We arrived in Kotor on the 26th of June and Split on the following day. At both ports we had Tours By Local guides ready to pick us up and take as around their areas. It is so nice to have a pre-arranged private tour waiting for you at a cost typically lower than you can get with the crowded cruise line tours.
Our trip to Split started with a bus ride to Trogir which is a UNESCO site. It is a small town built back in the 1300’s and was once the cultural city of the area. We spent some time in the Cathedral of St Lawrence which has some unique sculptures. We learned about a technique used on this church to remove the dark color caused by aging and exhaust from the many cars in the area. They use lasers to direct pulses of energy that destroys the dark coloring without damaging the stone underneath. After our visit to Trogir we went back to Split and were shown the Diocletian Palace, a World Heritage Site. Diocletian was a famous Roman Emperor who rose up from the ranks of the military and a lower-class family to become emperor. He was also one of the few Emperors that retired and lived his remaining years at this palace that he built in Split. The palace had two main structures: The Temple of Jupiter and the octagonally shaped mausoleum. The mausoleum was turned into Cathedral St Domnius after Diocletian’s death and the rise of Christianity. After touring the palace for a while we were taken outside to see the old town which surrounds the palace and consists of many winding roads that are loaded with shop and restaurants. It is an interesting town to visit.
Kotor is a beautiful port set in a large bay area that almost looks like a lake when you get through the narrow channel from the sea. We had to tender into this port as the dock is very small and only accommodates small cruise ships. The city itself is primarily made up of a very old fortified fort with many shops, restaurants and bars inside. You can even take a walk around these medieval walls which will take you a few hours. Our tour took us to some of the key sights such as Perast which is a quaint city where you can take small boats to St George and Our Lady of the Rocks. These are two tiny islands that have churches on them in the middle of the bay. The legend of Our Lady of the Rocks dates to the mid 1400’s when two fishermen discovered an icon of the Virgin with Christ on the sea cliff. They took the icon home, but it was gone the next day having returned to the sea cliff. They took this as an omen to build a church in the bay. We continued to drive around the bay to the small town of Tivat which had a nice beach and several fishing boats in the harbor. We drove a little further to the town of Budva where we saw the little island of Saint Stefan. Today this island is a 5 star resort. As we continued on to Kotor we stopped high above where we got some great views of Kotor. We went down to the fortress and old city for a while before heading back to the ship.
Our trip to Split started with a bus ride to Trogir which is a UNESCO site. It is a small town built back in the 1300’s and was once the cultural city of the area. We spent some time in the Cathedral of St Lawrence which has some unique sculptures. We learned about a technique used on this church to remove the dark color caused by aging and exhaust from the many cars in the area. They use lasers to direct pulses of energy that destroys the dark coloring without damaging the stone underneath. After our visit to Trogir we went back to Split and were shown the Diocletian Palace, a World Heritage Site. Diocletian was a famous Roman Emperor who rose up from the ranks of the military and a lower-class family to become emperor. He was also one of the few Emperors that retired and lived his remaining years at this palace that he built in Split. The palace had two main structures: The Temple of Jupiter and the octagonally shaped mausoleum. The mausoleum was turned into Cathedral St Domnius after Diocletian’s death and the rise of Christianity. After touring the palace for a while we were taken outside to see the old town which surrounds the palace and consists of many winding roads that are loaded with shop and restaurants. It is an interesting town to visit.
Kotor is a beautiful port set in a large bay area that almost looks like a lake when you get through the narrow channel from the sea. We had to tender into this port as the dock is very small and only accommodates small cruise ships. The city itself is primarily made up of a very old fortified fort with many shops, restaurants and bars inside. You can even take a walk around these medieval walls which will take you a few hours. Our tour took us to some of the key sights such as Perast which is a quaint city where you can take small boats to St George and Our Lady of the Rocks. These are two tiny islands that have churches on them in the middle of the bay. The legend of Our Lady of the Rocks dates to the mid 1400’s when two fishermen discovered an icon of the Virgin with Christ on the sea cliff. They took the icon home, but it was gone the next day having returned to the sea cliff. They took this as an omen to build a church in the bay. We continued to drive around the bay to the small town of Tivat which had a nice beach and several fishing boats in the harbor. We drove a little further to the town of Budva where we saw the little island of Saint Stefan. Today this island is a 5 star resort. As we continued on to Kotor we stopped high above where we got some great views of Kotor. We went down to the fortress and old city for a while before heading back to the ship.
RSS Feed
