Kotor, Montenegro (MNE)

We left Dubrovnik quietly early in the morning; our bikes were unscathed, even though they were parked for 3 days in a free public parking lot accessible to all. On the way south on the main road, I kept looking back in the rear mirror to catch a last glimpse of Dubrovnik. The roads in Croatia are in great shape. I am now used to the way the signage is arranged but before I knew it we were at the border with Montenegro.
The international sign for Montenegro is MNE and MNE is listed on all car license plates. The currency in MNE is the Euro, which is a sure indication that MNE is part of the EU. We had some extra paper work to do to get into MNE since Stefan Knopf did not add MNE to the insurance papers we bought through him. The border guards were very thorough but it was painless. We were able to buy the needed Insurance at the border for 10 Euros and the coverage is good for one month.
As always, there is a change in appearance when crossing a border in Europe. MNE has a much more Slavic look than I thought. The former Russian influence is strongly visible. MNE is very mountainous with few areas for anything that needs flat ground. The coast offers some respite in spots but then all of this flat space is occupied by housing. MNE seems crowded. The one road along the coast is heavily trafficked and the speed limit of 50 KM is strictly enforced. Progress is slow. Many times I was in 1st gear, crawling through city streets. I bought a map of the county as soon as we crossed the border and it helped me get my bearings quickly. Having a baptism on the use of Balkan signage in previous countries, I understood the directions just fine. Before long we came to the town of Kotor, a scenic site and officially marked as such on the map. Kotor is a UNESCO site because of the well preserved Old Town and the many stone walls protecting the city from invaders from all sides.
Cruise ships stop right at the door step of this old MNE town. I mean it literally, the cruise ships dock not more than 200 yards from the entrance to the Old Town. There is no parking to speak of. The only main road along the coast passes between the docking area and the entrance to the Old Town, which is off limits to any motorized traffic. We had planned of stopping here but needed to find a hotel although none were visible. We understood immediately that there is just not enough room for hotels, no room for anything, really.
We found a coffee shop a bit out of town and stopped to address our predicament. We wanted to stop for the day especially since we had been riding in a heavy down pour for the previous hour and were soaking wet. I remembered the Russian saying: “What to do?” With the help of locals we found out that there is a hotel inside the old town and that it might be possible to even park our bikes inside Old Town Kotor if the hotel had room. After we parked our bikes near a bench in front of the main gate, with Carol sitting nearby to watch our belongings, I walked into town and yes, for 50 Euros, incl. breakfast we had a room for the night. Getting our motorcycles into town was a bit tricky since no motorized vehicles are allowed inside the ancient walls. The hotel had a storage facility for our bikes but getting into town, along the very narrow, very slick cobblestone streets gave me a challenge. Pushing the heavy bike was out of the question, leaving them unprotected outside the old city walls was no option either. So, like so many times in my life, I do what seems the most logical. We rode the bikes to the hotel. Now that we were at the storage spot I found out that there was no way to get our bikes up this high curb into the room. Lucky for us there was space in front of the storage facility and we just hoped nobody would mess with our transportation.
The town of Kotor is not very large and was originally set up in a triangle. Kotor is built against a very steep cliff wall, surrounded by the sea on one side, and a large river on the third side. It has a natural protection from 2 sides and the 3rd side of the triangle is the cliff wall. The protection of the cliff wall was further enhanced by high, defensive walls, which surround the town completely even at sea level. Kotor is a formidable fortress yet feels like a smallish settlement.
While idling away the hours inside and outside of town, we saw other bikers with the same predicament we were in a few hours before. Where do you park your bike? How do you find a hotel? How do you manage to visit? From the cruise ships the visit to Kotor is easy. Just walk in. With a bike or a car it is not a very logically set up. There is just not enough room for anything too touristy. Enterprising folks used towns nearby to set up hotels but the traffic and distances makes this cumbersome. We helped one U.S. couple and a young German rider to find the way to ‘our’ hotel but since they were on a very tight budget they decided against staying and paying 50 Euros for one night. The couple, Elizabeth and Jason from NYC,
had just married and were on a one year tour around the world, or as far as they could get in time and/or money. They were riding 2 up on an R 80 BMW. Daniel, the young man from Zwickau, Germany rode a brand new GS 800. We had a coffee together and shared some info but they soon needed to leave since it was getting dark and the sky clouded over, again, too.
Carol and I just walked the small town, walked through every conceivable alley since we had time. Dinner was a pizza for me, spaghetti for Carol.

