Month: November 2023

We’re only home for three months and there’s a lot to pack into that time. Visiting with family and friends is the utmost priority (and the most fun), but there’s a lot of other things to manage: Ordering spare parts that can more easily be sourced in the US, bringing back things that we wish we had packed the first time, doctor visits, house & car repairs & maintenance, just to name a few.

It’s been on my list to replace our wine glasses and general drinking glasses on board. Years ago I had a really bad experience with two glasses (of actual glass) shattering, leaving shards of glass everywhere in the boat, and creating a sense of panic about walking barefoot (pretty much all the time). At that time we switched to plastic, and found some glasses that felt safe but didn’t look like we were camping. Several years of hard use, however, has dulled the finish on the (plastic) glasses no matter how well I washed them. Time to replace.

Whenever I’m buying something for the boat, I like it to have some meaning. I’ve replaced all the bowls on the boat with bowls I’ve bought in every country we’ve visited. I missed the chance to do the same with the glasses (guess we’ll have to go back?). However, as I was cleaning out the house this time (I attempt to get rid of a little bit more crap every time we’re home), I came across silver plated goblets that we inherited from Trip’s mother. They were horribly tarnished, but I tried the electrolysis trick of wrapping them in foil, and soaking them in boiling water mixed with baking soda. Ta-da, they’re like new! And with that we have ‘new’ wine glasses for the boat (and we can safely pack them in luggage without worrying about breakage).

It was pouring rain, and we had said our goodbyes to Johan and Jenny. It was time to go shopping! Trip was not thrilled, but he trudged along behind me, waiting patiently and carrying the things I bought, while I poured over the stalls in the Grand Bazaar.

After the bazaar, we moved on through the still pouring rain to the Pudding Shop, one of the iconic places for lunch in Istanbul.

And then it was time for the Basilica Cistern. Despite being surrounded by the sea on three sides, Istanbul has very little fresh water. The cistern, and a series of hundreds of kilometers of ductwork from the mountains were constructed in Byzantium times (6th century), to provide water to the palace and the local population.

The cistern is 9,800 square meters in size, and is supported by 336 stone columns, most of them recycled from the ruins of older buildings in other parts of the empire.

The base of one particular column features a head turned upside down. Reportedly it is Medusa (minus the snakes) and the head is upside down as that was how to prevent her gaze from turning you into stone. That, or someone simply had a sense of humor.

We hadn’t been in a big city in months, so were a little bit overwhelmed. But Istanbul is absolutely breathtaking, with a waterfront view everywhere and the most beautiful mosques. Friends & fellow cruisers Jenny and Johan were flying home through Istanbul and we were thrilled to be able to meet up with them for a day before we went our separate ways.

First off was the Topkapi Palace. Built in the 15th century, the palace was home to sultans of the Ottoman empire through the ages. The complex is a series of buildings surrounded by courtyards, each progressively more secure and private. We headed straight to the harem, which was so enormous we could have spent the entire day there.

Western culture has a rather negative or at least sexualized view of a harem. The reality was that this compound had 300+ people living together, all in support of the sultan, and all ruled by the sultan’s mother. There was a tier system to the concubines, ranging from those who had relations with the sultan, to those whom he married, to those who bore him children. That doesn’t include the servants, the teachers (these women were very well educated), nor the guards.

The receiving rooms reminded me of the Ottoman houses we had toured in Gjirokaster, Albania. Clearly these were built for the rulers of the country, but even the houses hundreds of miles away in another country bore the same structure, albeit in a more modest way.

From the harem we headed straight to the treasury building, where all the jewelry was on display. Everything was extraordinary, but we were on the hunt for the jeweled dagger, which Trip remembered from the movie Topkapi that he saw when he was a teenager. Sure enough, after a bit of hunting, we found the prized dagger on display. The largest emerald in it is seven carats!!!!

