Flying South for the Winter

We leave Alan and Rod at Dubrovnik and start to head south. After checking out of Croatia in Cavat we head to Kotor bay in Montenegro. Montenegro is a very small country sandwiched between Croatia and Albania. Even though the coastline is not long, what they do have is spectacular. And at the very center of the coast is a deep bay surrounded by sheer mountains that rise dramatically to the sky. We head to the town of Kotor which has been around since before the Romans. When the Romans finally did take it over, they built amazing walls the wander all the way up to the top of the mountain peek. The terrain is so steep, it seems insane that they were worried about an army attacking them from the rear. Leave it to the Romans to make sure the city is impenetrable. As a result, this fortified city remained fairly protected from invasions throughout history. We spend a couple of days absorbing the stone town and the handsome guys around town. The sailing season is quickly coming to a close. While the weather remains sunny and pleasant for the most part, we are resigned to heading to Italy where we plan to keep the boat for the winter. So we turn west from Albania and head for the shores if Italy. The crossing is about 10 hours. Fortunately the weather was wonderful, the seas pretty calm and with a little wind, we were even able to sail part of the time. We skip our way along the eastern coast of Italy taking bites of pizza and licks of gelato as we go. It is nice to be back. Italy is such a wonderful country. I am looking forward to spending next summer sailing Sicily.