Kotor has sea waters on two sides and the town in its heyday became known as a seaport with a thriving boat-building industry. It would be nice to stay here for three days, the city is full of cafes, and restaurants, walking the walls could take half a day.

We stop for a coffee next to a lake but we find it’s an inland sea, the bay of Kotor, a UNESCO location. We are soon in a quaint small sea-fronting village with many baroque styled churches, a small harbour and ironically three old fire engines in a prime walking area. This we believe is the local fire brigade HQ. Perhaps there has have never been a fire. 

Montenegro became a country again after the recent Serbian war. Ranked as one of the most beautiful countries in the world, it  is likely to be a member of the EU in 2026, but already uses the Euro. It has, however, a long and complicated history. In 1910 it became a Kingdom, then part of Yugoslavia. 

We speed off in a fast boat on an absolutely flat sea to the island “Our Lady of the Rocks”. We are told the story of the creation of the church and the island it sits on.

Two brothers who were sailors find an icon statue of the Madonna and Child on a rock as they pass by in their boat. They get it in to the boat despite one of the brothers having a bad leg injury. They return to shore to explain to the villagers what happened and what they found. As they step out of the boat the leg of the injured brother is totally healed. This all took place on July 22nd 1452. From then on, every sailor and ship passing the site of the religious relic would stop.  Sailors worship at this site seeking a safe journey.

Thereafter, locals and visitors sank old boats on the site full of rocks and any one passing would add something to the creation of this little island. When there was enough solid ground to build a church, work started and was actually completed in 1630. It’s suffered marauding pirates, storms, wars and more. Today the site consists of a church and a museum. Sailors have left items as gifts there over the centuries. Within an hour it’s explored but not fully understood. There is also another island close by but we don’t get access.

“We’re on the road again”, the theme of my second book, with other travel stories .  

We are soon in Kotor, a walled city from the fifteen hundreds and bastions built a hundred years before that. Our tour guide, Nada is a tall blond attractive lady who talks as much about her own family situation as that of the ancient city. Nada is translated as “hope” in Serbian and “ nothing “ locally. 

Kotor has sea waters on two sides and the town in its heyday became known as a seaport with a thriving boat-building industry. It would be nice to stay here for three days, the city is full of cafes, and restaurants, walking the walls could take half a day.

Montenegro sits on the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Europe . The country's population is only 63000. 

I would like to fully tour the amazing beautiful little country of Montenegro, likely then to fall in love with it and then write about it as though I discovered it.