We could have spent the entire day at the museum, but we had limited time and wanted to see more, so we headed up to the Blue Mosque. The mosque was closed at that time for private prayer, so we side tracked over to the hippodrome. Once the center of social life in the city, the hippodrome featured chariot races on a regular basis. The area is still wide open (amazing considering how congested the city is) and features the Obelisk of Theosdosius the Great from Egypt (3,500+ years old) and the Serpent Column (made from the melted-down bronze of the weapons of war).

And then it was into the Blue Mosque. Built in the 17th century in Ottoman times, it’s a masterpiece of domes and cascading semi-domes. The name comes from the the extent of blue used in the interior. Muslim law prohibits artists from painting anything living (animals or humans), as only God has the right to give life. That said, stone work as well as the painting simply takes your breath away. The mosques here are on par with any cathedral in all of western civilization.

We had a little bit of daylight and good weather left after all that exploring, so we headed to the rooftop terrace of a local bar for a glass of wine and to enjoy the view.

To cap off our evening, we walked down to the Golden Crescent for dinner. The bridge across the Bosphorus Strait is dotted with seafood restaurants, and we settled on one. After all the walking, it was nice to sit and relax with a good meal and some local raki (anisette liquor).

Our walk back to the hotel at the end of the evening had the New Mosque lit up.

At the end of every season we pack up the boat for a few months and fly home to see friends and family. As we are in a different country every season, it’s always a new experience. This year was no different. We decided to fly out of the capital city of Montenegro, Podgorica, through Istanbul, as Turkish airlines had one of the best prices and least convoluted routes to get home. As usual it was its own adventure.

We raced around doing our final bit of packing the boat away: I dropped my sourdough starter to Jen, Hannah & Jules, we went over the boat with fellow dock mate Nige who was going to check on Kalyra while we were gone, and we said goodbye to all of our new friends. Ian had a car and was kind enough to drop us off at the local bus station. The bus was a breathtaking but a little unnerving winding drive along the coast and then up through the mountains to Podgorica. We had planned to get in early afternoon so as to see the city. We were later warned that there wasn’t much to see and wow, they were right. As beautiful as the bay of Kotor is, Podgorica is simply grey and concrete and downright boring and depressing. We had lunch, and took a cab to the apartment.

The upside of the apartment was that it was very close to the airport (10 minutes ) and they would drive us in the morning. The downside was that it was in the middle of nowhere. We had to walk down a really sketchy road with no lights and no sidewalk to the one restaurant in town, which luckily had incredibly tasty food and sizable portions.

The flight to Istanbul was uneventful and the view was spectacular. Istanbul’s airport is one of the largest in the world, and it took over 30 minutes (with people movers (moving sidewalks)) to get from our gate to customs and immigration. It was a little surprising to see the number of offices they had scattered through the airport dedicated to people who have been denied boarding. Is it that common???

The last part of the trip that was eye-opening was our ride from the airport to the hotel. We had booked ahead of time for transportation, and a guy met us at the exit and took us to the pickup location. A black van pulled up that looked innocuous enough. But when they opened the door the interior looked like we were on our way to a bachelor party – the only thing that was missing was the stripper pole! We giggled our way into the city.

We discovered Siesta, a local bar in Tivat run by father Ano and son Karlo. They have great burgers and we always like finding a local place to hang during the season. They have darts, so all the cruisers come on Monday afternoons.

I had wondered why we couldn’t order food after 6 pm, and learned that Ano (the chef) left every day at that time to get to Palmon Bay, a resort on the other side of the bay, where he plays piano. After talking further, he invited us to come along one night.

What an unexpected treat! During winter, he’s set up in the lounge just outside the restaurant. We were the first ones to sit, but soon the lounge was completely full as people came out of the restaurant and stopped for a final drink before heading back to their rooms. Ano played everything from Autumn Leaves (a personal favorite), to Herbie Hancock, to Billy Joel, and everything in between. His voice is just as good as his playing. We can’t wait to come back next spring or summer with the boat, when he’ll be playing on the rooftop terrace each night!

Merelle sent a note: She & Gary were going to drive to Dubrovnik to pick up a new head sail and would we like to come along? We had plenty of boat chores to do before leaving for the season, but after a quick check of the calendar (yay, we had been out of the Schengen zone for 90 days), but of course we were going!

The drive from Tivat isn’t bad, a little over two hours along meandering roads. The forecast of pouring rain turned out to be light showers that let up when we arrived. We had a great time meeting John and May, who run a yacht consulting business in Croatia (and who had found the sail). Really looking forward to next year when they come to the marina to give a presentation about tips and tricks for cruising in Croatia). Gary and Merelle had the jib loaded into the car trunk, and off we went.

Despite the chilly weather, we were thrilled to be in Dubrovnik post high season when all the crowds were gone. The old town is massive, far bigger than Kotor and Budva, and we only had a taste of it.

Several films have been shot here including several iconic scenes of the series Game Of Thrones. Being as popular as it was, there were lots of Game of Thrones merchandise shops here . More importantly there was a really good ice cream shop and I could indulge in a scoop of pistachio bliss. We can’t wait to come back and explore more next year.

This part of the eastern Mediterranean is slowly becoming famous for their wines. Fellow cruiser George had mentioned a winery up in the hills behind Herceg Novi, but we never got around to exploring it when we were anchored there. I happened to google it and was able to make a reservation for the next day, as the weather looked fabulous and we had a car at our disposal.

The winery was founded by locals who lived abroad in London and developed a taste for old world wines. They came home, bought the land, and planted old world grapes, just enough to provide wine for friends and family. The land was particularly well suited – on the side of a hill with plenty of sun (records in the local museum showed that vineyards had existed there since the 1300’s).

It was a success and Savina wines were born. The wines did so well that they were able to open as a commercial winery, though they have kept production small and export nothing further than Dubrovnik in neighboring Croatia. Several years ago the local monastery allowed them to plant more vines, and now the monastery has wine to consume and sell. (Interesting fact: Because the monastery is Orthodox, the labels for the wines sold there are custom printed in the Cyrillic alphabet).

Trip isn’t normally a fan of white wines, but the Chardonnay (French, lightly oaked, no butter) was delightful. Our absolute favorite, though, was their Cabernet Sauvignon, and at $20 a bottle we can splurge every once in a while.

Jenny and AJ, other cruisers in the marina who we recently met, happened to pass by and joined us for the tasting. We tortured the winery’s cat by playing with him and petting him, but denying him a taste of our charcuterie board.

After basking in the sun with a spectacular view of the bay, good wine and good company, it was time to head back. To save an hours drive along the water, for 4€ we boarded a car ferry that took us across in less than 5 minutes!

The bay here is most famously known for Tivat (home of the fabulous Porto Montenegro) and Kotor (with its fortress walls and stone-lined old town). We rented a car to get out and see a little bit more of the bay and we were not disappointed.

Perast was one of our main goals. Though the town is located right on the bay, there’s nowhere close to anchor and it’s a bit of a walk from Risan, so we never explored it when we were sailing up here. It was a long drive as there’s only one road around the bay and speed is limited to 50 kph max. However, I was remembering how to drive stick shift after 8 years and the local drivers are a bit unpredictable, so I was happy to take it slow.

For a town that can be walked through in under an hour, it packs a punch with history. Settled in Neolithic times and formally founded by the Illyrians, it came into its own courtesy of protection from and free trade with Venice in the 18th century. The fortress walls that had been constructed in the 1300s were now joined by twenty baroque palaces and seventeen churches (a few of each remain, the palaces now high end resorts or restaurants).

There are three statues of famous locals in the town center. One of them was Trip’s namesake, it turns out he was a famous local painter. Trip was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t one of the other statues, that of Marko Martinovic, an extraordinary local ship’s captain.

Volatile is the word that comes to mind as how best to describe the weather here in Autumn. Our first month here was almost non-stop, sun-filled days (an unusual experience that all of the eastern Med was experiencing). Now, the more typical turbulent fall weather has arrived and I am so glad to be tightly tied down in our berth. Winds of up to 48 knots have blown through along with torrential bouts of rain. Lightning strikes light up the entire bay. Weather comes from multiple directions during the day so you have to be prepared. But in between the storms we have the most magical skies at dusk…..