At long last, kicking off in kotor

 Well we are finally here. We have arrived in Kotor, Montenegro after what feels like a long day travelling. The flight was only two and a half hours but with all the recent trauma at Manchester airport following the staff shortages post COVID we had to have an early start.  The flight was scheduled to leave Manchester at 06:40 this morning but due to the airports problems in the past 24 hours and the threat of the flight being cancelled we were “strongly” advised by the airline to be at the airport no less than three hours prior to the flight leaving. From the previous posts it is quite clear that I am not a fan of airports and as we never have hold luggage we only tend to arrive a maximum of two hours early.  Ideally, if I can convince Crispy, a maximum arrival window of one hour before the flight time is perfect. The possible threat of delays through security meant being at the airport at 03.40 and thus being in the taxi to the airport no later than 3 o clock in the morning. An ungodly hour by anyone’s standards. I am careful when booking flights to avoid early starts as both of us in our early onset dotage don’t like getting out of bed if we don’t have to. In the case of Kotor the 06.40 flight was the only option so we had no choice but to evacuate our bed in the dead of night. As it turned out security clearance was swift and without incident. Only two scanners were operating but the staff manning them were efficient and we cleared the line within forty minutes. The major delay was at check in and bag drop. The queues we’re out of the terminal building and onto the drop off car parking area. The moral of the story is travel light and all will be well. As far as I am aware only two flights were cancelled this morning and Thank the Gods of aviation neither of them was ours.The flight left on time with no interruption.

The lady captain made exceptional time on the flight and we arrived thirty minutes earlier than scheduled. I think she must of known a short cut over the Alps. I have a theory that women make exceptional pilots as planes don’t have reverse gears, they are never required to perform parallel parking  and they never have to turn right against oncoming traffic. 

We arrived and cleared the Montenegrin security in minutes. The airport at Tivat is tiny. More like a texaco garage with a very big forecourt than an international airport. Being small it is efficient but they only ever deal with one flight at a time which must make life easier.

There is no public transport from the airport to Kotor. A distance of only approximately 15 km. The only option for passengers arriving here is to use one of the many taxis waiting outside the terminal like hyaena. A long line of drivers all waving yellow taxi badges and each hungry for your hard earned money and knowing that they have you cornered with no possible means of escape. The journey of less than 10 minutes costs 25 euro but with no alternative we were forced to suck it up and pay the money. 

We were met by our host for the next two nights outside the sea gate of Old Kotor town. A lovely man called Yarislav and he quickly guided us through the labyrinth of the old towns quaint little alleys to our accommodation. It is a beautiful old house built against the fortress walls at the foot of the “Ladder of Kotor”. The “ladder” is a climb of several hundred steps to an old fortress on top of the encircling mountain and a “must do” when in Kotor as the views are said to be spectacular from the top.

Crispy was in her element as the accommodation is of a very high standard and only recently refurbished. It has everything we need. Doors, windows, electricity and best of all running water. We are currently in the courtyard of the house chilling after a lovely meal in a small restaurant by the river adjacent to “our” house. Tomorrow we will explore this amazing place and I intend to get Crispy up the “ladder”to the fortress. She loves a bit of rubble and can hardly contain herself at the prospect of the climb. Today has been touching 30 degrees and tomorrow promises to be the same or even hotter. I intend to make an early start in the vain attempt to limit her protestations about climbing a mountain in the extreme temperatures of midday. Kotor is beautiful. It is easily one of the most picturesque places we have been lucky enough to visit in our Years of adventuring. We look forward to exploring it more tomorrow.If the rest of the places we intend to visit on this little adventure are anywhere near as amazing as this then we will not be disappointed.

Bare and Crispy signing off. Up a back alley. Kotor. Montenegro.