Three weeks in Montenegro (with a sidetrip to Kosovo) with young children
Sep 10th, 2009, 05:30 AM
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Three weeks in Montenegro (with a sidetrip to Kosovo) with young children
I always enjoy researching my trips on Fodors and often benefit from tips and advice I find here. When I started planning our trip to Montenegro, I immediately turned to Fodors, but was disappointed not to find very much information on the message boards. After our wonderful family holiday, I am submitting a trip report in the hopes that it might help others planning holidays to this tiny but beautiful and remarkably diverse country. A note to Fodors as well – consider a guide to this very interesting corner of the world!
My family and I (my husband is Italian, I am American living in Italy, and we have two young sons – ages 6 and 4) spent a wonderful three weeks in Montenegro in August. We brought our car over on the ferry from Italy in order to better explore the interior, which is not very well served by public transportation. We travel quite a bit as a family and our children are generally good travellers, although, as all parents know, travelling with children always presents its own set of challenges.
We planned most of our trip in advance, but left some flexibility in the last days for some new “discovery” or a return to a favorite place. There appeared to be lots of rooms (sobe) or apartments for rent in most destinations, so flexible travellers (e.g. those without two little kids in tow) would probably find it easy to organize directly in the country. Note that, although not yet part of the EU or the common currency, the official currency of Montenegro is the euro.
Our overall impression is that Montenegro has much to offer to travellers: historic cities and towns, stunning coastlines, mountains, canyons, fairly organized national parks, hospitable people and all at quite reasonable prices. It does require more patience than other European destinations – service can be slower, road signs could definitely be better and maps could be updated or we wouldn’t have found ourselves trying to cross into Kosovo on a now non-existent border crossing. But the Balkans require more of a sense of adventure that I believe is more than worth the effort. The coast is the most developed region, and subsequently the most chaotic. The interior is “wilder” and is definitely of interest, although driving can be a challenge on many of Montenegro’s narrow winding roads, many through canyons. My husband was the expert on maneuvering these challenging roads. I, unfortunately, do not possess the nerves of steel necessary to handle some of the driving. Roads in the interior are not as well marked and many of the roadsigns on the interior are in cyrillic, so it is better to learn the alphabet if you will be travelling in this part.
We travelled from Bari (Italy) to Bar (Montenegro) with an overnight ferry: Montenegrin Lines. The ship leaves at 22:00, but you must be present three hours early with the car. Montenegrin Lines itself is a bit shabby, but we knew this ahead of time. We booked a cabin and it was fine for our purposes and we all managed to get a good night’s sleep. Our four-year old was thrilled with the novelty of a floating hotel/parking garage. We woke up early to see the rugged mountains of Montenegro in the distance.
Days 1 + 2 Ulcinj
Stari Bar – Skadar Lake
We landed early in the port town of Bar. Passport control was fairly quick. There is a 10 euro “ecological tax”, valid for a year, to be purchased directly at the port and displayed on your car windshield. We immediately bypassed the city of Bar (I think it is safe to say you need spend no extra time there once you clear the port) and went on to picturesque Stari Bar (Old Bar) just 5 km from the port. This was best explored in the early morning, before the heat truly set in. Admission is 1 euro for adults (children free). These are the suggestive ruins of the old settlement of Bar, before it moved along the coast. Perched on a hill with dramatic valleys below it, much of the town was destroyed in 1878 during the fighting between the Montenegrins and Ottomans which led to the eventual annexation of Bari and Ulcinj to Montenegro. It is worth it to climb up to the Citadel for the dramatic views over the rugged valley below.
We drove south to Ulcinj along the easy coastal road. We had reservations for two nights in the town of Ulcinj (Ulquin, in Albanian – all signs in this region are in Montenegrin and Albanian). Ulcinj is the southermost coastal city in Montenegro, just a few kilometers from the Albanian border. Montenegro has a sizeable Albanian minority (about 10%), making up 90% of Ulcinj’s population and its surrounding regions. Since the area is also popular in the summer with Albanians and Albanian Kosovars on holiday, you will hear more Albanian spoken here than Montenegrin.
The city has a rich history. It was settled by the Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and was famous as a base for the Algerian corsairs. Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quijote, is said to have been captured by the pirates off the coast of Barcelona and held as a captive in Ulcinj. Who knows if this is true, but I could certainly picture it walking around the pretty old town. The Citadel is stunning. It was largely destroyed in 1878 and later in the devastating earthquake of 1979, but it is slowly being rebuilt. Our hotel, the Dvori Balsića (http://www.montenegro.com/accommodat...i_Balsica.html) was perched high up on this Citadel and had lovely views over the sea from this suugestive position. We had a small apartment, which was perfect with the children, and a lovely terrace overlooking the sea. The rooms are simple – the bathrooms could definitely be renovated – but the staff was friendly and the location was perfect; we loved exploring the winding streets of the Citadel. Luckily, we are all good sleepers – kids included. This is necessary in July and August when the loud music and bar sounds go on until the wee hours of the night. I groan still thinking of the all-night Michael Jackson hits – mercifully, I fell asleep fairly quickly. The other problem is with parking – you have to park outside the Citadel walls. Trust me when I say you must arrive before 8pm to do so. After that, the main streets are closed and you must reach the lot through winding, chaotic side streets never designed for two-way traffic. White knuckled driving at its best.
We spent the first afternoon relaxing at the Velika Plaža (Great Beach), just south of town. The sand is grey and slightly radioactive – some of the people we met there say they were sent by their doctors who claim it heals a myriad of illnesses: arthritis, weak immune system, etc. We can only hope it’s true. I think the beach must be lovely off-season, but it was too packed for us. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a lazy afternoon swimming and the kids had a great time, but we decided to take a trip to Skadar Lake the next day rather than another trip to the beach.
We had a wonderful dinner in Ada Bojana, an island in the Bojana River, just along the Albanian border. The restaurant, Miška, was excellent and extremely charming on pontoons along the river. I highly recommend it. The food and the service were exceptional. My husband and I had the delicious fish stew – wish I had the recipe! We had mussels and a seafood platter and the boys had sea bass, which they loved. We had a bottle of Montenegrin chardonnay (Plantaže – this seems to be the most well-known Montenegrin brand and is quite good). The bill came to about 50 euro.
