Croatia Day 4 - Road Trip to Cavtat and Kotor, Montenegro

              Today we took a day trip out of Dubrovnik to the south, first to a town called Cavtat, then on to Montenegro and the city of Kotor. During this vacation we tried to balance the need to get plenty of rest with our goals of getting up and getting going and today was no different. We were doing pretty well getting out the door and decided we would just stop at a bakery on our way to our car that we had noticed the day before, which we did. I got something made with what tasted like croissant dough wrapped over a potato filling – super yummy. But then I realized that I had forgotten the rental car keys – so back to the apartment we went, but did eventually get on the road.

                It was not at all hard to follow the signs to get back on the highway heading south towards Cavtat and follow the signs down off the main road into town. While we did not have a map of Cavtat, it was small and easy enough to navigate. Our goal was to spend some time walking around the seafront promenade, grab some coffee, and then be on our way. We easily found a parking area right next to the center of town – it was reasonably priced and there were plenty of spots, but I imagine that during summer it might be a bit difficult to find a spot. Given that it was the off season, it was still fairly busy and closer to full by the time that we left. We walked over to some shops and grabbed some water and a tourist map and set off on our walk. Cavtat has several inlets and a little peninsula that juts out into the water, separating two different parts of the bay / harbor. There is a nice walking path all the way around, which seems to be the norm in most of the seafront towns that we stopped in.

We made our way around – taking pictures, oohing and ahing – and it really was beautiful. The hills around were a lot more gentle and greener than those near Brela. The water was just as amazing, though, and the weather was again perfect. We stopped in to check out an old monastery and chapel, and eventually found a scenic spot for coffee (I went with tea). Continuing on the path brought us full circle back to our car, and we got on the road again as Kotor was still a ways away.

I want my morning cuppa here everyday!!

From the drive 

The drive from Cavtat to Kotor was uneventful. It had some beautiful spots, and it was nicer than I expected it to be. The border crossing was super easy and fast, though not quite as fast as the Bosnia border. The weird thing is that you had to stop in Croatia to exit, then again in Montenegro to enter. They asked no questions, but they did look at our passports and put them through that passport machine. Once you get into the Bay of Kotor, the scenery turns spectacular again, with tall, granite-topped mountains rising steeply to one side with glistening turquoise water on the other side. The road was winding and a little bit of a white-knuckle drive, but so far, traffic everywhere had been incredibly light, so it was fine if slow at times around all the sharp bends and curves.

View of an ancient town from across the Bay of Kotor

                Along the way, there are several towns that Steves recommends stopping at, but we knew that we did not have a lot of time and decided to take a few pictures along the way, but only stop once we got to Kotor town. We were not at all disappointed in Kotor and very glad that we made the trip. Again, parking was very easy, but in a busier time it could be an issue. Kotor is an ancient, walled city, and we entered through the main gate. We got a tourist map, then found a bathroom, which actually charged one Euro to use the toilet! That was fine, though we had to go get change (only had large bills) first. But ironically it was one of the least clean and well-serviced bathrooms that we visited on this whole trip – both for the men and women – no toilet paper, empty soap dispensers, etc.

From that view by the main gate, you could see the wall climbing steeply up the huge mountain behind the city. Unlike the walls of Dubrovnik, which are relatively flat (of course, I did not feel that way when I was climbing them), this wall is basically a switchback up one side and down the other. Definitely intimidating, especially to someone exhausted after the previous days’ adventures. I would recommend that unless you are in super good shape, probably don't try to do these one after the other. 

If I remember correctly, this church was built sometime in the 1300s.

Inside of an ancient church. Not sure if I was allowed to take this or not; many churches did not allow it,
but I saw no sign here

View of the walls

View from the walls

One of the well-known but newer churches. I think 1700s.

Another selfie from the top

Kotor as seen from the walls high above

                The buildings in Kotor feel a bit older and somewhat less well maintained than Dubrovnik – in a good way. It felt even older (I am not totally sure which city is older, but I know that the maintenance for this city has been less). There were, as was typical, a number of historic churches and public buildings that were architecturally striking. We explored around, took more pictures, soaked it in. Like Dubrovnik, Kotor has a large population of feral cats, and they seem to embrace it. We got our daughter a “Cats of Kotor” shirt and took some funny pictures of them hanging out in a big group. We also visited a nice local art shop, with a variety of interesting items. There, I bought myself earrings, a necklace for my daughter, and a black and white print of a drawing of the city. While in the shop, my husband was bent over looking at some items on a low shelf, and as he stood up, slammed his head on the middle shelf. He was fine, the art was fine, but it was a very close call as the glass shelf covered in various breakable art and sculpture rocked back and forth and the items all tottered. One item did fall over, but luckily did not break. The women in the shop were very sweet and gracious and expressed more concern over my husband’s head than the art, which was nice. It was definitely a hilarious moment looking back.

                After doing some more shopping around, including getting some locally made liquor, we decided to check out the walls. They were as difficult to climb as they looked. We paid a small admission price and headed up. We agreed ahead of time to only go to a certain point, then take another path back. Ben wanted to keep going once we got there, I think, but I just couldn’t go much further. I felt torn because I was hungry, thirsty, and tired, but this would be the only time I ever had the chance to climb these walls. Lesson learned – next time bring water!

                We did head back and found a little restaurant to try. We had not thought to use trip advisor ahead of time so it was kind of luck of the draw. It was fine. Nothing spectacular. As usual, I got some antipasti – this time meat and olives. Portions were generous, but it was my least favorite of all the cured meat that I had tried. The real highlight was the large, cold beer. I also tried a local specialty, fried cheese, and that was delicious.

This beer was so refreshing after our hike!

   We decided to check out another spot for dessert, one that we had noticed a bit earlier. We got coffees (one of the best we had, it was large and flavorful) and shared a crepe like dessert with chocolate and nuts – very tasty. I had a second cup of coffee to make sure I had plenty of caffeine for the trip back and because it was so delicious. The bathrooms in this place were very unique – enough for my husband to take a picture.

             

                The drive back was a bit of a white-knuckler, given the twisting roads, but traffic was incredibly light. The border crossing back out of Montenegro ended up taking significantly longer than on the way in. For whatever reason, the line, while not long, moved incredibly slowly. Several cars were pulled out to be searched! Luckily, when we finally got the check point, we were waved through with little fanfare. Same thing at the second border stop entering Croatia.

                After getting back to Dubrovnik, we decided to check out a wine bar that we had read about called D’vino. It received excellent reviews from both Trip Advisor and in our Rick Steves book. Knowing that we would soon be visiting the area’s most prolific wine growing region, we thought this would be a good chance to learn about Croatian wines from English-speaking experts. We sat outside at table in the narrow alley, just off the main street or stradun. Our waiter was a Croatian hipster, but very friendly and informative. We ordered a flight of white and a flight of red Croatian wines. The reds were mostly from the region that we planned to visit in a couple of days, while the whites were mostly from a more northerly area called Istria. Istria is also famous for its truffles, and if we come back to Croatia, I’d love to check it out. It’s quite close to Italy and can easily be combined with a trip there.

We took our time with the wines and then enjoyed a leisurely stroll back to the apartment, soaking in the atmosphere some more, wanting to completely absorb it into our memories.