Two distinct parts to my walking today but I’m going to put them together. The first part was in Budva, a town the other side of the mountains to Kotor and very much thought of as part of the Montenegrin Riviera with some of the best beaches on the Adriatic coast.
This was an old town nestled next to the new, still being built town. The first part to explore was the citadel which looked over the sea and was part of the fortifications against Turkish invasion.
The citadel exhibited models of old ships and had an extensive library as well as some impressive views and flowers.
A walk around the city walls enabled views down into gardens and over houses as well as out to sea. The lookout post were a significant design and you could imagine guards diligently observing from these.
Budva plike many old towns had narrow streets with tall buildings many of which were palatial. Significant squares such as Poet’s square and the churches, one Catholic and one Orthodox had a mosaic and frescoes accordingly.
Next to walk around the headland to a Sandy beach and dip my feet into the Adriatic Sea, unfortunately I’m not really a swimmer. Rather beautiful statue on the way and a look back at the mainland. The rock strata at this point is also rather dramatic.
After burning the bottoms of my feet on very hot sand we returned to the town to lunch- this part of my day’s walk was 3.6 km – and so back to the coach for our next stop on the edge of the Skadar Lake in Virpazar. This lake stretches into Albania and also forms part of a Nature reserve . Unfortunately we had all declined a boat trip probably as it was offered just after we had already been on one and we were both hot and tired!
There was also suppose to be walking but we were not actually offered any routes. Talking to locals we discovered there was a castle and a monastery close by, so two of us decided to take a walk. It was along a tarmac road but was better than sitting in a cafe for too many hours! The castle had good historic information including eight different types of wind that blow across the lake and that there were springs, thought at one time to be eyes in the lake. The castle was also being used as a wine museum and event rooms.
Having come back down from the castle we continued along the road and then say a turning to the Right which indicated historic buildings. We walked quite a distance along this road but still nothing. Having set a goal of some buildings on a far corner. No luck! No monastery and the side track that went to the village below which we thought could be an alternative return room was not to be as we were chased off by two dogs. Oh well – so we had to return the same!
Some excellent flowers and views over the lake as well as walking 5km and seeing a tortoise beginning to make it’s way across the road.
Having returned back to the village we noticed the war memorial which is quite impressive.
This is not a walking holiday so completing at least some walks is a bit of an endeavour!
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 