After breakfast out on the hotel terrace, we set off for Skadarsko jezero (Skadar Lake), the largest lake in the Balkans – part of the lake is in Montenegro and part in Albania. The drive from Ulcinj to the lake is easy highway driving, in the direction of Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica. The lake itself attracts a wide variety of birds (and birdwatchers) and is very lush (to the delight of our sons, we picked wild figs and pomegranates roadside) and is the country’s most important wine-growing region, where Montenegro’s strong red wine, Vranac, is produced. The small vineyards are very picturesque and fruit and wine are sold roadside around the region.
We went to Virpazaar – a small fishing village and had lunch there. Our six-year old was very enthusiastic about having eel for the first time. he is still talking about it. People start approaching you right away for boat trips. Take your time and check on the prices. We were able to get better offers that the initial proposals. The 2-hour boat trip was really beautiful and we were able to stop for a swim along the way. The lake is dotted with island churches and lovely fisihing villages, one of the closest to Virpazaar is apparently being leased to an English company that will renovate it and turn it into a hotel complex for birdwatchers. Unfortunately, visitors to Montenegro will notice quite a bit of uncontrolled development, particularly along the seacoast. Skadar Lake is a lovely, unspoiled region. Hopefully investment in this area will do a better job of preserving what is already there and respecting the environment.
Our biggest driving nightmare was on this daytrip. My husband wanted to take the road which curves along the lakeside back to Ulcinj. We followed the road for quite some kilometers before I insisted that we turn back. I am not actually that squeamish, but this was a terrifying drive, winding around the lake as it climbed higher up the mountains, with sheer drops and no guardrails. I thought this was a one-way road, but it was actually designed for two-way traffic. You would have to see it to believe it. Even if my husband is a very careful driver, one false move by the oncoming traffic would mean that we risked plunging over the edge. Yes, it was picturesque and lovely, but I enjoyed not one second of it and was very happy to turn back and return via the “boring” highway which allowed us to live to see another day. Perhaps other travellers have had wonderful experiences travelling on this panoramic road, but if you insist on seeing it, my advice would be to walk it for some kilometers and enjoy the views… minus the near-death experience.
That night we took a walk in Ulcinj. The Citadel is lovely, but the town itself has been terribly overdeveloped. It was interesting for a few days, but too noisy for along visit. Our sons, however, loved it: crowds, loud music, bright colors and hawkers selling toys. They first learned the magic Montenegrin word “sladoled” (ice cream) and used it frequently, as in “Molim, jeden sladoled” (Please, one ice cream) – it seemed to do the trick during their stay. The next day before we left we went for a swim in the town’s Mala Plaža (Small Beach). I live in Italy and am used to crowded beaches, but boy was this crowded! The kids could have cared less – they loved swimming and had a blast in the sea and building sand castles in the grey sand. They more than deserved it since we were packing up for a long drive out to Berane in the interior.
Next up : Berane and crossing into Kosovo
My family and I (my husband is Italian, I am American living in Italy, and we have two young sons – ages 6 and 4) spent a wonderful three weeks in Montenegro in August. We brought our car over on the ferry from Italy in order to better explore the interior, which is not very well served by public transportation. We travel quite a bit as a family and our children are generally good travellers, although, as all parents know, travelling with children always presents its own set of challenges.
We planned most of our trip in advance, but left some flexibility in the last days for some new “discovery” or a return to a favorite place. There appeared to be lots of rooms (sobe) or apartments for rent in most destinations, so flexible travellers (e.g. those without two little kids in tow) would probably find it easy to organize directly in the country. Note that, although not yet part of the EU or the common currency, the official currency of Montenegro is the euro.
Our overall impression is that Montenegro has much to offer to travellers: historic cities and towns, stunning coastlines, mountains, canyons, fairly organized national parks, hospitable people and all at quite reasonable prices. It does require more patience than other European destinations – service can be slower, road signs could definitely be better and maps could be updated or we wouldn’t have found ourselves trying to cross into Kosovo on a now non-existent border crossing. But the Balkans require more of a sense of adventure that I believe is more than worth the effort. The coast is the most developed region, and subsequently the most chaotic. The interior is “wilder” and is definitely of interest, although driving can be a challenge on many of Montenegro’s narrow winding roads, many through canyons. My husband was the expert on maneuvering these challenging roads. I, unfortunately, do not possess the nerves of steel necessary to handle some of the driving. Roads in the interior are not as well marked and many of the roadsigns on the interior are in cyrillic, so it is better to learn the alphabet if you will be travelling in this part.
We travelled from Bari (Italy) to Bar (Montenegro) with an overnight ferry: Montenegrin Lines. The ship leaves at 22:00, but you must be present three hours early with the car. Montenegrin Lines itself is a bit shabby, but we knew this ahead of time. We booked a cabin and it was fine for our purposes and we all managed to get a good night’s sleep. Our four-year old was thrilled with the novelty of a floating hotel/parking garage. We woke up early to see the rugged mountains of Montenegro in the distance.
Days 1 + 2 Ulcinj
Stari Bar – Skadar Lake
We landed early in the port town of Bar. Passport control was fairly quick. There is a 10 euro “ecological tax”, valid for a year, to be purchased directly at the port and displayed on your car windshield. We immediately bypassed the city of Bar (I think it is safe to say you need spend no extra time there once you clear the port) and went on to picturesque Stari Bar (Old Bar) just 5 km from the port. This was best explored in the early morning, before the heat truly set in. Admission is 1 euro for adults (children free). These are the suggestive ruins of the old settlement of Bar, before it moved along the coast. Perched on a hill with dramatic valleys below it, much of the town was destroyed in 1878 during the fighting between the Montenegrins and Ottomans which led to the eventual annexation of Bari and Ulcinj to Montenegro. It is worth it to climb up to the Citadel for the dramatic views over the rugged valley below.
We drove south to Ulcinj along the easy coastal road. We had reservations for two nights in the town of Ulcinj (Ulquin, in Albanian – all signs in this region are in Montenegrin and Albanian). Ulcinj is the southermost coastal city in Montenegro, just a few kilometers from the Albanian border. Montenegro has a sizeable Albanian minority (about 10%), making up 90% of Ulcinj’s population and its surrounding regions. Since the area is also popular in the summer with Albanians and Albanian Kosovars on holiday, you will hear more Albanian spoken here than Montenegrin.
