Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sharp decline. As trading wealth dried up, the Bay of Kotor entered a period of ar-
chitectural stagnation. But thanks to this dark spell in Montenegrin history, today's
visitors can enjoy some wonderfully preserved time-warp towns.
When Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia following World War I, the Serbs
(who felt a cultural affinity with the Montenegrins that wasn't always reciprocated)
laidclaimtotheMontenegrincoastastheirownlittlepatchofseafront.Serbsflooded
intoMontenegro,alteringthedemographicsandmakingit,ineffect,anoutpostofthe
Republic of Serbia. This helped Montenegro avoid the initial violence of the break-
up of Yugoslavia, but put them in an awkward position when it came time for them
to request secession a few years later. For the rest of the story, see the “Montenegro:
Birth of a Nation” sidebar, later.
PassingaboveHercegNovi'sOldTown,keepaneyeoutontherightforthetown'sstout
15th-century
fortress,
which was built bythe Ottomans—who controlled this area, but nev-
er made it deeper into the bay.
Also in Herceg Novi, watch for tropical trees. Locals pride themselves on their par-
ticularly mild climate, kept warm year-round thanks to the mitigating effects of the water
from the adjacent fjord. Supposedly, “it never drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.” This
town even has some banana trees (not visible from the road)—and even though the trees
are just decorative (the fruit they produce is too small to eat), they're a local symbol. So
is the mimosa flower, which blooms all winter long, and is the inspiration for the town's
annual Mimosa Festival—held each February, when much of Europe (including most of
Montenegro) is under a blanket of snow.
Other than its banana trees and mimosas, Herceg Novi is basically a mess. (Don't
worry—the drive gets much prettier later on.) Why so much ugliness compared to Croatia?
For one thing, Tito viewed Croatia's Dalmatian Coast as a gold mine of hard Western cur-
rency—so he was inclined to keep it Old World-charming. And Croatia remained in the
cultural and political orbit of Zagreb, which was motivated to take good care of its histor-
ic towns. But Belgrade, which exerted more influence on Montenegro, didn't offer it the
same degree of TLC. And because Montenegro has traditionally been poorer than Croatia,
its officials are more susceptible to bribery and corruption. (“Would a few thousand dinar
convince you to ignore my new hotel's code violations?”) From an architectural point of
view, it's a sad irony that gorgeous Dubrovnik was devastated by bombs and the gritty cit-
ies of Montenegro survived the war essentially unscathed. To this day, locals aren't crazy
about the Serbs who flock here in summer for as-cheap-as-possible beach holidays. Instead,
Montenegrins are encouraging the construction of top-end resort hotels to lure high rollers
from around the world (such as James Bond, who played poker in the 2006 movie version
