Our first port day! Kotor, Montenegro - September 23, 2019

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Today is our first of many days in ports and we were looking forward to it! It was a rainy day, but we weren't scheduled to arrive until 2:00 pm, so hopefully the weather would clear up a bit. We had an excursion planned, but it was cancelled, so we really didn't have a plan at all!  Our new plan was to head into the old town and wander around. Good enough!
The atrium 

Since we didn't arrive into Kotor until the afternoon, we had a relaxing morning with breakfast in the Main Dining Room. It was nice, although the service was just average.  After breakfast we went to a Wine and Chocolate Pairing lesson.  This turned out to be a lot of fun, and we learned so much about tasting wine, as well as pairing wines! The Sommelier on board was great. I have actually participated in this Wine and Chocolate Pairing on another cruise and this one was much better as far wine tasting techniques. It was so interesting!





We're all set! Let the tasting begin! 









After our tasting we were just about to Kotor. Sailing into to Kotor is a beautiful site, even if it was drizzling and misty out. It seemed almost like sailing through what I would imagine a Fjord would be, although this wasn't a Fjord because it wasn't created by glaciers. 





















Our Lady of the Rocks Church




























Kotor is a tender port, as were several of our ports on this cruise. Since we didn't have an excursion we had to wait with the general group of passengers to be called off the ship. It felt like a long wait, but I'm sure it felt longer than it was. 



We finally arrived! And the rain had pretty much stopped, so it was working out to be a great day!





We walked through the walled entrance into the old town and began to wander around. Kotor was once occupied by the Venetians, and many of the buildings definitely have that Venetian feel to them!

Kotor is also known for cats! The official symbol of Kotor is the Venetian Lion, but they also consider the cat to be their symbol as cats are a sign of luck. There are cats everywhere and they are generally cared for by the shop owners and locals.  You will find cat souvenirs, a "Square of Cats" and even a Cat Museum here!  It was our kind of town!





















The sun actually came out and it ended up being a beautiful day! 




















Heading up to the wall around the city for a view of the harbor
Yea, we're a bit cat obsessed! This one looks like one of ours!

It was about time to head back to the ship, so we made our way back to the line for the tender just as the sun was starting to go down. 



The lights all up in the mountain are along a hiking path you can walk to the San Giovanni Fortress. We skipped that 1400 step hike on this trip! 

We really enjoyed our day in Kotor today! It was a charming town with so many winding streets to explore within the medieval walls! 

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