The city has a rich history. It was settled by the Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and was famous as a base for the Algerian corsairs. Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quijote, is said to have been captured by the pirates off the coast of Barcelona and held as a captive in Ulcinj. Who knows if this is true, but I could certainly picture it walking around the pretty old town. The Citadel is stunning. It was largely destroyed in 1878 and later in the devastating earthquake of 1979, but it is slowly being rebuilt. Our hotel, the Dvori Balsića (http://www.montenegro.com/accommodat...i_Balsica.html) was perched high up on this Citadel and had lovely views over the sea from this suugestive position. We had a small apartment, which was perfect with the children, and a lovely terrace overlooking the sea. The rooms are simple – the bathrooms could definitely be renovated – but the staff was friendly and the location was perfect; we loved exploring the winding streets of the Citadel. Luckily, we are all good sleepers – kids included. This is necessary in July and August when the loud music and bar sounds go on until the wee hours of the night. I groan still thinking of the all-night Michael Jackson hits – mercifully, I fell asleep fairly quickly. The other problem is with parking – you have to park outside the Citadel walls. Trust me when I say you must arrive before 8pm to do so. After that, the main streets are closed and you must reach the lot through winding, chaotic side streets never designed for two-way traffic. White knuckled driving at its best.
We spent the first afternoon relaxing at the Velika Plaža (Great Beach), just south of town. The sand is grey and slightly radioactive – some of the people we met there say they were sent by their doctors who claim it heals a myriad of illnesses: arthritis, weak immune system, etc. We can only hope it’s true. I think the beach must be lovely off-season, but it was too packed for us. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a lazy afternoon swimming and the kids had a great time, but we decided to take a trip to Skadar Lake the next day rather than another trip to the beach.
We had a wonderful dinner in Ada Bojana, an island in the Bojana River, just along the Albanian border. The restaurant, Miška, was excellent and extremely charming on pontoons along the river. I highly recommend it. The food and the service were exceptional. My husband and I had the delicious fish stew – wish I had the recipe! We had mussels and a seafood platter and the boys had sea bass, which they loved. We had a bottle of Montenegrin chardonnay (Plantaže – this seems to be the most well-known Montenegrin brand and is quite good). The bill came to about 50 euro.
After breakfast out on the hotel terrace, we set off for Skadarsko jezero (Skadar Lake), the largest lake in the Balkans – part of the lake is in Montenegro and part in Albania. The drive from Ulcinj to the lake is easy highway driving, in the direction of Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica. The lake itself attracts a wide variety of birds (and birdwatchers) and is very lush (to the delight of our sons, we picked wild figs and pomegranates roadside) and is the country’s most important wine-growing region, where Montenegro’s strong red wine, Vranac, is produced. The small vineyards are very picturesque and fruit and wine are sold roadside around the region.
We went to Virpazaar – a small fishing village and had lunch there. Our six-year old was very enthusiastic about having eel for the first time. he is still talking about it. People start approaching you right away for boat trips. Take your time and check on the prices. We were able to get better offers that the initial proposals. The 2-hour boat trip was really beautiful and we were able to stop for a swim along the way. The lake is dotted with island churches and lovely fisihing villages, one of the closest to Virpazaar is apparently being leased to an English company that will renovate it and turn it into a hotel complex for birdwatchers. Unfortunately, visitors to Montenegro will notice quite a bit of uncontrolled development, particularly along the seacoast. Skadar Lake is a lovely, unspoiled region. Hopefully investment in this area will do a better job of preserving what is already there and respecting the environment.
Our biggest driving nightmare was on this daytrip. My husband wanted to take the road which curves along the lakeside back to Ulcinj. We followed the road for quite some kilometers before I insisted that we turn back. I am not actually that squeamish, but this was a terrifying drive, winding around the lake as it climbed higher up the mountains, with sheer drops and no guardrails. I thought this was a one-way road, but it was actually designed for two-way traffic. You would have to see it to believe it. Even if my husband is a very careful driver, one false move by the oncoming traffic would mean that we risked plunging over the edge. Yes, it was picturesque and lovely, but I enjoyed not one second of it and was very happy to turn back and return via the “boring” highway which allowed us to live to see another day. Perhaps other travellers have had wonderful experiences travelling on this panoramic road, but if you insist on seeing it, my advice would be to walk it for some kilometers and enjoy the views… minus the near-death experience.
That night we took a walk in Ulcinj. The Citadel is lovely, but the town itself has been terribly overdeveloped. It was interesting for a few days, but too noisy for along visit. Our sons, however, loved it: crowds, loud music, bright colors and hawkers selling toys. They first learned the magic Montenegrin word “sladoled” (ice cream) and used it frequently, as in “Molim, jeden sladoled” (Please, one ice cream) – it seemed to do the trick during their stay. The next day before we left we went for a swim in the town’s Mala Plaža (Small Beach). I live in Italy and am used to crowded beaches, but boy was this crowded! The kids could have cared less – they loved swimming and had a blast in the sea and building sand castles in the grey sand. They more than deserved it since we were packing up for a long drive out to Berane in the interior.
Next up : Berane and crossing into Kosovo
Sep 10th, 2009, 06:42 AM
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Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I have only been to Montenegro for a day trip from Dubrovnik and it seemed to merit a longer stay. With your report, I am now sure that it merits further exploration!
Sep 10th, 2009, 08:35 AM
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romana2,
I loved your trip report. We drove through Montenegro from Dubrovnik to Berat, Albania a couple of years ago. It has such beautiful scenery; I want to return to spend some time there. Like you, I'm not a good mountain/cliff passenger and I totally identified with your account of the mountain road. I had a similar experience in Albania with people coming around hairpin curves at crazy speeds - terrifying! Can't wait for your account of Kosovo (a place we love)but which, in my opinion, is very different from the Adriatic coastal areas.
I loved your trip report. We drove through Montenegro from Dubrovnik to Berat, Albania a couple of years ago. It has such beautiful scenery; I want to return to spend some time there. Like you, I'm not a good mountain/cliff passenger and I totally identified with your account of the mountain road. I had a similar experience in Albania with people coming around hairpin curves at crazy speeds - terrifying! Can't wait for your account of Kosovo (a place we love)but which, in my opinion, is very different from the Adriatic coastal areas.
Sep 10th, 2009, 09:09 AM
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Loved your report! Do you have any pictures to share?
