To get to Budva the next morning, about 10 miles northwest of Sveti Stefan, I took a water taxi that let passengers on and off at several of the most popular beaches along the way.
The last stop was the mightily walled old town, or \o7Stari Grad, \f7of Budva, topped by a citadel where open-air concerts and plays are staged in summer. Budva is an ancient place, mentioned in the writings of Sophocles, Pliny and Ptolemy. Excavations in the late '50s yielded riches from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras. Then a disastrous earthquake in 1979 uncovered more ceramics, gold jewelry, bronze implements and glass, now on display at the neatly organized Archeology Museum in an old Budva town house.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday October 11, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 30 words Type of Material: Correction
Montenegrin church -- An Oct. 2 article in the Travel section on Montenegro incorrectly identified the church atop the island Hotel Sveti Stefan as Greek Orthodox. It is Serbian Orthodox.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday October 16, 2005 Home Edition Travel Part L Page 3 Features Desk 0 inches; 30 words Type of Material: Correction
Montenegrin church -- An Oct. 2 article on Montenegro ("Understudy to the Riviera") incorrectly identified the church atop the island Hotel Sveti Stefan as Greek Orthodox. It is Serbian Orthodox.
I never intended to do much more than sack out by the sea in Montenegro, but I am easily bored by beach vacations. That's why I signed up at my hotel for a cruise around Kotor Bay, given in English and Russian, the best of the days I spent in Montenegro.
The Bay of Kotor is a wonder, reached from the Adriatic through two other bays, separated by bottlenecks. It is surrounded by steep mountains, including Mt. Lovcen, the nation's spiritual cradle.
The tour started in the old town of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, surrounded by a stout wall, with the lion of Venice sculpted above the seaward gate. Anyone who has been to Venice will be enchanted by this late-medieval outpost of the once omnipotent republic, with its decorated palaces, clock tower, meandering lanes and secret piazzas.
My tour group then boarded a little boat and sallied forth onto pristine Kotor Bay. Halfway across, we saw the tall Venetian tower of the town of Perast and the two islets in front of it, crowned by churches. We stopped at one of them, Our Lady of the Rock, built stone by stone by local people starting in the 15th century.
In my heart of hearts, I'm fairly sure that Shakespeare's Viola landed someplace on the Bay of Kotor at the beginning of "Twelfth Night." Ultimately, things worked out for her. She found her lost twin brother and married a duke.
Things worked out well for me there also, even if the Adriatic Coast of Montenegro remains something of a mixed bag: in need of development but not too much, almost ready to welcome visitors but not too many. It's not quite an idyll, but as is, it's a fine place to be shipwrecked.
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Finding Montenegro
GETTING THERE:
