Škurda

15:00
There are several reports of poor sleeping. Rachel’s been up since 4, Nicci feels more than a little jaded, and Eddie’s back is playing up. My own efforts are pretty poor as well - my Garmin watch estimating I’ve had around 5 paltry hours. Vicki, however, banks another 10 hour effort, sleep thief that she is.

The promised sunshine has arrived, and the wind has died almost completely. Those who sunbathe, have little else planned for the day. Vicki and I grab some breakfast, and lounge in the shade by the pool. The villa owner drops us round some wine and some custard cakes as a further apology for the flooding incidents earlier in the week. Not long after midday, I head for a much deserved nap.

23:30
I struggle to wake from my nap. Blearily, I pad downstairs, and decide a quick dip in the pool should help me shake the cobwebs away. Crikey - and then some. The pool is cold. It does the job though. I settle down to read my book with a rum and Coke, and consider that this is a really rather lovely way to pass the time…

There’s a monster cruise ship in the bay today. Checking the cruise ship schedule, this one has over 3,000 passengers, and weights in at 120,000 tons. Today’s schedule has two ships in total, and they’ll have spewed something like 5,000 passengers into Kotor, a small town of maybe 15,000. It’s easy to see why the townsfolk are less than adoring of the cruise ships that so frequently stop by. We’re planning to head into Kotor later for a wander around and some food, but both ships are due to have departed by then.

The afternoon passes in the loveliest of fashions - with very little done, and a truckload of relax. We jump in a cab at 18:30 to head to Kotor. There are no issues with keys today. The cars drop their respective passengers in different parts of town, and we spend a faintly ludicrous 20 minutes trying to locate each other. Kotor Old Town is beautiful - very pretty, narrow cobbled streets, street side cafés abound, a variety of live musicians performing.

We pitch up at a restaurant I’ve found that has great reviews, a little stroll outside of the old city walls, around the harbour. I have a grilled octopus dish that is banging. Perfectly charred, but ultra tender. Vicki’s braised beef dish is a cracker as well. We take a stroll back through the old town to our meeting point for the cab back to the villa, grabbing ice creams along the way. The city is still teeming with activity - bars spilling out onto the streets. We head to our local café by our villa for a nightcap. Nicci and I are making great progress trying the full range of local firewaters. Tonight is a pear brandy, which is probably my favourite of the lot thus far. A day of doing very little has clearly taken its toll though, and we’re all headed to bed by 23:00...Read more