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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Yup. Still there.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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).

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

The color of the bay today is jaw dropping.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Oh yeah. Ćevapčići for me.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Broken old buildings that I find beautiful.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Kitty cats on presents. Haha.

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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

Old city of Kotor, Montenegro blog

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



Thanks for following along on our adventure,
Marlene

Categories: dailyEurope

2 Comments

April · September 28, 2019 at 10:43 pm

Kotor Kitties is an all-volunteer non-profit that was formed in 2018 to provide free spay-neuter surgery to the tens of thousands of community cats in Montenegro. We hope you’ll follow us on Facebook as we work to decrease the population and improve the health of Kotor’s kitties and those throughout the country!

http://facebook.com/kotorkitties

April King · March 6, 2021 at 5:19 pm

Kotor Kitties has come along way! Our vets have spayed or neutered almost 3200 cats, despite the restrictions of COVID! We have two beautiful websites now, in English (www.kotorkitties.org) and in Montenegrin (www.kotorkitties.me). A Russian language website is being worked on now, as so many of the visitors and expats in Montenegro come from Russia.

Cheers!

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