Relaxing in Kotor

For the rest of the day, we were relaxing in Kotor – walking around souvenir shopping and admiring this beautiful UNESCO city in the (finally!) sunny weather. We were definitely not too tired from our late morning hike and felt energized to continue exploring the city.

We found some cool bits of hidden art nestled throughout the city.

The egg on the right was nestled in a courtyard, whose gates I had to open to find it. It didn’t seem private so I walked in to explore. Other tourists walking by saw what I was doing and pretty soon everyone flooded in.

I also was able to take some time composing artistic photograph setups like this one. What a perfect day to spend relaxing in Kotor!

We stopped for a bite to eat at Konoba Kantun and enjoyed some cold beverages (I’ve been enjoying the Aperol Spritz a little too much) and a cheese platter on their terrace in the square. Prices were very reasonable and the atmosphere was great for a late lunch/snack. We definitely felt like we were relaxing in Kotor, and were glad to get away from the crowds in the major squares.

Continuing our quest for souvenirs, we decided to go on the prowl for art. There were 3 or 4 promising art shops we had scoped out over our previous wanderings and we revisiting all of them, scouring them for a good large format oil painting. We ended up striking gold in a hidden pile in one corner of a mom and pop art store, and started negotiating when the owner said she didn’t take credit cards. Ultimately, we paid full price and we used our credit card. Here’s what we found:

After we were successful purchasing some beautiful art, we decided to pick up some cat souvenirs – a cat pumpkin and a Kotor cat ornament. They both spoke to us 🙂

Our quest complete, and now properly relaxing in Kotor, just like this guy!

Relaxing in Kotor!

We stopped by a coffee house that had a very unique way of preparing coffee – with charcoal! It really does take the bitterness out without having to use sugar. Another great #foodhack.

Back in the room after rain started once again to fall, I continued some blogging until dinner. We didn’t want anything too complicated, and as I mentioned the weather had taken a turn, so we ended up finding a well-rated burger bar and brewery literally steps from Hotel Vardar.

Beer was always good in the Balkans, so we had a few of those. The sad thing was that they were out of their draft beer (how does that happen at a brewery!?). Brendan ordered a burger and I ordered pesto pasta, hoping to replicate what he had the night before at Hotel Astoria. The pesto pasta was just m’eh, and again we confirmed that pesto hear meant cream sauce, so that it was really more like a fettuccine alfredo. In any case, Brendan’s was better – it was a burger bar after all!

After dinner we set out for a walk and to find gelato, but it was late so the sladoled stands were all closed. I love fitting in sladoled, the universal word in the Balkans for ice cream. It’s just fun to say, right?

What wasn’t closed was the party raging on in Arms Square for the second night in a row. Since this was the Montenegro Independence Day, it was an even larger celebration tonight and to our chagrin lasted until 0200 in the morning. We felt like there were very few locals participating in the celebration, other than teenagers. Fortunately, our sound machine let us drown it out, as our intention was to get out the door by 0930 the next morning and hit the road to Sarajevo.

What a great day doing a little bit of nothing in particular, relaxing in Kotor! We were charged up for a long day of driving north through Bosnia & Herzegovina. As planned, we awoke and breakfasted on scheduled – paid for parking at Hotel Vardar, wheeled our bags through a cruise ship mob to our car, and were on our way.

CJ

About therestlessroad

The tar in the street starts to melt from the heat And the sweats runnin’ down from my hair I walked 20 miles and I’m dragging my feet And I’ll walk 20 more I don’t care And I’ll wander this world, wander this world Wander this world, wander this world all alone I’m like a ghost some people can’t see Others drive by and stare A shadow that drifts by the side of the road It’s like I’m not even there And I’ll wander this world, wander this world Wander this world, wander this world all alone Well I’ve never been part of the game The life that I live is my own All that I know is that I was born To wander this world all alone, all alone Some people are born with their lives all laid out And all their success is assured Some people work hard all their lives for nothin’ They take it and don’t say a word They don’t say a word Sometimes it’s like I don’t even exist Even God has lost track of my soul Why else would he leave me out here like this To wander this world all alone And I’ll wander this world, wander this world Wander this world, wander this world all alone –Jonny Lang, “Wander This World”

One thought on “Relaxing in Kotor

  1. […] of the most surprisingly beautiful scenery we had enjoyed yet. We were ready to go, having spent a day in Kotor not doing much. It took about an hour to wind our way out of the Bay of Kotor (Brendan was driving today), and […]

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