Week 13 Corfu, Greece Kotor, Montenegro Split, Croatia

Since this week is so busy with ports of call, I have decided to make two separate blogs. This will entail March 12 to March 15. The next blog will cover Venice, Italy Zadar and Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Corfu, Greece is an island located on the northwestern side of Greece close to the Albanian border. The old town and fortress were mostly constructed by the powerful Venetian Republic and is a UNESCO site today. The city is the birthplace of Prince Phillip, Queen Elizabeth II's late husband. There is also a strong British influence found in the city. Since we have been here previously, we opted to go tour the rest of this island. We visited the beautiful Monastery of Paleokastritsa high in the mountains. It is still a working monastery with 16 monks. The church is still an active Greek Orthodox facility. The history of this island goes back to Greek Mythology with Ulysses getting shipwrecked off its shoreline to the islands shape and beginnings associated with Persephone trying to save her daughter by throwing a sickle into the sea. We then walked around the old city enjoying the sun (still not warm but at least sun was out).

Corfu coast from the top of Pantokrator Mountains

The harbor of Corfu

Views from the top of Pantorator.

Entrance to the monastery still housing 16 Orthodox monks.

View of Albania from the island of Corfu

Fortress of Corfu built over 100s of years to protect the city

Old government building used by the British when they ruled at the start of the 20th C

The island in the center of the photo is said to be the ship Ulysses had that had run aground and turned into stone by the gods. The was so he could not complete his journey but the people built him another ship to make it home.

We then travelled to Kotor, Montenegro, a country we had not visited before this visit. The city is located at the end of a 17 mile inlet often referred to as Europe's southernmost fiord. The sights were breath taking. The old town has one of Europe's best-preserved medieval fortifications. We took a boat ride out to Our Lady of the Rock church. The area has a long history of seafarers who continued to place rocks on a small isle in the river from the 1600s. It created this small island and then a church was erected to honor Our Lady for their safe travels and trading success. We then returned to Perast to visit St. Nicholas Church and see the small town. Here we were taken by bus to Kotor and the fortress. This is a city literally at the foot of huge mountains. Another fabulous day of sun but still cold.

Our Lady of the Rocks Church at the bend in the river heading towards Kotor, Montenegro

Altar inside Our Lady of the Rocks Church

Window looking out from the second floor of the Church

A closer view of the Our Lady of the Rock Church

St. George church on neighboring island of Our Lady of the Rock Churc

St. Nicholas Church in Perast.

Mountains above the city of Kotor, Montenegro

Fortress main entrance to the former ancient arsenal.

Church inside fortress and the background a small church where women would climb the 200+ steps to pray for the family's health and safety.

Old clock tower and stone of shame on the left. (Stone of Shame in many towns where a person who

committed offenses like theft or such would be tied to and humiliated by their peers)

Fortress and city from above.

Split, Croatia, was constructed around the ancient Roman Palace of Emperor Diocletian. There is evidence of ancient Greek origins dating to the 6th Century BC, but the city is traditionally considered to be 1700 years old. When we were here previously, we toured the city. This trip we decided to see the beautiful Krka National Park and falls. The numerous water falls and cascading waters are the result of 17 cataracts consisting of calcium-carbonate. The water is so crystal clear you can see the riverbed with its stones and plants. We then had a traditional Croatian dinner at a restaurant in Skradin that was delicious.