2009 Ports of Call 10 - 20

 

Click on this link and you will be directed to pictures of all 2009 trips.

 

Croatia 5

Jun 17 - 23

 

Old men with a shell...whatever.  After a rough ride from Rab we were happy to arrive in Zadar where a rainbow and beautiful sunset topped our evening.  This 3000 year old city is full of churches, monuments, Roman and other ruins, as well as a wonderful seafood market, making Lee a very happy camper.  It also claims the first (only?) sea organ, a series of stairs descending into the sea with tubes laid underneath that are powered by the sea, playing seven chords and five tones.  See it in the gallery of pictures.

 

Then on to Dugi Island to anchor on a beautiful lake for lunch, swim, and rest before going to Kornati National Park for another swim and the night.

 

Split is also an ancient city, but over the centuries the town leaders have not made the best decisions regarding preservation.  A Roman ruler built his retirement home here, Diocletian’s Palace, Split’s centerpiece.  But it has been ‘split’ up and altered so much that it’s difficult to take good pictures, much less imagine how grand it once was.  It claims the smallest street in Europe and it definitely has a wonderful vegetable market.

Croatia 6

Jun 23 - 27

 

After lots of wind and rain in Split, we were happy to split.  Jo and Richard were anxious to try new dive gear (ala above) which they did at our next stop, an anchorage in tiny Scedro Island, south of Hvar which we decided to skip this year.  The next day was a beautiful cruising day, passing Korcula (birthplace of Marco Polo), dropping anchor at Polace on Mljet Island, our favorite anchorage of last year and one of the most enchanting in the Adriatic.  It is claimed that Calypso held Odysseus here for seven years.  It was great swimming but too crowded to ski this year.

 

We had another gorgeous cruising day to Dubrovnik, but the  Marina had no room for us so we anchored in nearby Zaton (meaning sunset).  Clouds greeted us, but it was a beautiful setting and we enjoyed a day in Dubrovnik, except for the loads of tourists from five cruise ships.  This medieval walled town is the most important tourist attraction in Croatia, and justifiably so.  That’s why we wanted to see it again, but did refrain from taking so many pictures this year.

 

After six weeks in Croatia (including two in 2008), we’re ready to move on and look forward to visiting Montenegro.

Montenegro

Jun 27 - Jul 1

 

Byron called the Gulf of Kotor “the most beautiful encounter between land and sea”.  Certainly the developers of Porto Montenegro in Tivat are hoping the word gets out.  After registering in Kotor, we arrived at this self-described “premier marina destination in the Med” the day after it opened and got our best berth ever, front center overlooking the Gulf, pictured above.  Much of the marina is still a construction site, but the beautiful mountains are all around.

 

There isn’t much in Tivat, so after resting a day from four nights of anchoring, we spent a day in Kotor, a nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It’s an old walled town with an impressive defensive wall climbing the mountainside behind, and what a climb it is!  But the views are incredible.

 

The next day we went to Budva, an ancient walled city on the coast with small streets, old buildings, and lots of shops and restaurants.  Back on The Prize, we left the next day for a 5 1/2 hour stop in Bar to fuel and check out of the country.

 

The mountains on the coast of Montenegro are like the beautiful coast of California, a site to behold.