Kotor, Montenegro

We woke to light mist in Kotor this morning. Breakfast was under the cover of an awning on the second-floor porch of our hotel. We drank our coffee and watched the people from the cruise ships scurry for cover as the rain picked up.

When the clouds parted we met up with Jon to climb the rocky stairs to the ruins of Kotor Fortress. Though parts of the fortress were built in the 6th century, most of Kotor’s protections — the walls, the bastions, and much of the fortress up the mountain — were built by the Venetians in the 15th and 16th centuries. The city has changed hands since then several times. It’s been under the possession of the Habsburgs, France, Russia, Italy, Britain, Austria, the Axis powers, and Yugoslavia.

The hike isn’t really about history, though — it’s for the view:

After dinner we met up with Filip, a historian of the KGB in San Francisco who grew up in Kotor’s old town. We walked along the bay and sat for tea. We discussed the impact the cruise ships have had on the town, domestic politics in Montenegro, the suspicious death of Ivana Trump, his memories of Yugoslavia, and the feeling of going from a country with some influence to a country with none. So many more questions to ask, but tomorrow we’re off to Bosnia.