Thursday, June 28th, 2012
I had one final day in Montenegro before heading off to my next destination....Bosnia and Herzegovina. The bus to Mostar (my first Bosnia and Herzegovina stop) was not until the early afternoon so I had time in the morning to check out a few of the things I hadn't seen yet.
I made my way to the Maritime Museum of Montenegro, where for a very cheap 4 euros (about $5 CAD) you can see the museum with a full audio tour (in English) to tell you all about everything on display. The building itself is an old 18th century Baroque Palace, home to the Ivelic Family.
One of the rooms on display. It is decorated with pictures of the Ivelic Family.
A few of the female folk costumes on display. The costumes would include handbags and shoes (a few of my favourites) and also items like umbrellas and shawls. There was a strong fashion influence in the area dating back to the 14th century due to the large clothing and shoe industry in the area.
Wouldn't be a museum without some old rifles......
.....and swords.
A few vases are also a must. A pretty extensive collection considering that museum is not that big.. Always fascinating to me that you can find really similar things in museums all over the place. Just a sign of how things will always travel.
I always like old clocks like this. They seem completely excessive and unnecessary and a reminder that even in the past people with money bought fancy things.....just because they can.
Of course this is a maritime museum so it showcases the history of Montenegrin sailing and shipping, including nautical training. Kotor was the main base for the ships of the Austria-Hungry fleet in the end of the 19th century. This is a model of a barque ship, of which there were 91 in the fleet in the 19th and 20th century.
A few more of the ship models you will find in the museum. Obviously from a different time period than the one above.
A look at the second floor of the museum.
OK I'm not totally sure what these are (maybe someone else does) but in case you cannot read them, they say "remember me" and "for my true love".
From the sailboat "Giurko" in-service from 1870-1895.
There are 4 of these in the main entry way of the museum. This one is labelled " The Galley. St. Tripun. In the Battle of the Lepant" 1571. They depict important battles in the history of the area.
Once I thoroughly explored the museum, I headed back to explore a few last things in the city.
The main square in Old Town Kotor. This the Square of Arms (Trg Od Oruzja). On the left hand side you can see the clock tower (from the 17th century). Many of the buildings around the square are old palaces mainly from the 17th and 18th century.
This is the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon. It is one of very few Catholic Cathedrals in Montenegro. Saint Tryphon (Sveti Tripun) was the protector of the city.
A look inside the upper halls of the cathedral. They asked people not to take pictures inside but I had to sneak one up here (everyone else was doing it). On display are many items from past bishops.
I then made a stop for lunch and then it was off to the bus station for the next leg of my journey. I would be making the roughly 6 hour trip from Kotor, back through Dubrovnik and then to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. So to calculate borders, we crossed from Montenegro into Croatia and then into Bosnia and then back into Croatia before finally ending up in Bosnia. They took my passport and stamped my passport many, many times.
For the most part the ride was uneventful (I read and slept a lot). Of course what would a bus ride in a foreign country be without some confusion. We arrived at......well someplace and the driver said a bunch of things in Bosnian and everyone went to get off the bus.....except those of us who only speak English. I found some nice girls sitting around me however who spoke both Bosnian and English and explained that we needed to get off the bus here, and that another bus would arrive in about 30 minutes to take us the rest of the way to Mostar.
Eventually I got there and was able to grab a cab to my hotel. Now my hotel is a really fun story. During my lazy moments in Kotor (you know out on the patio with drinks and food) I did some searching for places to stay and things to see while in Mostar. I knew about the bridge (you can read about it in the next post) but wasn't sure what else to check out. As I was searching for things to see and places to stay I noticed that the Bosnian National Monument Muslibegovic House was on both lists. I quickly connected the two and realized that you can actually stay in the museum because it is also a hotel (with only about 6 rooms). Naturally I had to stay there.
I arrived a little late and a little tired but that didn't stop me from enjoying my free beer (Bosnian beer is pretty good) before heading to bed.
A look at my room. It was such a shame I was only staying one night. It was really neat.
The bed. Very nice and comfortable after my long day on the bus.
I was told that my room was the most authentic of all the rooms. Spending a night in the museum......so fun. Just so you know....nothing came alive while I was sleeping.
Friday was set to be a busy day. I only had one day in Mostar so I had to make the most of it.
Julie
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