We did Montenegro as a day trip from Dubrovnik a few years ago and enjoyed it. It's nice to read about the road less traveled by most visitors (the trip reports out there seem to focus on only a couple of destinations and rarely anything inland).
We did Montenegro as a day trip from Dubrovnik a few years ago and enjoyed it. It's nice to read about the road less traveled by most visitors (the trip reports out there seem to focus on only a couple of destinations and rarely anything inland).
Sep 11th, 2009, 03:18 AM
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Thanks to all who commented! How nice to see some interest in Montenegro out there, and particularly for the wild interior which I find beautiful.
Irishface, Trish, and Debs we also went to Boka kotorska and also love that special region. Ellen – I think, while the roads are “challenging”, the driving is less chaotic in Montenegro than in Albania, which might make it a bit easier (even on the hairpin turns). I saw your nice comments on Kosovo on another post – we saw so little and will need to get back I’ll be consulting your post to plan.
Irishface, Trish, and Debs we also went to Boka kotorska and also love that special region. Ellen – I think, while the roads are “challenging”, the driving is less chaotic in Montenegro than in Albania, which might make it a bit easier (even on the hairpin turns). I saw your nice comments on Kosovo on another post – we saw so little and will need to get back I’ll be consulting your post to plan.
Sep 11th, 2009, 03:19 AM
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Days 3 + 4 Berane
Plav – Gusinje – Peć (Pejë), Kosovo
Our stop for the next two days was Berane, in Montenegro’s interior. We left Ulcinj and drove back to Skadar Lake and on to Podgorica. Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro and my husband had already been there several times. This can safely be skipped. I think it is hard to find an unattractive European capital, but Podgorica, except for a few cute streets, might fit the bill. Don’t despair – there are so many beautiful places to see in this country, that it’s nice to be able to cut back the extensive list.
The “highway” past Podgorica is absolutely gorgeous. It goes through the Morača canyon - breathtakingly stunning, dramatic canyons with the Morača river down below. Since it was summertime, the water level was fairly low. I can only imagine that this must be even more stunning with the higher water levels of the springtime. The tunnels carved into the canyons were fantastic and even our boys were staring in awe. As is often the case with Montenegrin “highways”, however, this road is on the narrow side for two-way traffic and there are lots of trucks travelling and a little too much reckless passing. Indeed, on a later trip on this road, we were blocked in 3 ½ hours of traffic because of an accident that occurred with a truck. I can only imagine how difficult this trip is in the wintertime, and this is the main road to Serbia, so there is lots of traffic. Nevertheless, drive carefully and enjoy the view. It’s spectacular. We would take this route two more times on our trip, but on this trip it started to rain just as we arrived at the Morača Monastery. This is a beautiful monastery in a picturesque spot. The rain set in as we were walking to the monastery from the parking lot and we were soaked. Still, it was so lovely and we spent a long time admiring the frescoes. The boys loved the terrifying Last Judgement scenes with monsters devouring the damned (I have become expert in picking them out in our visits to churches so that I can have a few minutes of calm to examine the frescoes as the kids gawk). Unfortunately, the skies were dark and we decided to come back as we were passing through on our return, since it deserves a viewing with good light -- particularly the adjacent Saint Nikola chapel, which has no electric lighting.
The drive on was quite long and we arrived in Berane towards evening. However, past the Morača canyon (from just before Kolašin), the highway widens and driving is easier. A note for thos planning a trip to Montenegro: be careful in considering driving distances in planning your itinerary. Montenegro is a small country, but even short distances (with the exception of rather good coastal roads) can take a long time, due to road conditions, accidents, etc. Keep this in mind when planning.
Berane is hardly a tourist destination. We stayed at one of two hotels in town, the S Hotel (a simple, but perfectly clean and adequate hotel), largely because I could book on-line through Booking.com and the price was low. When they took our passports they gave us a quizzical look and jokingly asked what the heck we were doing there. Our main reason for stopping here is that it made a convenient base for taking a trip into Kosovo. This is also a good base for those who would like to pass into Novi Pazaar, Serbia. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for both. After having been here, I can say that Rožaje might be a more picturesque base. Berane is a fairly large town for central Montenegro, although it has two less than picturesque factories. It doesn’t take much to thrill kids, however, and our boys loved Berane because enterprising individuals rent out kids’electric cars on the main pedestrian street. Our boys had never been on one before and this was easily the highlight of their stay in Berane. There is also an excellent restaurant in town, where we ate both nights. It is called Dva jelena (Two Deer), although the sign outside is written only in cyrillic. Everything we had on the menu was excellent, it is heavily meat-based, with freshwater fish as well. Lots of Ottoman/Turkish food in this part of Montenegro. The meat soups (Čorba), meats and sausages (Ćevapi) were delicious, as was the fresh kaymak (salty, soft, fresh cheese served all over central Montenegro) and all go well with the strong Montenegrin Vranac red wine or the Nikšićko Pivo (beer). We usually are not heavy eaters for dinner, but we made an exception here and spent between 30 and 40 euro for veritable feasts. Service was friendly and warm and they were extremely patient with our bad Montenegrin and very friendly with our kids (another real plus in this part of the world.)
We started the next morning early as we planned on crossing into Kosovo. I say planned, because we were victims of bad road markings and outdated maps and instead spent a day exploring the so-called “accursed mountains”. The morning started off well: the weather was perfect and the highway we had come in with yesterday appeared to continue on clearly to Rožaje, just 30 kilometers away, where we would cross the border, The drive was lovely, with picturesque hay stacks two stories tall and the typical, sturdy mountain houses of the region made of the ubiquitous grey stone and pitched roofs. The landscape was stunning. But then we looked in confusion at the cyrillic welcoming us to the town. It didn’t look at all like the cyrillic for Rožaje, but for Andrejvicka – a town in a different direction. It doesn’t help that there are absoultely no signs on the road telling you that you are going ina certain direction. Still, I tried to laugh it off and suggested we turn back and ask for the road to Rožaje when in Berane. Our fatal mistake was to stop and look at the map, where we noticed a second border crossing into Kosovo, and from the map, it even looked like a major road.
