Tuesday, June 18th
Today we had to take a tender into the town of Kotor (Montenegro). Once there, we found a tour company which would take us to Perast by boat stopping at ‘Our Lady of the Rocks’ (a church on a man-made island) on the way. The scenery was beautiful on the way to the island - lovely homes with orange roofs and pale buildings and large mountains (some rocky and rugged and some green and lush). We didn’t get to go in the church as there were too many people on a guided tour for us to get in before the 30 minute time on the island was up. When we got to Perast, we walked the main street for 30 minutes - it is a cute little village. After our tour, we caught a tender at the dock and sailed back to ship. We spent the rest of the time until dinner sitting on deck 7 reading our books - we love spending time there. After dinner, we read some more on chaise loungers on deck 15, but the music was too loud coming out of the loud speakers so went back to the cabin.
Steps for the day: 8,532
Sailing on our ship in the Bay of Kotor towards the city (Port) of Kotor
Sailing towards Kotor
Aquaculture nets - the aquaculture sector in Montenegro consists of both freshwater and marine aquaculture - the Montenegrin aquaculture sector consists of three sub-sectors: freshwater fish farming (rainbow trout), shellfish farming (Mediterranean mussel and European flat oyster) and marine fish farming (gilthead seabream and European seabass)
Ostrvo Sveti Dorde (Island of St. George) - is one of the two islets off the coast of Perast in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro - it is a natural island - the island contains the Sveti Juraj (Saint George Benedictine) monastery from the 12th century and the old graveyard for the old nobility from Perast and further from the whole Bay of Kotor
Little village on the Bay of Kotor (sailing towards Kotor)
Cave in the side of a mountain near Kotor
View of Kotor from our ship
Looking at Kotor from our ship
Another cruise ship following us in towards Kotor
Near the shore of Kotor (still on our ship)
Port of Kotor - ships dock at Kotor Pier - it is about 300 feet from the town centre - it's one of the three gates to enter the old town
Spomenik Palim Za Slobodu (Monument of Freedom) - pays homage to the fallen citizens of Montenegro who died during World War II (1941 - 1945) - the inscription on the front reads "Palim Za Slobodu (Fallen for Freedom)
Video of our ship turning around at the end of the Bay of Kotor
Holland America's Veendam cruise ship - as it is a mid-sized ship, it could dock at Kotor - our ship is much bigger and so had to anchor in the bay and we had to take a tender to shore
Mike standing beside the 'Welcome to Montenegro' sign
Photos of our ship anchored in the bay (taken from the dock)
Arranging our tour boat excursion with Mongibello Tours to Our Lady of the Rocks (island) and Perast
Our tender in front of the Veendam cruise ship
Kotor (photo taken from our tour boat) on the way to 'Our Lady of the Rocks'
Close-up of our ship, the 'Emerald Princess'
Palazzo delle Tre Sorelle (Italian meaning Palace of the Three Sisters) - old grey stone building with three peaks in the village of Prcanj, Montenegro - dating back to the 15th century - was built and owned by the aristocratic Buca family - legend has it that the three sisters that lived here fell in love with the same sailor - when he went to sea, they stood at their windows waiting for him to return - as the story goes, the years went by and the sisters still waited for their sailor who never returned - as the sisters passed away one by one, their windows were boarded up - all except for the last sister, who had nobody to board up her window, and so it remains unsealed to this day
Stara Zupna Crkva (Old Parish Church) - on the hillside of Mount Vrmac behind the town of Prcanj - the ruins of an old abandoned Catholic church
Bogorodicin Hram (Our Lady Temple) - on the right of the photo - the parish church of Prcanj - dedicated to the birth of the Holy Virgin - made of Korcula stone in the Baroque style - construction lasted 120 years up to 1909
Sailing to 'Our Lady of the Rocks'
'Our Lady of the Rocks' - one of two islets off the coast of Perast in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro - is an artificial island created by bulwark of rocks and by sinking old and seized ships loaded with rocks - the Roman Catholic 'Chiesa della Madonna dello Scarpello (Italian for 'Church of our Lady of the Rocks') is the largest building on the islet - it has a museum attached - there is a navigation light at the western end of the islet - according to legend, the islet was made over the centuries by local seamen who kept an ancient oath after finding the icon of Madonna and Child on the rock in the sea on July 22, 1452 - upon returning from each successful voyage, they laid a rock in the Bay - over time, the islet gradually emerged from the sea - the custom of throwing rocks into the sea is alive even nowadays - every year on the sunset of July 22, an event called 'Fasinada' (in the local dialect) takes place, when local residents take their boats and throw rocks into the sea, widening the surface of the island,
Mike and Sue at 'Our Lady of the Rocks'
'Our Lady of the Rocks'
Kostanjica - cute little coastal village (30 km from Kotor) built on a cut-out portion of a mountain
Sailing away from 'Our Lady of the Rocks' on the way to Perast
Rimokatolicka Crkva Gospe od Ruzarija (Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary)
Looking back towards Kotor
A kayak tour in the Bay of Kotor
On the way back to Kotor from Perast
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