City of Kotor, Island of Hvar

The city of Kotor is situated on a huge cloverleaf-shaped bay with several towns along the shore. A ferryboat crosses the bay near the coast, if we were in a hurry. The 1979 earthquake damage was maybe 70% repaired, and Kotor was impressive. A small stone church had three copper-covered domes, a tower with two large clocks, and was backed by gray-green mountains.

The drive around the bay was right at the water level, with little villages scattered along the way. We stopped in downtown Perast, and parked along the beach to eat some cherries. Off shore there are two little islands, Gospa od Skrpjela, and St. George's isles, each with fancy special buildings. There are many large ships in the bay along here.

To visit Hercegnovi, from the north end of town, we had to drive a one-way street back to the south end of town.

We rode a ferry from Kardeljevo to Sucuraj, and spent a couple of days visiting Jelsa, Starigard, Hvar, and Vire on the fascinating Island of Hvar. The road is narrow, and within six inches of the pavement there is a sharp drop-off and no (room for a) guard rail. This island is very hilly, and the hills are covered with a purple flower, lavender. There are wall-like piles of stone everywhere, no more than 20 to 40 yards apart. While they were most likely just a place to pile the stones, the ground between the “walls” is still covered with stones.

Starigard is an attractive old town, and we walked along the harbor, and the steep walkways. We bought a brass scoop from a fruit vendor. Whoops, a few minutes later the man asked for it back, he would be out of business for the rest of the day.

It’s difficult to see how or why people have lived on the island of Hvar for centuries. We see almost no farming (maybe the lavender is harvested), and no way for anyone to make a living except to sell something to each other, and to the tourists. The church and its tower in Hvar are quite pleasent. The funniest thing was the man who washed his little dog in the harbor in Hvar, then the dog got away from him and rolled in the fresh dirt in the flower beds, then back to the water they would go, then back to the flower beds the dog would go.

Emmy bought a small vial of lavender from an old lady selling on the street, and I watched on Yugoslavian TV as an Chinese-American won the French Open Tennis Match.