Kotor, Montenegro: An old fortress with a million cats.

Landed in the city of Kotor, Montenegro for the week. We didn’t know much about this little European country before we arrived but have learned a ton in these last couple of days. One thing we noticed right away is this is one of the only countries in Europe without a highway system. Driving around with a large Sprinter van has been interesting to say the least.

For two days, we walked around the old city, turning down random cobblestone streets, purposely getting lost to discover new things. The kids really got a kick out of this oversized park bench.

The city of Kotor is surrounded by fortifications built during the Venetian period and is now an UNESCO World Heritage site. Here are the girls entering the fortification through one of its ten entrances.

Kotor is one of the most well preserved old cities on the Adriatic.

We stopped to grab a little treat in the middle of the small medieval city.

They were out of ice cream but whipped cream covered in chocolate sauce did the trick.

They were out of tap water too so we *had* to order beer. Ha.

If you haven’t noticed in some of my previous photos, Kotor is known for being a city of cats. The homeless cats are actually pretty tame and taken care by the locals. It’s funny because once the kids find one cat to feed, a handful or two come running to them as well.

Mila ended up touching her face after petting cats and had itchy eyes. I forgot to pack allergy pills in my backpack for her so washing her face will have to do for now.

And Luka? He was happy as a clam with all the cats…

… until one scratched him. He insisted that I wrap up his hand in a napkin and secure it with a hair tie. Oh, Luka.

The old city has walls that extend up the side of the mountain. It leads to a small church near the half way point and then to the very top of the mountain to an overlook of the entire Bay of Kotor. A funny thing happened when we started our wall hike. The little cat in the photo below chose to follow us up the mountain to the old church during our hike today.

This cat walked a third of mile and about 200 feet straight up the mountainside never leaving our side.

Look at the warm rays from the sun setting on that mountain peak. Wow.

We obviously couldn’t believe this cat was still hiking with us. Straight up the side of a mountain no less.

Yup. Still there.

And when we got to the old church, we all took a break and made a new kitty friend.

Mila could’t believe how much these cats loved us.

Some places you’ve seen a million times on the internet and others you stumble across on a drive. We did not plan to come to Kotor nor knew anything about it. When it surprises you in the best way possible, it reminds us of why we explore.

And then the five us… plus these two cats… made our way together down the hill again. No joke.

One thing I know for sure is these three kids will never ever forget that hike. Thanks, kitty cats (which they named Callie and Kyle).

On our second walk to the old city from where we were staying, we took our time getting there via the tiny coastal.

And of course we made more friends. This one walked a little ways with us. Not up a crazy hill like yesterday’s cat but still a decent amount that made us all laugh.

The color of the bay today is jaw dropping.

Sometimes I still have to remind myself that we are in no rush. No need to keep walking to get to our destination, which today is the old city. These little moments are my favorites.

So it happened again. We saw and fed ONE cat and then…

…all of these other cats appeared out of thin air. It’s comical.

Mila amused that her water bottle was named “diva”.

And then this happened. The old city experienced a hail storm last night. We weren’t too far from the old city last night but we didn’t get any hail.

The kids freaked out and jumped right in. Soaking their shoes in the puddles and jackets with snowballs. They were ecstatic.

Found a meat shop that cooks your meat for you and throws it into a sandwich too.

Oh yeah. Ćevapčići for me.

Broken old buildings that I find beautiful.

Made it back into the fortress. Notice anything? Besides Christmas decorations still up in late January.

Kitty cats on presents. Haha.

We also went to see if we could find our hiking cat friend and mission accomplished.

A dog even showed up when we were sharing Yoda’s kibbles with these cats.

This poor cat was being bullied and climbed up a light post to save himself. Dan eventually scared the bully away.

And that pretty much covers our visit to the old fortress city of Kotor.

Tomorrow, we start heading a little more south along the Adriatic to another city in Montenegro.

Here is the video Dan put together of our time in Kotor. Enjoy!

Thanks for following along on our adventure,
Marlene