Two Girls From Texas in a Car: MONTENEGRO - OUR LAST STOP IN THE BALKANS

Katherine and I had a peaceful drive from Albania to Montenegro. The entire West coast of Montenegro is on the Adriatic Sea. The drive along the coast is stunning. The beaches are spectacular, the rugged mountain peaks are as dramatic as Switzerland's, the canyons are as deep as the Grand Canyon, and the climate is sublime. We spent six days staying on the Adriatic in the Bay of Kotor. We were along the coast, and 2 miles from the old town (Stari Grad). Kotor is a stop on the Adriatic cruises. Many times there are 2 cruise ships in a day. This is quite taxing to the old town. Once again, the locals complain that the cruise ships add nothing to the local economy, and create havoc in the small port town for locals and other tourists. The yacht basin held court to some very expensive "toys".

View from our hotel room along the 5k walk in the bay

Montenegro's entire population is 678,000. Their national identity is built around resisting the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years in a mountainous enclave much smaller than the nation's current borders. After negotiating an amicable "divorce" from Serbia in 2006,relations between the exes have recently taken a turn for the worse. Montenegro recognized Kosovo, which Serbia did not. One third of Montenegro's population is Serbian. Tourism is very important to Montenegro. Typically, the Russians have established a foothold on the Coast, and have dramatically altered several of the beautiful coastal towns with their concrete block condos. Budva is one of those towns. However, subsequently, the country has imposed a building code, and Kotor, a UNESCO town, and the coast further north, remains much like their past.

The water is so clear

Montenegro was part of the the Yugoslav republic. In 1948 Tito fell out with Stalin and broke off contacts with Russia. Tito was a "just" ruler, and he was determined to create a state in which no ethnic group dominated the political landscape. Mongtenegro became one of six republics - Macedonia,Serbia,Croatia,Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Slovenia. Tito left a shaky Yugoslavia upon his death in May 1980. The ethnic groups resurfaced, thus setting the stage for the 1991 civil war. Montenegro was spared any bloodshed on its soil. The people are nostalgic for Tito's reign.

The villas along the bay of Kotor

Relaxing in front of our hotel

The economy has been growing. The economic growth of 7.5% is the fastest in the Balkans. A lack of capital gains tax and an income tax of 9% for both individuals and companies make it even more attractive. Unfortunately, when the country was struggling to gain an economic footprint in the world, there was a deal struck with Russia to own and operate their largest aluminium plant. The plant and the associated bauxite mine accounts for 50% of the country's exports,17.5% of GDP and the country's largest employer. The Russians have failed to uphold their end of the bargain, and the government is subsidizing the plant, and its workers.

KOTOR

It's history owes much to 400 years of Venetian rule. There is a strong history of Catholic and Orthodox cooperation in the area. The town began as Acruvium, part of the Roman province of Dalmatia.

The city walls around the old town Kotor

The main entrance is the Vrata od Mora (Sea Gate) 1555, when the town was under Venetian rule (1420-1797).

St Luke's Church

The orthodox church in Kotor

St Tryphon's Cathedral is the town's most impressive building. Built in the 12th century.

BUDVA

The town's best feature and star attraction is it's Stari Grad (Old Town) - a mini-Dubrovnik with marbled streets and Venetian walls rising from the clear waters below. The Citadel offers striking views of the sea.

SVETI STEFAN

This tiny island connected to the shore by a narrow isthmus and crammed full of terracotta-roofed dwellings has been turned over to the Aman resorts. Katherine celebrated her birthday while we were in Montenegro, and we had a prime seat at the "Queen's Chair" restaurant befitting her special day.

PERAST

Looking like a chunk of Venice has floated down the Adriatic and anchored itself onto the bay. This tiny town has 16 churches and 17 formerly grand palazzos. (Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones own a villa here).

Offshore are two picturesque islands. The smaller St George's Island rises from a natural reef and houses a Benedictine monastery shaded by cypresses.

St George's Island

Our -Lady-Of-the-Rock-Island was artifically created in the 15th century and every year on 22 July, the locals row over with stones to contine the task. The church's tradition, for centuries, is for the bride to bestow a gift on the small museum that is next to the church.

Our Lady of the Rock Church and its museum

A beautiful Palazzo converted to the museum

The villas lining the shore in Perast

LOVCEN NATIONAL PARK

vistas from the roads to the top of the park

Katherine and I went inland, and took steep, windy roads through the Lovcen National park. The park is 15,300 aces large, and has a height of 5,300 feet. This was not a drive for anyone who is nervous about heights,narrow roads, drop dead steep cliffs, and hairpin turns. This is truly one of the world's great drives. The road has 25 hairpin curves for 14 miles straight up. One vista is more spectacular than the next. Awesome is the only word to describe this adventure.

The star attraction of the park is the magnificent Njegos Mausoleum. This is at the top of the second highest peak (5,400 feet). There are 461 steps up to the entry where two granite giantesses guard the tomb of Montenegro's greatest hero. Inside under a golden mosaic canopy a 28 ton Petar II Petrovi Njegos rests in the wings of an eagle, carved from a single block of black granite by Ivan Mestrovic. George Bernard Shaw when he made the trek said "Am I in paradise or on the moon?" Njegos in 1833 negotiated with Tsar Nicholas I to provide tactical and financial support against the Ottomans for Montenegro.