Dubrovnik, Day 2 and 3

We got up early, had a Danish from the bakery next door for breakfast, a coffee from across the street and we were climbing the staircase that leads to the walk around the whole of old town Dubrovnik by 8.30 AM. We were told to do the walk early as there is no protection from the sun and it can get really hot walking the 2 Km around Dubrovnik this way. Not only is the walk long but also laced with steep stair cases going up as well as down. Carol counted the stairs up only and the count was 376 steps. We had a good morning exercise for sure. Nothing is for free in Dubrovnik; the walk costs KN 75 (Euro 10.-). Your ticket will be checked half way around again.
The walk gave us bird’s eye views of the city itself but also of the Adriatic Sea way below. This city surely picked a pretty spot to plant itself. While the old harbor is manmade, the whole of the layout, including the harbor, is pleasing. I could tell that good planners had a hand in setting up the streets, the municipal buildings, the churches. The effect on the eyes, on the mind is very calming. Dubrovnik is a lovely town.
Historically most of the buildings date from 1667 or thereafter, since a very large earthquake leveled most of the town in that year. Of course the town itself is much, much older. While the books tell us that Ragusa (Dubrovnik’s old name) was founded in the 7th century, another theory, and the one I like much better, is that the Greeks had a post or station here. Greek boats could only travel 45 to 50 nautical miles per day. At night old Greek boats were always pulled on to a sandy beach by the sailors so they could sleep and rest. Known Greek settlements were in Budva and Korčula, 95 Nautical miles apart. Dubrovnik is right in the middle. It had sandy beaches in ancient times. So why would the Greeks not use this spot to rest at night? Why would they not settle here too, especially since Dubrovnik had fresh water? So my theory is that this town was established by the Greeks, a long time ago.
I always ask myself why a town is there. I mean, what made people settle here? Yes, Dubrovnik became a big stopover of ships during the many crusades in the middle ages. Yes, Dubrovnik is in the middle of the East and West trade routes and a shipping trade center that the Venetians were always keen to possess. Yes, it was prosperous and the people were educated and forward thinking when those in a lot of other towns were not. It is documented that as early as 1301 medical services were introduced. Ragusa had an official pharmacy as early as 1317 and this pharmacy where you can buy drugs and have prescriptions filled, is still open today. Slave trading was abolished in 1418; imagine, 1418, way before others even thought about it. An official, 20 KM long, city water supply system was constructed for the whole of the town in 1436. Dubrovnik had a system established for orphans as early as 1432. To control the great plaques they established a quarantine hospital, a lazaretto, in 1377. The republic of Ragusa had Statutes as early as 1272.
Dubrovnik was and is an amazing city. Even today, the city is well run, well governed and prides itself on being self sufficient. The traces of the last war with Serbia in 1991 are hardly visible.
We looked at all the local people from the top of the wall; we saw what they built. Yes, the walk beats you up, yes, you get out of breath sometimes, but it is a must see walk. Dubrovnik is not only the old city, of course. Carol and I spent 3 days in old Ragusa but could not see all there is to see. We did not visit the surrounding islands. For me, 3 days in one place is enough, I need to move on. I like the big picture, not the smaller details.
We took a rest after our work out on day 2 and luckily we had no plans because the sky clouded over and it poured buckets of water. We needed to eat something since breakfast was scarce and, despite the rain, we walked into town to find a restaurant. Most of the eating is done in outside patios, to find an inside restaurant large enough was not easy. For some time we believed we could eat under an umbrella setup but the proprietor refused to serve in the rain even under the umbrella. He made room for us at a small table under an overhang and we had our small fried fish in the rain, but fairly sheltered.
The last day, day 3, we had bought concert tickets for a night performance. To occupy us during the day, we bought a self guided tour booklet and Carol was giving me a tour of Dubrovnik, she did a great job. We visited the famous old drugstore. For a change of pace we visited the only mosque in town. Carol also visited the synagogue, established by Spanish and Portuguese Jews banned from the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century by the Catholic Crown.
We learned about the pledge of Richard the Lion Hearted, who after the 3rd crusade (1189-1199) found shelter in Dubrovnik and promised to build a church if he survived a storm at sea. He was the money man behind the Dubrovnik Cathedral.
Ruder Boskovic (1711-1787), his theses about particles of an atom; confirmed by Rutherford’s experiments, were predecessors of Planck’s Quantum Theory.
Dubrovnik was, and is today, in the center of many things. The minds of the people are strong and the city is beautiful.
At our night performance, we heard 3 pieces of music, one by Mozart, 2 by Mendelssohn, directed by a Russian-born conductor. The members of the Dubrovnik Orchestra were such a mix of people, a representation of the cosmos in which Dubrovnik sits. East and West, the whole world is represented here.
This city sure is the Crown Pearl of the Adriatic, and the Crown Jewel of Croatia.