So we continued on this extremely picturesque, winding road with lovel pastoral views and lush landscapes. There were some picturesque monasteries along the route and minarets dotting the landscape (like Ulcinj, this area is home to Montenegro’s sizable Muslim minority), but the road started getting suspiciously narrow. Thank goodness there wasn’t much traffic, but the curves were still dangerous and we got used to honking at every curve to warn oncoming traffic. We were perplexed to see that the asphalt eventually ended and it became a dirt road -- it seemed highly unlikely to us that this would lead to the border crossing. We continued for some time until, luckily, we saw two female cowherds out grazing their cows. They stared in wonder at our Italian plates and when we got out of the car with our two little kids they just stared at these rather dim-witted foreigners, out on a family outing. We showed them the map and, in our bad Montenegrin, asked about the border crossing. They essentially laughed at us (can you blame them?) and told us that there are soldiers posted there and that they would shoot at us if we came along with the car.
So our efforts to visit Kosovo were thwarted that day – but we had a lovely picnic snack at that panoramic point and the boys got to see the grazing cows and all the sheep on the street slowing our return back. We still laugh about our failed outing. Lesson learned: Don’t rely on Montenegrin maps alone – ask the locals. Luckily, we benefited from the friendliness of the Montenegrins on many occasions in helping us to find our way or to choose routes. We decided to cross into Kosovo the next day and instead explored nearby Plav (sone nice examples of Ottoman architecture, including lovely mosques), but surrounded by ugly suburban sprawl, swam in the (extremely) cold lake there and visited Gusinje and the incredibly picuresque Ali Pasha springs. You are probably starting to get the pattern here, but the springs, just 5 km from Gusinje are abysmally marked. I think we had to ask ten people for directions to find our way there. The place is lovely – cool mountain springs forming a small pond and rushing brooks. We filled all our water bottles and thermoses and the kids loved it. This is an area which merits more exploration (future trip?) - the Prokletije mountains, shared with Albania – the so-called “accursed mountains”, said to have been created by the devil himself. The landscapes are stunning and it doesn’t take much imagination to wonder what it must have been like at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Time seems to have stood still here.
We had lunch at the lovely stone house just next to the springs – charming. The owner had spent many years living in Germany and we found it easier to communicate in German. We had fresh trout and Wienerschnitzl in this lovely setting. We had asked the owner about hikes in the area and she suggested an easy one to the neighboring town. We enjoyed the lovely walk with the kids and seeing the picturesque hamlet with those ubiquitous haystacks (Monet should have come to Montenegro) and charming houses. So, despite an inauspicious start, all in all a good day.
The next day we did indeed make it to Kosovo! With difficulty (and asking at least five people on the way), we ensured we were on the road to Rožaje. From Rožaje we almost missed the turn-off to Kosovo, but turned back in time. Kilometer-wise the drive is not bad; in reality, they are winding mountain roads (although fine – we have become accustomed to narrow), so factor in plenty of time. Our youngest son doesn’t do well with curves (we are always raiding the courtesy airplane bags when we go on trips to keep on hand for road trips). Mercifully, he fell asleep. The drive takes concentration, but it is beautiful. As we crossed into Kosovo, I really throught I was in Switzerland, with the beautiful mountain panoramas. The border crossing is quite easy, although there is a LOOONG no-man’s land between the Montenegrin and Kosovo borders. It seems fairly efficient and we crossed easily. European cities only need their identity card to travel to Montenegro, but a passport is required for Kosovo. The only (negative) surprise is the 50 euro car insurance you must pay at the border to drive in Kosovo (yes, even for one day), since it is not covered in other policies. Other than that, it was quick and efficient and the descent down to the valley was very scenic and the road conditions are good. It’s only about 50 km from the border to Peć (Pejë in Albanian), but factor in plenty of time. It became extremely hot as we drove down to the plain and we made pretty good time reaching Peć. As we arrived in the city, the chaos set in. There is lots of construction, foot traffic, cars, mopeds (you name it). KFOR soldiers were especially helpful in pointing us in the right direction of the Dečani Monastery. It took us a long time to negotiate the city and find our way on the right road. The Serbian Orthodox Dečani Monastery (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is under the protection of Italian soldiers. Have your passports ready. You will go through a check point and a barricaded area before being told to park. As you can imagine, this all made quite an impression on our young boys. It is a particular challenge trying to explain Balkan history to children.Your documents and bags will be inspected and you are accompanied to the door. Then you pass through the heavy gates and you are transported to another world, struck by the absolute beauty and tranquility of this monastary constructed at the beginning of the 14th century by King Stefan of Dečani. It is all stunning: the beautiful marble facade, the fantastically preserved frescoes, the picturesque monastery housing and flowers – all surrounded by walls with views outside to the Prokletije mountain range. There is little I can say except to urge you to visit this beautiful place. After considerable time there, we drove on to the Patriarchate Monastery, closer to Peć and at the entrance of the stunning Rugova gorge. The 13th century Patriarchate is home to Serbian Orthodox nuns and is also under the protection of Italian soldiers. The soldiers were very profesisonal and efficient – photographing our car and its license plate and following procedures similar to those in Dečani before allowing us entrance. The frescoes here are also stunning and span from the 13th through the 16th centuries, though they are less well-preserved than at Dečani. As in much of the Balkans, with its history of centuries of invasions and fighting, one is always in awe that these beautiful places still exist at all.
Unfortunately, all our awe and time spent at the monastaries (although worth every second), left very little time for exploration of Peć / Pejë itself. However, after a brief stop in the center, we managed to see almost every angle of the city since some streets were closed off for construction and we could no longer retrace our route back to Rožaje. We asked for help getting back on the road and we had great fun trying to understand Albanian (people were incredibly helpful), speaking with our hands (we live in Italy, so we are experts) and finding some people who could help in German; with great difficulty we made our way out of the city. We decided to stop of at a roadside restaurant we had seen coming in: Antika. We had a nice, handsome young waiter and we asked him to recommend all his favorite Kosovar specialties. We had spiced meat and a wonderful melted cheese (practically a soup) with spices over delicious peppers, vegetables, softdrinks and coffee for the whole family, all for a grand total of 12 euro. The kids found some little Kosovar playmates at the neighboring table and they all watched the squirrels and parakeets they had in big cages there. On the way up the mountain, there were many children selling cups full of blackberries they had picked. Unfortunately, they had the dangerous practice of throwing themsleves before the cars to catch the drivers’attention – be very careful driving. We bought some of these roadside berries and it made a real impression on our 6-year old that children his age earned money for their families in this way.
