FlyingMonk

Montenegro

During the Homeland War, Montenegro and Croatia were at war. The Yugoslav Army attacked Dubrovnik coming from Montenegro, that was the last republic to secede from the federation. The sign of it is that, even now, 17 years after the peace was signed when you drive out of Dubrovnik, the good paved road finished at the airport, probably about 20 km from the border and after that the road is patched and on several stretches  becomes a dirt road, "in construction". But when you enter Montenegro the landscape is impressive, the spectacular drive around Kotor bay gets you squeezed between the mountains that slope directly into the gulf, with a tiny stretch of asphalt in between. In the middle of the Gulf are  two islands where the blue bell tower of church glitters in the sun. The first thing you may notice when you enter any town is Montenegro is that is way overbuilt. It is a stark difference to Croatia where the level of construction is kept in check, apparently. Kotor was a Venetian colony whose emblem, the St Marc lion, is proudly engraved near the city gate. The town surrounded is picturesque, with squares decorated with umbrellas or brooms and venetian style towers, small winding alleys all guarded by the top-of-the-hill fortress keeping vigil to its safety. Our next stop was Dubva, less interesting and more commercial with too many tourists making even the Adriatic water dirty with plastics. but not  a bad detour. We ended our tour in Sv Stefan, the private community/resort located on an island, a pretty post card attraction in Montenegro.