Kotor is the known for being the best preserved medieval town in the mediterranean. The architecture features a great number of cathedrals, churches, museums and palaces. The streets are narrow and wind around the city like a maze. We had to be careful where we were for fear we might get lost and miss our bus.

We ventured in to small squares, checked out some of the smaller churches and shops. Kotor does have an excellent collection of boutiques and shops that offer local items as well as European designer products.

There other famous churches, like Sveti. Sava and Sveti Borgorodica. We only quickly toured Sveti Trojica, then moved on to the back streets, shops and other points of interest. By this point in the day, we were on church overload.

While the crew chilled out at a cafe, I cruised over to the main fort wall and photographed various aspects of the most prominent structure in Budva. There was a small beach area under the city wall, but I don’t think it was reflective of the other beaches near Budva, which are along what is considered one of the most beautiful coasts in the world. We wanted to see more, but this was our last stop and we had little time and little energy left to do this city justice.

Our experience there was not so glamorous. We pulled up in our bus and were lead into a small lodge type building for the package lunch that was included with the tour. That was a meal for the ages. It consisted of boiled meat and potatos, overcooked vegetables and cake that was for some reason not sweet at all. Hands down it was the worst meal I’ve ever had. But it was worth it for the great stories and laughs we had about it later. Montenegro is not a wealthy country. They are just coming out of decades of Socialist stagnation. They’ll get better at all aspects as time moves on, including food. Until this happens, I highly recommend packing energy bars.

After “lunch” we ventured along the beach and crossed the short bridge to Sveti Stefan. The beaches are sandy and busy with sunbathers and swimmers. The water seemed to be clear and as clean as we had seen since arriving in Dalmacia. We entered the resort through castle styled doors and and made our way up steep, quiet walkways that snaked through small rock bungalows. This is not a typical hotel or resort. The old fishing houses have been turned into luxury bungalows that are nested close together in what appears to be no planned configuration. It’s instantly relaxing on the island, peaceful and beautiful. Eventually we made it to the top of the island and got access to views of the Montenegrin coastline and the Adriatic below. There is a magnificent pool built on the edge of the island with full views below.

Getting back down proved to be a trick because it’s a bit like a maze in there. We eventually made it down the bottom in time to spend some time exploring the beach area. Shortly after we were back on the bus and off to Budva.

Passing along the coast amid dated and unkept local beach hotels that still displayed their 1960’s style hipness, our Croatian tour guide went into a a litany of jokes about Montenegrin’s and their less than stellar reputation for hard work. It was an interesting display of the animosity that is still lingering from the war.

The Bay of Kotor is recognized as one of the most beautiful bays in the world. It’s made up of four straights that are connected. The most astonishing visual about Kotor are the enormous Fjords that rise out of the crystal blue water. We stopped in Perast, a quaint baroque village on the shores of the Bay of Kotor. Most of the architecture in Perast is from the 17th and 18th centuries. It was built during when seafaring was both a dangerous and lucrative industry. Wealthy sea captains built magnificent villas that looked over the peaceful town and blue refections of the bay.

We took a small powerboat out to a man made island which has room enough for one building, The Church of Our Lady of the Rock (Gospa od Skrpjela), Built in 1630 by grateful sailors who survived the storms and horrors of open sailing, The Church of Our Lady of the Rock was created piece by piece over time. The interior of the building is floor to ceiling trinkets that the sailors either made or purchased in their far off journeys. They thought bringing something back would protect them on the open sea.

We drove south stopping at two other resort towns like Orjen to pick up other passengers then we were on our way. The drive was pleasant, but very curvy. The terrain was essentially the same rocky coastline and high mountains. We passed through Ledenice and Risan until we could begin to see the incredible Fjord’s of the bay of Kotor, which is a huge inlet of the Adriatic ocean. We passed through Orahovac and onto Kotor.

Montenegro, which is located between Croatia on the norther border, and Albania on the Southern border offers a rich cultural and historical heritage, which goes back before Roman rule. It features Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic architecture that remains in outstanding condition.

The land that makes up Montenegro was originally settled by the Illyrians, then went to the Romans, and by the 12 century was united in the Serbian Realm, the “Zeta”. After Serbia fell it was ruled by a noble family, the Balsics, then finally fell to the Ottomans in 1499.

Skipping to 1878 Montenegro achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire under the reign of Nicholas I. In 1910 it became a kingdom, expanded its territory in the Balkan wars, then lost it all when it was unable to defeat Austria-Hungary in 1916. In 1918 Serbia liberated Montenegro, which then elected a union with the Kingdom of Serbia. In 1929 it became part of the kingdom of Yugoslavia until it was turned into an Axis powers puppet state in 1941. After being liberated in 1944, Montenegro became part a Communist Yugoslavia under Tito.

After the fall of Communism in that region in 1992 the Montenegrins voted to stay with Serbia as a mini-Yugoslavia. During the Bosnian conflict Montenegro took part in attacking Croatia with it’s police and paramilitary forces. They shelled Dubrovnik and several Bosnian towns along the coast from their norther border. In 1996 they severed ties with Serbia. On June 3, 2006 Montenegro was declared an independent state by the Parliament of Montenegro.

When traveling through Montenegro on a Croatian Atlas Tours bus, we still felt some of the tensions from our Croatian guides. There was an intense distrust and dislike of Montenegrins by the Croatians for what was done to them. Though few remnants from the bombings are still visible in Dubrovnik and along the coast, the internal scares are still deep within the people.