The drive back took a long time. When the border guard asked us where we were going and we said “Berane”, he looked at us strangeley and said “Why?” Actually, we had a LONG drive ahead of us, because after picking up our bags in Berane, we were going on to the mountain resort of Kolašin that night (and would arrive quite late).
Next up: Kolašin and the Biogradsko National Park
Plav – Gusinje – Peć (Pejë), Kosovo
Our stop for the next two days was Berane, in Montenegro’s interior. We left Ulcinj and drove back to Skadar Lake and on to Podgorica. Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro and my husband had already been there several times. This can safely be skipped. I think it is hard to find an unattractive European capital, but Podgorica, except for a few cute streets, might fit the bill. Don’t despair – there are so many beautiful places to see in this country, that it’s nice to be able to cut back the extensive list.
The “highway” past Podgorica is absolutely gorgeous. It goes through the Morača canyon - breathtakingly stunning, dramatic canyons with the Morača river down below. Since it was summertime, the water level was fairly low. I can only imagine that this must be even more stunning with the higher water levels of the springtime. The tunnels carved into the canyons were fantastic and even our boys were staring in awe. As is often the case with Montenegrin “highways”, however, this road is on the narrow side for two-way traffic and there are lots of trucks travelling and a little too much reckless passing. Indeed, on a later trip on this road, we were blocked in 3 ½ hours of traffic because of an accident that occurred with a truck. I can only imagine how difficult this trip is in the wintertime, and this is the main road to Serbia, so there is lots of traffic. Nevertheless, drive carefully and enjoy the view. It’s spectacular. We would take this route two more times on our trip, but on this trip it started to rain just as we arrived at the Morača Monastery. This is a beautiful monastery in a picturesque spot. The rain set in as we were walking to the monastery from the parking lot and we were soaked. Still, it was so lovely and we spent a long time admiring the frescoes. The boys loved the terrifying Last Judgement scenes with monsters devouring the damned (I have become expert in picking them out in our visits to churches so that I can have a few minutes of calm to examine the frescoes as the kids gawk). Unfortunately, the skies were dark and we decided to come back as we were passing through on our return, since it deserves a viewing with good light -- particularly the adjacent Saint Nikola chapel, which has no electric lighting.
The drive on was quite long and we arrived in Berane towards evening. However, past the Morača canyon (from just before Kolašin), the highway widens and driving is easier. A note for thos planning a trip to Montenegro: be careful in considering driving distances in planning your itinerary. Montenegro is a small country, but even short distances (with the exception of rather good coastal roads) can take a long time, due to road conditions, accidents, etc. Keep this in mind when planning.
Berane is hardly a tourist destination. We stayed at one of two hotels in town, the S Hotel (a simple, but perfectly clean and adequate hotel), largely because I could book on-line through Booking.com and the price was low. When they took our passports they gave us a quizzical look and jokingly asked what the heck we were doing there. Our main reason for stopping here is that it made a convenient base for taking a trip into Kosovo. This is also a good base for those who would like to pass into Novi Pazaar, Serbia. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for both. After having been here, I can say that Rožaje might be a more picturesque base. Berane is a fairly large town for central Montenegro, although it has two less than picturesque factories. It doesn’t take much to thrill kids, however, and our boys loved Berane because enterprising individuals rent out kids’electric cars on the main pedestrian street. Our boys had never been on one before and this was easily the highlight of their stay in Berane. There is also an excellent restaurant in town, where we ate both nights. It is called Dva jelena (Two Deer), although the sign outside is written only in cyrillic. Everything we had on the menu was excellent, it is heavily meat-based, with freshwater fish as well. Lots of Ottoman/Turkish food in this part of Montenegro. The meat soups (Čorba), meats and sausages (Ćevapi) were delicious, as was the fresh kaymak (salty, soft, fresh cheese served all over central Montenegro) and all go well with the strong Montenegrin Vranac red wine or the Nikšićko Pivo (beer). We usually are not heavy eaters for dinner, but we made an exception here and spent between 30 and 40 euro for veritable feasts. Service was friendly and warm and they were extremely patient with our bad Montenegrin and very friendly with our kids (another real plus in this part of the world.)
We started the next morning early as we planned on crossing into Kosovo. I say planned, because we were victims of bad road markings and outdated maps and instead spent a day exploring the so-called “accursed mountains”. The morning started off well: the weather was perfect and the highway we had come in with yesterday appeared to continue on clearly to Rožaje, just 30 kilometers away, where we would cross the border, The drive was lovely, with picturesque hay stacks two stories tall and the typical, sturdy mountain houses of the region made of the ubiquitous grey stone and pitched roofs. The landscape was stunning. But then we looked in confusion at the cyrillic welcoming us to the town. It didn’t look at all like the cyrillic for Rožaje, but for Andrejvicka – a town in a different direction. It doesn’t help that there are absoultely no signs on the road telling you that you are going ina certain direction. Still, I tried to laugh it off and suggested we turn back and ask for the road to Rožaje when in Berane. Our fatal mistake was to stop and look at the map, where we noticed a second border crossing into Kosovo, and from the map, it even looked like a major road.
So we continued on this extremely picturesque, winding road with lovel pastoral views and lush landscapes. There were some picturesque monasteries along the route and minarets dotting the landscape (like Ulcinj, this area is home to Montenegro’s sizable Muslim minority), but the road started getting suspiciously narrow. Thank goodness there wasn’t much traffic, but the curves were still dangerous and we got used to honking at every curve to warn oncoming traffic. We were perplexed to see that the asphalt eventually ended and it became a dirt road -- it seemed highly unlikely to us that this would lead to the border crossing. We continued for some time until, luckily, we saw two female cowherds out grazing their cows. They stared in wonder at our Italian plates and when we got out of the car with our two little kids they just stared at these rather dim-witted foreigners, out on a family outing. We showed them the map and, in our bad Montenegrin, asked about the border crossing. They essentially laughed at us (can you blame them?) and told us that there are soldiers posted there and that they would shoot at us if we came along with the car.
