31-Dec-2023
Yesterday we moved on again. To Bar. Still in Montenegro, just further east along the coast.
Last glimpses of Kotor the previous evening and yesterday morning
It wasn't far to the bus station from our apartment. And that was where we ate our ham-and-cheese sandwiches (standing up, so as not to attract too much attention from the cats...).
Previous bus tickets we've acquired online from Get by Bus (no problems with any of the bookings). This trip, however, needed a printed ticket, so we decided it was just as easy to buy it at the bus station, which you can do only a short time before departure.
The bus rolled up... Our hearts sank... So small again...
But actually it was absolutely fine. Plenty of leg-room; tinted windows; adequate curtaining; and on time...! If you add together all those factors, it was probably the best bus journey of the trip so far...
Also, it was short. Just one hour and 50 minutes, alternately running along the coast and looking down from the top of the hills that line the sea.
Our little house is very close to the bus station -- and the train station:
No time for exploring anything, though, as we had to drop straight into shopping mode.
After today, our landlady told us, the shops won't be open again until the day we leave. Yikes! Hunger threatens!
So we did two shopping runs. One to Aroma, the little shop nearby (quite good, actually); and one to the much bigger Voli, which -- unsurprisingly -- was heaving. Total bedlam. And whoever it was who decided that it was a good idea to have one of the staff pushing a hugely noisy cleaning machine round, when the store was full of people, and the aisles were already encumbered with piles of merchandise, doesn't deserve his New Year bonus...
Anyway, finally home to enjoy the spoils of our raid -- and the rather cute Christmas tree:
Today was the first of our exploration days, therefore, and we headed towards the sea.
En route, a few things we hadn't expected:
St Peter the Apostle, a "co-cathedral", whatever that is
"Bar camp residents, freedom fighters: Concrete trough from Italian concentration camp in Bar". Presumably this is the Antivari camp
A very early Christian church
No idea...
Still 829 km to Hagia Sophia, Istanbul...
Then the waterfront, which is really photogenic:
King Nikola's Palace, built in 1885, and currently shut for reno
A very pleasant coffee stop
St Jovan Vladimir
The route home...
Also the route to coffee and cake:
Here we have bombice (the round ones, with chocolate, hazelnut, and rum), bajadera (the one with the chocolate on top), and one that has escaped identification. All yummy, though...
We're contemplating a little trip out this evening to see how the Barians celebrate New Year. But that will be tomorrow's post.