Montenegran Muscle

We flew from Belgrade to Podgorica, Montenegro today- a short hour-long flight. After that, we were on a marathon bus ride up into the black mountains. At first Podgorica seems like the Caribbean- lots of scrub brush and arid land- but the terrain quickly gets really steep. We headed some 8K feet up into the mountain-locked and very poor city of Cetinje, formerly the capital where Montenegran rulers presided from. 

Visiting King Nikola and Queen Milena’s castle, the strong noses and smallish eyes in the royal portraits struck me as possibly more like my heritage than anything on this trip (I am second generation American with a Slovakian grandmother on my Dad’s side). The Montenegrans were known for their warrior prowess and their ability to keep both the Romans and the Ottomans out of their mountain city called Cetinje, which used to be the ruling capital of the country. 

Getting through Montenegro and into Croatia included a grueling number of miles on the bus, including an adventure of about 9 different tour buses, some cars and a couple of trucks trying to pass each other on hairpin turns and switchbacks for the mountain road approximately 8,000 feet up (a 20-minute delay). With 4 male drivers outside having a chat about how to make the passing of our bus with one heading the opposite way, a local woman appeared threatening to take charge. Afterward, we were still high enough that some severe fog rolled in for a couple miles, but our driver was a hero.

The hills were peppered with terracing and old stone walls and structures, evidence of past attempts to live and farm the area’s incredibly arid land.

We stopped for a marvelous local lunch at Zorka’s Place. Ham smoked on site, homemade wine, cheese and bread were all made there in the mountains and were sold to us by the proprietor’s two sons. Proudly showing off his sons, the proprietor insisted on also showing us his smokehouse and pouring up a spicy digestive not offered to other tourists (lost on me but Dave says it was lovely; strong, a nice burn and all the better for having been a gift given). We came down from the mountains to overlook the Bay of Kotor , finally ending in Dubrovnik. View the full collection of Montenegro photos here.