So our efforts to visit Kosovo were thwarted that day – but we had a lovely picnic snack at that panoramic point and the boys got to see the grazing cows and all the sheep on the street slowing our return back. We still laugh about our failed outing. Lesson learned: Don’t rely on Montenegrin maps alone – ask the locals. Luckily, we benefited from the friendliness of the Montenegrins on many occasions in helping us to find our way or to choose routes. We decided to cross into Kosovo the next day and instead explored nearby Plav (sone nice examples of Ottoman architecture, including lovely mosques), but surrounded by ugly suburban sprawl, swam in the (extremely) cold lake there and visited Gusinje and the incredibly picuresque Ali Pasha springs. You are probably starting to get the pattern here, but the springs, just 5 km from Gusinje are abysmally marked. I think we had to ask ten people for directions to find our way there. The place is lovely – cool mountain springs forming a small pond and rushing brooks. We filled all our water bottles and thermoses and the kids loved it. This is an area which merits more exploration (future trip?) - the Prokletije mountains, shared with Albania – the so-called “accursed mountains”, said to have been created by the devil himself. The landscapes are stunning and it doesn’t take much imagination to wonder what it must have been like at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Time seems to have stood still here.
We had lunch at the lovely stone house just next to the springs – charming. The owner had spent many years living in Germany and we found it easier to communicate in German. We had fresh trout and Wienerschnitzl in this lovely setting. We had asked the owner about hikes in the area and she suggested an easy one to the neighboring town. We enjoyed the lovely walk with the kids and seeing the picturesque hamlet with those ubiquitous haystacks (Monet should have come to Montenegro) and charming houses. So, despite an inauspicious start, all in all a good day.
The next day we did indeed make it to Kosovo! With difficulty (and asking at least five people on the way), we ensured we were on the road to Rožaje. From Rožaje we almost missed the turn-off to Kosovo, but turned back in time. Kilometer-wise the drive is not bad; in reality, they are winding mountain roads (although fine – we have become accustomed to narrow), so factor in plenty of time. Our youngest son doesn’t do well with curves (we are always raiding the courtesy airplane bags when we go on trips to keep on hand for road trips). Mercifully, he fell asleep. The drive takes concentration, but it is beautiful. As we crossed into Kosovo, I really throught I was in Switzerland, with the beautiful mountain panoramas. The border crossing is quite easy, although there is a LOOONG no-man’s land between the Montenegrin and Kosovo borders. It seems fairly efficient and we crossed easily. European cities only need their identity card to travel to Montenegro, but a passport is required for Kosovo. The only (negative) surprise is the 50 euro car insurance you must pay at the border to drive in Kosovo (yes, even for one day), since it is not covered in other policies. Other than that, it was quick and efficient and the descent down to the valley was very scenic and the road conditions are good. It’s only about 50 km from the border to Peć (Pejë in Albanian), but factor in plenty of time. It became extremely hot as we drove down to the plain and we made pretty good time reaching Peć. As we arrived in the city, the chaos set in. There is lots of construction, foot traffic, cars, mopeds (you name it). KFOR soldiers were especially helpful in pointing us in the right direction of the Dečani Monastery. It took us a long time to negotiate the city and find our way on the right road. The Serbian Orthodox Dečani Monastery (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is under the protection of Italian soldiers. Have your passports ready. You will go through a check point and a barricaded area before being told to park. As you can imagine, this all made quite an impression on our young boys. It is a particular challenge trying to explain Balkan history to children.Your documents and bags will be inspected and you are accompanied to the door. Then you pass through the heavy gates and you are transported to another world, struck by the absolute beauty and tranquility of this monastary constructed at the beginning of the 14th century by King Stefan of Dečani. It is all stunning: the beautiful marble facade, the fantastically preserved frescoes, the picturesque monastery housing and flowers – all surrounded by walls with views outside to the Prokletije mountain range. There is little I can say except to urge you to visit this beautiful place. After considerable time there, we drove on to the Patriarchate Monastery, closer to Peć and at the entrance of the stunning Rugova gorge. The 13th century Patriarchate is home to Serbian Orthodox nuns and is also under the protection of Italian soldiers. The soldiers were very profesisonal and efficient – photographing our car and its license plate and following procedures similar to those in Dečani before allowing us entrance. The frescoes here are also stunning and span from the 13th through the 16th centuries, though they are less well-preserved than at Dečani. As in much of the Balkans, with its history of centuries of invasions and fighting, one is always in awe that these beautiful places still exist at all.
Unfortunately, all our awe and time spent at the monastaries (although worth every second), left very little time for exploration of Peć / Pejë itself. However, after a brief stop in the center, we managed to see almost every angle of the city since some streets were closed off for construction and we could no longer retrace our route back to Rožaje. We asked for help getting back on the road and we had great fun trying to understand Albanian (people were incredibly helpful), speaking with our hands (we live in Italy, so we are experts) and finding some people who could help in German; with great difficulty we made our way out of the city. We decided to stop of at a roadside restaurant we had seen coming in: Antika. We had a nice, handsome young waiter and we asked him to recommend all his favorite Kosovar specialties. We had spiced meat and a wonderful melted cheese (practically a soup) with spices over delicious peppers, vegetables, softdrinks and coffee for the whole family, all for a grand total of 12 euro. The kids found some little Kosovar playmates at the neighboring table and they all watched the squirrels and parakeets they had in big cages there. On the way up the mountain, there were many children selling cups full of blackberries they had picked. Unfortunately, they had the dangerous practice of throwing themsleves before the cars to catch the drivers’attention – be very careful driving. We bought some of these roadside berries and it made a real impression on our 6-year old that children his age earned money for their families in this way.
The drive back took a long time. When the border guard asked us where we were going and we said “Berane”, he looked at us strangeley and said “Why?” Actually, we had a LONG drive ahead of us, because after picking up our bags in Berane, we were going on to the mountain resort of Kolašin that night (and would arrive quite late).
Next up: Kolašin and the Biogradsko National Park
Sep 11th, 2009, 04:53 AM
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Still enjoying your report. I am so glad you included your sons' reactions to the things you are doing and seeing. It is so much fun to see things through childrens' eyes. (When I was teaching, I always fantasized about winning the lottery and taking my third graders on a foreign field trip. Of course, it would have helped the fantasy come true if I had bought lottery tickets.)
Thanks for sharing. (Hope you'll have some pictures to share!)
Thanks for sharing. (Hope you'll have some pictures to share!)
Sep 11th, 2009, 06:03 AM
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Thanks, Irishface. What a nice fantasy you had for your third-graders! I agree with you about travelling with kids. We travel a lot with ours and I love to see their impressions. I make my 6-year-old keep a travel journal when we travel and it's great to see the things that make the biggest impression on him. Unfortunately, I am not a great photographer, but the landscape did mots of the work for me. Will have to try to figure out how to post some photos of these wonderful places we saw.
