Dawned on us the last day in Montenegro...! We woke up and as we drank our coffee, we enjoyed for last time the beautiful view of fjord from our balcony. The coffee was given to us by the owner, from the previous evening and his mother cooked us donuts for breakfast! The residents of Montenegro can make you feel familiar to their country, using simple things. From their behavior, everyone can understand that they are very hospitable.
Our final destination for this day, it would be Dubrovnik in Croatia, which abstains approximately 90km. Once again through internet, we booked a room in a hotel, in which we should be there after 2 pm. As we had some time, we decided to make one last ride in Kotor. So, about 11.30am we went to the castle, which was full of people! It is widely known, that many tourist boats visiting Kotor, making day trips. During the day, the castle's image is completely different from what we had seen last night. It gives you the impression that you are in an old region of Italy.
We bought some tourist shirts, with the brand of Montenegro, as souvenirs and we started to drive to the border, moving around fjord. There is an alternative route (national road), which comes from Treminje but it does not follow the coastline. The route that we chose offers great photos of the area and the islets. It's narrow, with the state of road in good conditions and without traffic. Do not forget that we were outside season! The weather was cloudy and we thought that, the rain will found us over Croatia in Dubrovnik. This was one of the reasons of, why we had to get there as soon as possible. Looking at the varied landscapes of the route, we did not understand how fast the kilometers passed! The small villages we met had a mild tourist development, so to satisfy the needs of visitors, without special excesses.
We made a quick stop at the seaside Perast. Necessarily, we parked our motorbikes in a parking area outside the village. The village is pedestrianized, so they have banned entry to vehicles. Just opposite the village stand out two small islands, where two temples built over them. Of these temples are named the islands. Continuing our journey, we found ourselves at the intersection where the national road joins the seaside. From this point, after about 20km, we met duty Customs Station of Montenegro. The check was nonexistent. It did not look like anything, like when is high season. They took a look in our passports and they wished us bon voyage. We left Montenegro with the best and most rewarding experiences. Amazingly paths, with the mountain and the coastal landscapes of the country impressed us, while hospitality is something we will never forget. We believe that is one of the best destinations with motorbikes.
We arrived at the Croatia's border, where there was not any significant checking. Since the environment around the area is the same, if we did not pass the border, we could not understand that we have changed the country. Soon, we were driving next to the coastal road leading to Dubrovnik. Inside the villages that we met, there was a mild tourist development, which nevertheless was organized. Everywhere were informative signs with the tourist sights, restaurants and the accommodation of the area. Most of the houses follow the traditional architecture. These are built with white stone and red tile roof.
After 20km, in front of us appeared the most famous landscape image of the city Dubrovnik, which depicts the castle, on top. We stopped to admire the view and we took some photos. Then, we went to to the city center and our priority was to find our accommodation (Deranja Apartments: 85,50€/4 persons). The GPS into this case did not seem useful and as we asked instructions from some inhabitants. Finally, we managed to find it. Around 3.30pm we started our walk to the castle and the old town, which abstained approximately 700m from the hotel. The weather, until that moment, was cloudy without rain but it seemed that it will not continue for much longer.
We entered to the castle by the gate named 'Pile' and it is located from the side of town. With the first sight seems small, actually, it has the correct dimensions, in relation to the walls that surround it. At some points have 25m height, 6m width and perimeter is 1940m. At the entrance, there is a statue of city's patron, Saint Blaise, where his form is depicted in several places on the walls. Many tourists were flooded the place. Dubrovnik is the most famous place in Croatia and possibly to the whole Dalmatian coasts.
The first thing that we saw, it was the Great Fountain of Onofrio, which is located just opposite the Cathedral of Christ. From this point, it begins the main pedestrian zone of the castle, named Placa which terminating in Loggia Square. In the square stands the Clock Tower. Anyone could be discerned it from afar, while in the center of square there is a column of Orlando, which is characteristic as a meeting point. Around the square there are amazing buildings of the Guard's House, the Sponza Palace and the church of Agios Vasilios, which impress with their imposingness and their architecture design. From there, we walked until the old port to see the small boats and many restaurants and then we proceeded through the north - south jetty in Fort St John.
Our walk continued inside the walls, through from a small gate. We arrived in front of the Cathedral and the Treasury. We visited the interior, but after a while, the first raindrops of rain had begun to fall, so we should immediately find a "retreat ". We decided to capitalize on the weather and we sat in a pizzeria. We relaxed eating pizza and drinking beer! The prices were similar to the greek (owing to tourist location) and we could pay in euros (rate 1€=7kuna).
Fortunately, the raindrops were not stronger. We rested for a while and then we continued to wander into the castle. The beauty and the climate of the place had captivated us and we did not realize that the time has already passed. We arrived at the second main gate of the castle to the harbor side, the gate named "Ploce". We had a distinct view of the harbor, which combined with the time (sunset), it was magical. We sat for a while to enjoy it...!
We left the castle to look for a restaurant. We thought it would be better if they were outside the walls. Later, we sat to «Mimoza», a restaurant with good food but the prices remind us that we were in Dubrovnik...! We returned to the hotel and we fell straight to bed, full of positive impressions, while Dubrovnik rightly holds the title of the most beautiful city in Croatia...!
