Due Vagabondi: Bar, Montenegro and Bar to Bari, Italy by Ferry

Above is a photo of my paternal grandparents from Italy (Nonna & Nonno)

Bar is a short bus ride from Ulcinj. We stop and pick up ferry tickets to Italy. The port where the ferry terminal also seems to be a naval base:

Our hotel is 2 blocks from the beach.

There's a lovely promenade:

We cross a quiet bit of water under a bridge and there are heaps of ducklings.

This one mama alone must have a dozen or more.

Walking the promenade we spot the glistening gold domes of a cathedral. We learn it is the Orthodox Church of St. Jovan Vladimir. It is the most beautiful church both inside and out that we have ever seen. It's only a year old and not all of the frescoes inside are complete...but every square inch will be painted.

The various metal doors are gorgeous

One of several domes

This looks like a marble baptismal font (or tub)

The designs on the arches are all different, and all look 3D. Quite the artist.

The inlaid marble floors are stunning

Another dome with an enormous chandelier hanging beneath it.

This chair is carved marble

Dome

At the front of the cathedral

There is a small building off to one side.

In addition to paintings, it has mosaics made from teeny tiny cut tiles

Look at the incredibly fine lines, contours and colours in these 4 mosaics, especially in the faces

There are no pews, only open floor space. We see an opening service on the internet and indeed, everyone is standing.

We also pass what is now a museum, but was at one time King Nikola's palace. Built in 1885. The grounds are lovely, mostly shaded and filled with plants cultivated from seeds and seedlings collected from around the world by Montenegran sailors.

A raging rain, thunder and lightning storm starts around dinner time and continues ALL night and into the day. We are resigned to a hotel room day. Then at 2 pm, as suddenly as it started, the sky clears. We quickly head to the old town.

Bar dates from the early middle ages. As an important part of the region, it was much coveted and taken over by Venetians, Serbians, Hungarians and the Ottoman empire.

Finally in 1877 in a siege lasting over 7 weeks, with many bombings, the Montenegrins won back their town with the destruction of the aqueduct which was the city's water supply.

They rebuilt the aqueduct, but it and much of Bar was destroyed again with the 1979 earthquake. Bar was rebuilt at the waterfront.

Again the aqueduct was repaired and today about 2,000 people live outside the gates of the old fortified town, running shops and restaurants.

Some of Stari Bar is being restored.

Here we find a collection of numbered artifacts awaiting placement:

One goal is to feature arts and theatre in the old town.

Other artifacts on display:

While there really aren't many similarities, walking among the ruins brings back feelings and memories of Angkor Wat.

Even in the destruction, you can see that this must have been a beautiful and vibrant place ... set among the olive groves at the foot of Mount Rumija.

Random photos of the ruins:

This little church has been rebuilt by a family:

We enjoy dinner on the balcony of a small restaurant outside the old town gates. We don't know if the small tree trunks from floor to ceiling are support beams or a weird sense of decor!!

We have run out of time to go see the symbol of Bar ... an olive tree that has grown in the same spot for over 2,000 years. Its circumference is 10 meters. I take a photo of a photo of it that hangs in Stari Bar: