Walking into Tintin’s Syldavia in Montenegro

The train journey from Serbia to Montenegro felt like we were in the opening credits of The Adventures of Tintin (TV series) and getting around Montenegro made me believe that we had arrived in Syldavia — the fictitious country that Hergé had created in King Ottokar’s Sceptre and Lake of Sharks.

First impression of Montenegro from the train

Montenegro [Црна Гора] — literally Black [Црна/Crna] Mountain [Гора/Gora] — borders Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania in the Balkan Peninsula.

Syldavia is also called “The Kingdom of the Black Pelican” and its flag is yellow with a black pelican in the center. In line with that, in Montenegro is located in the largest resort of pelicans in Europe.

- Wikipedia

>> Coat of arms in the flags of Albania, Montenegro, and fictitious Syldavia

Story recap 1: Tintin and Snowy went across the moat around the castle with the theory that King Ottakar’s Sceptre might have sprung out from the castle window.

We arrived at Kampana Tower in the rain…

The fortifications of Kotor seemed camouflaged with their surroundings but right at the top, we could still make out the ruins of the San Giovanni Castle

The medieval old town of Kotor (Syldavia, here we come!)

Story recap 2: Uneven zigzag mountain path around the Syldavia-Borduria border.

The rain stopped but scaling the steep and uneven city walls from within the old town turned out to be harder than we had imagined…

It was all worth it when we saw the aerial view of Kotor Old Town

Our adventure in search of King Ottokar’s Sceptre began when we wandered over to Špiljari [Шпиљари]! Instead of a fictitious Syldavia-Borduria border, it was Kotor and Špiljari separated by the city walls. And that cute little house in the middle had to be the Bodurian frontier post!

The window of the castle where King Ottokar’s Sceptre sprung off — checked! Uneven zigzag mountain path — checked!

Passing by the Church of Saint John

At the end of our meandering afternoon walk, we made it to the Bodurian frontier post and found King Ottokar’s Sceptre in the form of pomegranate juice, cheese, and a well-deserved break.

That was when it started to rain again.

As we looked out into the winding bay with dark clouds forming over the mountains… we started thinking about Tintin and the Lake of Sharks. Could there be an old submerged town underwater? Was there a shark-like submarine in the waters?

Had there not been an opening around Tivat [Тиват] and Bijela [Бијела], this winding bay could well be a lake!

>> View from the Bell Tower of St. Nicholas Church in Perast

What if… we could rent a boat to Perast [Пераст] and find out for ourselves? Is danger looming or is there another adventure beckoning?

Originally published at http://somedaywewillseetheworld.wordpress.com on November 9, 2019.