Dubrovnik at night and Kotor Montenegro

It was sunny and mild with a nice breeze. The open air market was in full swing. The streets are cobblestone and filled with other cruise ship passengers….CROWDED. We re-visited a few churches and walked along the main street and headed back to the boat. Enjoyed a quiet lunch in the dining room, which was strangely dark on the 3rd level with the port hole windows covered… Worked from the ship and then headed back in to Dubrovnik and worked from an internet café for about 3 hours. It certainly does help when you can connect with the rest of the world…all is OK at home. We wandered over to the Hilton, just outside the city walls, and explored the hotel – lovely pool! It was 7PM by now and we saw the clock tower strike 7:00 as the "man hit the bell with his large hammer". Back on the ship, we just didn’t feel like dressing up so we ordered off the restaurant menu and had room service. They deliver the next night’s menu with your daily newspaper the night before so you have time to decide where you prefer to dine. It is a dining experience in The Restaurant - -at least two hours. We enjoyed it all tonight in about 45 minutes. Gave us time to work and rest before Martin Beaumont, the English comedian we have enjoyed on other trips. Friday, October 18, 2013 Kotor Montenegro – I was excited to finally get to this port located in the Gulf of Kotor and surrounded by an impressive city wall built by the Republic of Venice. Venetian influence remains predominant in the city’s architecture. The Bay of Kotor is sometimes called the southern-most fjord in Europe, although it is actually a submerged river canyon. We were up just at dawn for the sail-in through this beautiful fjord. Kotor is part of the World Heritage Site dubbed the Natural and Culture—Historical Region of Kotor, and has one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic and is a UNESCO world heritage site. We were up early for the sail in through the beautiful fjord but it was too dark to see a lot before arriving to Kotor and the morning sunshine! We were off the boat and walked to the public bus station for a 30 minutes ride to Budva, and the old town. This is one of the oldest settlements in the Balkans surrounded by 15th century ramparts, including a medieval fortification system with city gates, defense walls and towers. The streets are narrow with picturesque small squares. We hopped in a taxi from there and drove back to Tivat, largest port, and then across in a car/truck/passenger ferry for a short 10 minute transfer across the Bay. We drove around the LARGE BAY to Perast and Risan. There were two lovely islands in the middle of the bay with beautiful rock formations, churches and trees creating idyllic scenes with the crystal clear surrounding them. It was a lovely drive! Then to the Old Town of Kotor – and it was well worth a visit! The Cathedral of St. Triphan dates from the 12th century and has a wonderful museum upstairs with the bones of several Saints. We also visited three other Serbian Orthodox churches with the incense and beautiful scenes in the church. They do not have pews in these churches. The paintings and colors and filigree work around the art is stunning. We found free WIFI at the tourist information booth and ran there for a short time to get some work done. Was a lovely and warm afternoon. Wandered to the fish, flower and vegetable market and there are many fish caught locally – some are quite colorful! We sailed at 3PM with a special caviar and champagne splurge on the open decks! It truly is a beautiful fjord and sail out and the Chef was standing in the Jacuzzi serving the caviar – Seabourn is known for their “caviar in the surf” ceremony. Since this itinerary has no real beach day, we enjoyed seeing them in the Jacuzzi serving us caviar! We were ready to host the Ensemble cocktail party by 6PM. We had more officers show up than our group so it was really nice time for all! The Captain, Chef, Cruise Director, Hotel Manager, Future Cruise Consultant, Excursion Manager, Crew Purser, Asst Cruise Director all shared the hour with us! Then we hosted a small dinner party in the restaurant and really enjoyed spending time with our VIP guests from CA and Bermuda. It was a lovely evening! Ms. Tomono Kawanura, a Japanese classical pianist was our entertainer and played superbly. There is wonderful music by two groups and a special evening entertainer each night.