Bay of Kotor, Montenegro
We started our exploration of Montenegro at Camping Zlokovic in Bijela after entering Montenegro from Croatia, in early October (2022). Most of the larger campsites close for the winter on 01 November so 1st priority was âopen all yearâ except sometimes when they are closed đ. Zlokovic met all requirements: small family-owned, pitches have all the required utilities (fresh water, grey water, 16amp power), and strong wifi – yippy.
Pitches are also large and close to the water (30m). The beauty of traveling this time of the year is that the campsites are very quiet, most of the time. Ivan was the site manager and very helpful and supportive. You can contact Ivan at: zlokovicivan@gmail.com
Herceg Novi
Autumn in Montenegro is the perfect time to visit. (We think so 
). Ivan couldn’t have been more helpful. He came over to see how we were enjoying the area and recommended we take the free boat ride from the pier in Herceg Novi to the island of Mamula. Well, we followed his instructions and found the place, no problem, but we were too late to register and missed out.
In the meantime, we had a wee look around and found the castle Forte Mare near the end of the pier. It was built by the Bosnian King Tvrtko 1 in 1382. Herceg Novi is in the Bay of Kotor of course, a major tourist region with cruise ships passing our campsite day and night.
Perast, Montenegro.
Well, we started out to visit Kotor, but naturally, when something is planned by us, it usually doesnât happen as planned.
To get to Kotor (another day) you drive past the turning to Perast. What grabbed our attention as we came close, was the islet of Our Lady of the Rocks. There is a second private island close by called St George with a monastery, owned by the catholic church. We parked outside the town to take some photos then decided to explore and found a taxi-boat service that took us over to the islet for a small fee.
This place was magical, it felt like we were a couple of kids in Disneyland. We spent 30mins on the island before returning to Perast, where we were captivated by the atmosphere of this enchanting village. Of course, we lost track of the time and had to meander to Kotor another day.
Post a Thought
There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.â
John Lennon
Kotor
We made it, there’s something about walled towns isn’t there? I get a childhood thrill at the idea of it. It’s almost like revisiting a fairytale that people still live in. Cobbles and old doors and window shutters and tiny chapels and arched ceilings inside thick stone walls.
Kotor is just like that with a seawater moat and protective walls and fortifications stretching up and up the mountainside. This is where all the cruise ships passing us at the camping site are heading. It’s very popular. There’s at least one every day anchored in the dead-end harbour looking strangely out of place.
Ostrog Monastery
A Day of Miracles
No hiking stick or boots, and yes… there is a car park at the top (not very busy today)… but in homage to the pilgrims, mostly from Croatia Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Serbia, some of whom take this path on hands and knees, we thought we’d at least walk.
St Basil of Ostrog’s remains are in a tiny frescoed cavern to the very end of the upper church and monastery hanging off the side of the sheer mountain. A priest watches over him during the public visits. Our visit included some personally moving reflections with candles in the small monastery chapel within the rock face.
Saint Basil was born in Herzegovina in 1610 and christened Stojan. It is said at a young age he was deeply filled with the love of God and joined a monastery of the Croatian Orthodox Church. At a relatively early age, he was made a bishop and he was instrumental in the construction of the Monastery.
He died in 1671, and sometime later it was decided his remains should be brought back to Ostrog. When he was disinterred, his body was intact and smelling of basil. His first miracle. There have been many of them.
Fabian Foley, Author
My wife has always wanted to write but there was always something holding her back. To find out a bit more about why here is a link to her webpage where she explains the reasons.
https://fabianfoley.com/
Her book is presently listed in presales on Amazon, Apple Books, Banes & Noble, KOBO, and Smashwords to name a few. Due for release in early 2023.
When nowhere is safe in the world you know, you have to hide… or start making a new one.
Robert is eleven when his best friend dies and he learns that if he wants to survive in the world he has to be ânormalâ. He buries his feelings, his awful childhood memories, and his suspicion that he is gay. Even when he falls in love with Johnny, he pretends it isnât happening, and buries those feelings too, choosing safety in the closet, a career as a lawyer, a wife and kids, and suburban happy ever after⊠Until Johnny returns needing help, and then disappears, and Robert’s façade begins to crack in heartbreaking and dreadful circumstances.
Only one other person saw what happened that night, and after being arrested for drunk and disorderly, he disappears.
Trying to keep his secret and himself safe isnât Robertâs only priority. He wants justice too. But when the police force is corrupt from the top down, justice isnât merely elusive, itâs an impossibility. Or so it seems when youâre fighting for yourself alone. But other people have been fighting for justice too. If Robert can convince them to help him, together they may set something unstoppable in motion. It will either run down the corrupt police or run over and destroy Robertâs life.
Inspired by the true story of a suicide that was reclassified thirty years later as a gay hate-crime murder, The Outing is set in 1980s Queensland, (Australia), where corrupt police and politicians rule together, with an audacious disregard for the law. It shares poignant and emotional elements of Douglas Stuartâs Shuggie Bain and Craig Silvey’s trans-coming-of-age novel Honeybee, with the suspense of The Dry by Jane Harper, while drawing on the historical facts leading up to the airing of the dirty linen of the Bjelke-Peterson era with the broadcasting of The Moonlight State-1987.
Breaking a corrupt system can sometimes break you, and those you love⊠some, forever.
Port Montenegro
Who needs a sea change? What about this place? They say if you buy an apartment (or rent a berth in the marina) in this Porto Montenegro development you automatically get a twelve-month visa, renewable each year with a quick visit to the local immigration office. Not surprisingly the development is owned by a Dubai Investment Corp. During our walkabout, we passed the private Mega-Yacht âLuminosityâ, the largest diesel-electric yacht afloat, also Dubai-owned (?) or was, now for sale. Check it out here: https://www.fraseryachts.com/en/yacht/luminosity/ and check the development out here: https://www.portomontenegro.com/
Check-Out Spaceship Motorhome Rentals Here, See ya on the Road
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Some of our favorite pages: Touring Campania Italy, The Italian Riviera
