Shortly before we left Croatia, we noticed that the U.S. flag flying on Seahike had a very ragged edge. The flag was wide enough to allow the edge to flap against the lazy jacks when the wind blew. That eventually wore out the fabric. It had to be taken down.

I knew there was a proper way to dispose of a U.S. flag and I wanted to do it correctly. Since we can’t build a bonfire, I won’t be burning it. I will probably take it home with me in October and take it to one of the approved disposal locations. I did manage to fold it correctly after about five tries.

We left our cute little anchorage in Kolocep the morning of Sept. 2.

Checking out of Croatia at Dubrovnik was quick, as was checking into Montenegro at Zelenika. Both of these countries have got this process down pat, and I wish they could teach some other countries how they do it!

We decided to anchor at the southern end of the Bay of Kotor the first night. The Bay of Kotor is huge. We chose to anchor on the southern end because it was close to Old Town, which we planned to visit the next day. Here are some pictures of this beautiful bay.

We decided to get takeout that first night. I referred to my notes to find an inexpensive and recommended restaurant. We chose Steak and BBQ House Tanjga. We took the dinghy ashore and walked a short distance to the restaurant. Google indicated it was “as busy as it gets” so we weren’t sure what to expect. We found that there isn’t a lot of dine-in seating, as this seems to be primarily a takeout place. There was a fairly long line extending outside.

I have to share some info about this restaurant. First, it is obviously WILDLY popular! Second, the workers are super efficient and friendly! Third, the entire operation is fun to watch. Fourth, the food is great!

The setup: Look at the menu, place your order, and wait for your food to be prepared. Nothing unusual there. They also take phone orders, so they are fulfilling them along with those of the folks lined up in front of them. After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, we waited about five additional minutes while they dealt with the phone-in orders. This was when we got to get a good look at the operation.

One guy calls out the meat orders, another woman slaps various kinds of meat onto Styrofoam trays (one tray per order) and puts the trays in the queue on the counter. Another person is grilling nonstop. I don’t know how she keeps everything straight and doesn’t burn some meat while undercooking other meat. In the meantime, the other workers are making chips (French fries) and putting a variety of salads (about four per tray?) along with dips (two per tray) into takeout containers.

We got to watch them work efficiently while they filled about eight phone-in orders. Then they took our order. We ordered a lot because we wanted to have leftovers. Then we waited. And waited a bit more. It was so busy that I had time to buy some groceries while Michael waited for the food! At long last (we truly didn’t mind waiting), we took our three large bags (!) of food with us back to Seahike.

I didn’t actually know what I had ordered because it was just called “mixed meats.” But I am sure some of it was chicken. There were also two different kinds of sausage-type meats of different sizes. The salads were amazing! I don’t know what the two dips that came with them were, but. . . yum! Anyhow, that was a good find. And it provided several meals for each of us at a very reasonable price.

The next day was Old Town and whatnot. I wanted to do a lot of walking and climbing so Michael took me ashore in the dinghy and went back to Seahike. The first thing I did was walk the walls of Old Town. This is nothing like the Dubrovnik walls, of course, but it was still fun. Here are some views from the walls.

I then toured the town a bit, but mostly to get to my next destination.

I was not able to enter St. Nicholas’s Church due to my clothing (shorts and shirt). So I looked inside and moved on to. . . the Cats Museum! Yes, an entire museum dedicated to cats.

I am more of a dog person, but I couldn’t resist. I ended up spending quite a bit of time there. Who knew that cats played such a big role in history? Well, they didn’t change the world (or did they?), but they still made the grade. The majority of the museum’s collection of cat stuff comes from Venice. The oldest objects are from the 16th century. There are antique books, engravings, greeting cards, old photographs, illustrated postcards (1891-1950), pictures of cats with famous women, newspaper stories about cats, medals, stamps, artwork, money, games, children’s books, infant books, cinematographic posters, sheet music, records, old advertisements. . . all including/about cats! This is also very cool: A portion of their income is spent on buying food for the street cats. Awwww, sweet!

Yes, I am going to share some pictures. Trust me, this is just a drop in the proverbial bucket!

The book, Les Chats, (part of the collection of ancient books) was written by marquis Françoise-Augustin Paradis de Moncrif (Paris, 1727). It is full of historical notes and anecdotes about cats. It became an authentic bestseller in the 18th century. Wow!

Then there were a whole slew of pictures of famous people with their cats.

There were several great newspaper headlines about cats, but I only took a picture of this one. Darn. They were all quite dramatic!

The other main event was to climb to the San Giovanni Fortress. This was my favorite part of the day. In total, the hike has 1355 stairs and over 70 switchbacks. The views along the way are to die for, and the fortress itself is pretty cool.

A bit about the fortress: The fortress was built in 531 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Then it was invaded, attacked, and rebuilt by a succession of Venetians and Illyrians. It wasn’t until the 13th or 14th century that the fortification’s walls made a continuous loop around the old town.

The fortifications that can be seen today date mostly from the Venetian period, which began in the late 15th century and continued until the late 18th century. The Venetians fortified the city to protect it from Ottoman invasions. During their rule, the walls were extended up the slope of St. John (San Giovanni) mountain, creating an impressive 4.5 km long system of walls, ramparts, towers, and gates. This system enclosed both the town and the slopes of St. John Mountain.

If you want to read more about it, check this out.

The views get better and better as you climb, but all are good. Signs provide information at various points along the way. I enjoyed this a lot and highly recommend it. Here are some pictures of the views along the way. And the steps. So many steps. 😉

I sent Michael a message on WhatsApp as I was getting close to the town (on my way down), asking him if he wanted to meet me to have a beer. He did. The picture on the right below is of Michael taking the dinghy ashore to meet me. See the little white wake?

I had time to do a bit of shopping before meeting Michael. I like to buy stuff I can use, so I bought these:

The winds were predicted to pick up a bit the next day, so I was hoping we would go to the marina that night, but we didn’t. More on that and other adventures in Montenegro in the next post.

But first, a picture from Seahike. I love the lights leading to the fortress.