And the whole city is situated right up against a huge basalt mountain, with the city wall climbing up that mountain. I was just in awe of how gorgeous the whole place is — there’s absolutely no mystery as to why it’s a World Heritage site.
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Gurdic Gate on the south end of Kotor. Notice the city wall going up the mountain to the top right of the picture.
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The gate even has a moat and a drawbridge. So so cool!! This was definitely my favorite of the old walled cities we've visited thus far.
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Gurdic Gate as seen through an arrow port on the parapet on the inside of the wall. (You can see the stone wall of the arrow port on the bottom right of the pic.)
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Street in Kotor.
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On the bridge outside the River Gate, looking toward the mountains. Notice the city wall climbing up the hill on the right -- see the fortress on the top? I would have loved to hike up there (you can, but my sea urchin heel still really hurts, so I wasn't really up for it.) Beautiful!!
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We wandered around for quite a while, then headed back home on the bus. Oh yeah, the bus. Both John and I are really really ready to move inland if for no other reason than we’re looking forward to riding the train… the intercity bus system around here is interesting, to say the least. They don’t put the schedule online because it’s subject to change on a daily if not hourly basis, so don’t ever look at the schedule coming INTO a new city and assume that it’s going to be the same as when you LEAVE the city, even if you’re planning on leaving only a few days later. Just go to the window and ask, and pray someone speaks English.
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This is what I'm talking about. This is the week's posted schedule, only already some of those routes are not accurate, as we found out by asking at the window.
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I just hope our bus to Mostar (which is the “Banja Luka” which is cut off on the bottom right of the schedule) really does come at 8:00 PM on Tuesday evening, because it’s not on the schedule on the wall, but that’s what two different people at the window said, and if they’re wrong, I’m going to be cranky. :-p
Anyway, the bus from Kotor back to Budva took about 45 minutes, then we got back to Sveti Stefan in another 20 or so, arriving sometime shortly before sunset. It wasn’t a very great sunset, as there were once again a fair number of clouds in the way. Once it was dark, we walked down the road to a restaurant for dinner. On our way back, we could see lightning lighting up the sky to the north — tonight we’re supposed to get another storm, so this was just the leading edge, I guess. And since I don’t have any good lightning pictures, I decided to give lightning photography tonight. Yaay for shutter release cable!
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I think John was just as excited about taking these as I was. :-)
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Tomorrow it’s off to Cetinje and Ostrog Monastery, a 17th century monastery built into the side of a cliff. I can’t wait. :-)
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Where we are now:
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