KOTOR!!!

First, a little recap of the match last night: We just began the third and final round of the league. After we play everyone once more, playoffs start so it's really important to get as many points now to be the best seed possible going into the playoffs. Last night we played a team who is currently in last place in the overall standings for our season. To make it even more ridiculous, they didn't even bring their entire starting line-up (which is pretty typical if they knew they wouldn't win). Everyone in our starting six came out within the first 12 or 13 points of the first set and Lauren and I were told "you can just stay on the bench, put your pants on", which was a sure sign we weren't going back in. Needless to say we won in 3 sets and will never have to play that team again. It was kind of nice to sit on the bench because my shoulder still isn't completely rested and our two biggest matches are back-to-back in the next two weekends. 

Onward to my day off......

Now that I have a travel buddy and the weather is getting nicer, I am a lot more active on my days off. Today Lauren and I went to Kotor, which I have been to for a match, but have never explored. It is a town situated on Boka Kotor (Bay of Kotor) and has one of the largest Old Towns in Montenegro. We diligently researched and decided that there were two main things we wanted to see: a fortress that overlooks the entire bay, and the old town of Kotor. Anything else we saw would be icing on the cake. We initially thought we would be making a little weekend getaway out of it, seeing another small town in the bay but quickly realized both of these could easily be seen in the same day and we wouldn't have to worry about finding a hotel. 

We took a little van/bus to Kotor and it took a little less than 2 hours. Once we got there, we weren't really sure where to go from there but all we did was look UP and instantly oriented ourselves. We knew we wanted to climb to the top of the mountain right in front of us and there was a waving Montenegro flag which meant X marks the spot. We found the beginning of the stairs and began the trek.

From our research, these were the facts we gathered:

1. it was dangerous and is best avoided "for those who don't have a head for heights"

2. it was 1,350 stairs

3. Our Lady of the Rocks marked the halfway point where you decide to either commit yourself fully or turn around if you are unable to complete the mission

4. it is potentially fatal to do this climb past sunset

Ok, great. I myself do NOT have a head for heights so I was already a little bit freaked out. Secondly, I read it was a bit treacherous in spots with missing walls and holes in the stairs. GREAT! But for Lauren's sake and for the sake of the common phrase "do something every day that scares you", up I went! 

The beginning of the stairs up to the Our Lady of Halfway Point wasn't bad at all. We made great time and it was much easier than I expected. Clearly we decided to continue up. Things started to get a little shaky after that point. Numerous "HIGH RISK ZONE" signs littered the path and of course I started to get a little worried. Also, the higher up we got the more obstructed the stairs were by plants, rocks, and other things. Here's what I had to deal with, and trust me....it wasn't at all a walk in the park

at the danger zone! stairs, stairs, and more stairs

the steepest set of stairs ever! thank goodness we avoided going down them

After finally getting my act together and desperately avoiding looking down, we made it to the top!!!! 

The views of the bay were AWESOME from up here! 

taaaaaa-daaaaaa. made it!! my mom said "text me to tell me how high you got". BOO-YAH, all the way!

overlooking the entire old town

Now that I was up there, I realized I had to go the other direction. Going down to me was MUCH scarier than going up and pictured myself slipping all the way down due to the lack of traction. Rest assured my friends, I made it down alive. Getting all the way to the top took about 45 minutes and then going down took a little longer (due to constant stopping for pictures). 

After we made it down, we explored the Old Town. It was really cool because it's so different from Stari Bar. It is fully inhabited with cafes, businesses, and houses much like Budva if you remember that post. It was nice to walk around and see how the town operates and imagine it back long ago when it was all first built. We walked around the little cobblestone streets, hitting up the main sites which were churches. 

the church everyone was gathered around in a parade

one of the pijace (piazzas)

love this picture! the old town with a priest on a mission

Once we felt like we had seen what Stari Grad had to offer, we went to eat some burek and changed our game plan. We decided to go to Perast at that point instead of waiting until tomorrow so we could make it back to Bar in the same day.