Day One Hundred Eight - April 23

As I write this blog, the sun is slowly sinking behind the mountains of Montenegro and the town of Kotor. This quaint little seaport can be found at the south end in Kotor Bay. There are four bays within the Gulf of Kotor on the Adriatic coastline of Montengro.

Our arrival time was 11:00 with all aboard 19:30 and departure 20:00. From the time we entered the natural fjord to when we docked the elasped time was 1 hour and 30 minutes. According to our cruise director, it is the most beautiful scenic arrival port in the world since sadly cruise ships can no longer sail into Venice as they used to. Also of note, the same man has been fishing off the dock since we arrived and it is now 19:00. He throws his line into the water, waits and then pulls the fishing line back to him. I am not sure how successful he has been. Janice says that its a form of exercise either mental or physical. We have to certainly agree that it was a breathtaking sail in and luckily for Janice our portside balcony was on the "right" side of the ship.

I have found an article entitled 12 things to do in Kotor on the internet and I will see how many of these things that I actually did. Again this is my last solo day as Janice should be able to explore tomorrow at our next port of call as her temperature check is scheduled for 07:30 on Sunday.

Number One - Explore Kotor Old Town - Done

Number Two - Hike up to Kotor Fortress for a view - Done - Well almost. I wanted to climb up to the church midway but I passed this and was almost two thirds up before I decided it was best to start to climb back down. The cost for this was 8 Euros and the trail was starting to become more steeper (at least that's what I thought). The views of the harbour and our ship were amazing.

Number Three - Walk the Old City Walls - Done - After returning from the hike up I walked around the city walls.

Number Four Visit - the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon - Partially done as I took a picture of the church but did not go inside

Number Five - Browse Kotor's Farmers Market - Done

Number Six - Indulge in Kotor cuisine - Done - I had an amazing capresi salad at one the many restaurants you will find in the old city.

Number Seven - Go shop for Souvenirs - Done - I purchased the necessary magnet for our door. Our door is certainly filling up and perhaps I will post a picture on our next sea day although it won't be for a while.

I did rather well considering we were here for around seven plus hours.

During the sail into Kotor you can see the many small towns, villages and resorts where they are built right next to the sea. I assume this can be done as the area is sheltered from bad storms.

Just before you enter Kotor you can see two small islands, these being The Lady of the Rocks and St. Georges. Very picturesque as well with each boasting a Church.

The best time to visit Kotor is April to May and September to October because the summer months receive hoards of tourists and cruise ships arrive daily.

All Lines are removed, the gangway is drawn in and we are sailing to our next port of call Tirana (Durres) Albania 103 nautical miles away.