Day 17 - a rainy day in the fjord

Sierra and I were happy to be in the warm, dry bus and out of the rain!

Day 17 wasn't much walking and I forgot to capture the miles walked...but it wasn't much. Some new metrics:

Umbrellas destroyed in five minutes: 2

Articles of clothing soaked in 5 minutes: all

Rainfall before 11am: a billionty cm 

So I opened the door to see what all the noise was, and it was a river running down the stairs. I made the mistake of saying the rain wasn't too bad...but in fact the rain was bad and the wind was worse. We only had maybe 1/4 mile to the bus stop, but by the time we were at the end of the alley we were toast. Thankfully a lot of our clothes are in ziplock bags and our backpacks provide a small amount of insulation. 

We saw 10' waves crashing into the fortress and into each other, rivers rushing down hotel steps, and people frantically running with umbrellas in a futile attempt to not get absolutely drenched.  

We take the city bus to the main station, where supposedly there was an 11am bus. Since our scheduled bus in Split didn't exist, I was adamant that we be there before 10 even though our bus was at 11. When we arrived the bus time was correct but my master plan to use the time for breakfast backfired since we wouldn't dare leave the station in this downpour. The station had a smoky waiting room, but then we found a caffe. Unfortunately the caffe had no food and was a closed off room with smokers.  The magazine stand had just candy bars.  I used the wifi to message the hotel asking for a restaurant recommendation for a place with a fireplace :) 

At 11:20 our bus arrives, and the driver shows his lack of concern for the rivers across the highways. 

The recurring wave coming from our bus onto houses nearby. 

Tough to get good pics of the bay of Kotor when the window is covered in rain. I could see how this would be beautiful on a sunny day!  That's one of two little islands in the bay, complete with a little church. 

Upon arrival in Kotor, we look for a bevy of taxis and there was none. We see many driving by but can't flag one. We're getting soaked. Sierra gets a guy at a hot dog stand to call a cab and I hail one a few seconds later. The cab that was phoned also immediately shows up, honking and yelling, but we're getting soaked so not in the mood for a cabbie argument and proceed to get into the first cab and go to the hotel. 

We check into our hotel and it was warm and the towel heater and room heater were on. Our host was very nice, and says that for dinner just go to the water (about 50 yards) and turn right to find a restaurant. We find the first one:  Caffe del mare. It was somewhat warm and cozy and had views of the beautiful bay, but it was still too wet to go out and enjoy it. What we did enjoy was the hits of the 80's. 

Think of this as one of those old TV commercials for a 1980's consolation CD. "We've combined our favorite epic movie soundtrack hits from the 80's, combined with a few Yugoslavian hits from the 80's as well!  You'll receive such hits as:

Bonnie Tyler - I need a hero

Yes - Owner of a lonely heart

Laura Brannigan - Gloria

Donna Summer - on the radio

Terence Trent D'arby - sign your name 

Chris Rea - the road to hell Pt. 2

Depeche Mode - Just can't get enough

U2 - in the name of love

Kenny Loggins -  footloose theme song

***PLUS! YOU'LL RECEIVE TOP YUGOSLAVIAN HITS OF THE 80's, such as...

Boris Novkovic - Kuda Idu Izgubljene DJEvojke

Novi Fasili - Ja sam za ples"

So Sierra and I enjoyed these amazing jams, and she had a strange hot chocolate...

Basically warmed pudding that tasted like unsweetened bakers chocolate. But it says "hot chocolate" on the glass so it must be the right thing!

We had some rich pasta dishes then did what you do after rich cheesy pasta on a rainy day: we want back to the hotel for a warm winter's nap. It was fantastic. 

We were cozy in our room and had the only English TV we could find (and first TV of the trip): the Food network.  I now want to try calamari with spicy Piri Piri sauce, but may have to figure out how to get to Mozambique.  After our nap and slowness to wake up, we go to a cheesy bar for dinner and it was another one that was similar to our Bosnian experience: very much like an Applebee's or BJ's or some other american chain. Only with lots of male chain smokers. We wonder if there are women in Kotor, until a group of three walks in. I'm sure the fellas were pumped. 

We head back to the hotel and arrange for a taxi to pick us up at 6:15 am for the airport tomorrow, and got all packed and then went to bed. :)