Sep 11th, 2009, 06:03 AM
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Days 5 + 6 Kolašin
Biogradsko Lake and National Park
We arrived in the late afternoon in the town of Kolašin – an easy drive from Berane taking the highway back in the direction of Podgorica. We checked in to the Bianca Resort and Spa (http://www.biancaresort.com/ ), where I had reserved for two nights. I can highly recommend this hotel. We weren’t looking for luxury during this trip, but after all of our travelling, this was a nice little respite. This has been a hotel since 1948, but it has been extensively remodelled, all interiors are in stone and pine wood and it is an attractive property. It must be wonderful during the skiing season, too! There is also a nice, large indoor pool. Our kids, as you can imagine, were thrilled. My husband and I also managed to test out the sauna and steam baths after our hikes (heaven!), although we didn’t try any of the spa facilities.
The hotel is just off of the town’s main square. The town itself is small, but cute and it has an extremely efficient and helpful visitor’s office. They provided us with a lot of helpful hiking information. The first night we took it easy and enjoyed the pool. My 6-year old is a fish, but I have been banging my head over my 4-year old’s fear of the water. Here in Montenegro, he finally learned to swim and it started right here in the Bianca hotel pool. : )
The next morning we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. Montenegrins are generally quite tall, but imagine our surprise when the national basketball team all filed in to the breakfast room at the same time. Apparently, they were in training there, and their presence was incredibly useful to me. My kids stared in awe as they entered the room and I pointed out these players drank all their milk every day and therefore grew so tall – it had the desired effect! Hvala (thank you), Montenegrin National Basketball team!
We set off to the nearby Biogradsko Lake, which was very picturesque. We took the easy 4 km walk around the lake, a nice path with information about the animals and wildlife geared towards children. We took a break to have a little swim in the lake and my 6-year-old was very proud he swam “all the way across the lake” (it’s not all that wide, but still an accomplishment at that age). The woods are very pretty. We were headed up on another walk to get to an observation tower where you could get a tree top view of the virgin forest, when it started raining – hard. We decided to take a break and drove back to town for lunch. We drove towards the ski slope to the adorable Savardak – a former goatherd’s cottage, complete with thatch roof. Our 4-year old was convinced it was the straw house in the “Three Little Pigs”. It is charming inside, but the weather had improved, so we took an outdoor table near a babbling brook. We decided to try to kačamak. Keep in mind – portions are BIG in Montenegro. The very nice waitress told us this was a portion for 2. We actually debated getting two – thank goodness we didn’t. When it arrived at the table, we learned it was easily for 6 (maybe 8). It was delicious, but so heavy. It is a combination of melted cheese, a type of cornflour and potatoes – very hearty mountain fare. Delicious, but boy did it sit like a block in our stomachs afterwards.
Luckily, the weather improved and we decided to hike it off. We continued on to the ski slopes. This I really didn’t understand. The town is cute and quite organized, but the road going out to the ski slopes was filled with crater-sized potholes – and this is the only road leading to the slopes. We played slolom the whole way there. What in the world do they do in the winter time? Hopefully there are shuttles with drivers proficient in braving potholes.
We asked the guard at the slope’s parking lot about the trail and he gave us directions on how to bypass the first part of the trail. Unfortunately, we got a little lost in the beginning. To make up for it, though, my sons discovered the biggest snails we had ever seen. I have never seen snails so big – what a hit that was. We eventually found our way back and the trail was incredibly popular with the younger members of the family because it was filled with raspberries and wild strawberries. We hike a lot with our kids, so even our 4-year old can climb quite well, but raspberries and wild strawberries provide even better incentive. It was quite a hike to get to the top, but it was beautiful! I am a pretty good hiker, but I was exhausted for that last stretch (maybe thanks to the kačamak sitting in a block in my stomach?), my 4-year old amazed my husband and me. At the top, he saw horses grazing and he sprinted full speed uphill to reach them. My husband and I looked on in awe – guess we’re getting old. My 6-year old wandered into a flock of sheep and had loads of fun. There was an eco-village at the top – little cabins you can rent (we had been told about it in the Kolašin visitor’s office – they can arrange booking). I must admit, it is an idyllic, scenic spot with the beautiful mountains all around. Next trip! To make the day even better, we found blueberry bushes. We never find these hiking in Italy and the kids were thrilled. So now our bellies were filled with kačamak and fresh berries and we were having a great time. Unfortunately, it was getting late and we had to make our way down before it got dark, so it was down the mountain, picking berries all the way. What a wonderful outing. We topped off the evening with a swim in the pool before bed.
The next day we had been planning another hike, but we decided to give the kids a little rest and enjoy swimming in the morning before our long drive to the Boka kotorska (Kotor fjord). We would be staying for a week in the lovely town of Perast, right on the water, close to Kotor. Good think we relaxed this morning, because the drive turned out much longer than we expected. We packed up and started our drive.
Next up: Perast and the Boka kotorska
Biogradsko Lake and National Park
We arrived in the late afternoon in the town of Kolašin – an easy drive from Berane taking the highway back in the direction of Podgorica. We checked in to the Bianca Resort and Spa (http://www.biancaresort.com/ ), where I had reserved for two nights. I can highly recommend this hotel. We weren’t looking for luxury during this trip, but after all of our travelling, this was a nice little respite. This has been a hotel since 1948, but it has been extensively remodelled, all interiors are in stone and pine wood and it is an attractive property. It must be wonderful during the skiing season, too! There is also a nice, large indoor pool. Our kids, as you can imagine, were thrilled. My husband and I also managed to test out the sauna and steam baths after our hikes (heaven!), although we didn’t try any of the spa facilities.
The hotel is just off of the town’s main square. The town itself is small, but cute and it has an extremely efficient and helpful visitor’s office. They provided us with a lot of helpful hiking information. The first night we took it easy and enjoyed the pool. My 6-year old is a fish, but I have been banging my head over my 4-year old’s fear of the water. Here in Montenegro, he finally learned to swim and it started right here in the Bianca hotel pool. : )
The next morning we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. Montenegrins are generally quite tall, but imagine our surprise when the national basketball team all filed in to the breakfast room at the same time. Apparently, they were in training there, and their presence was incredibly useful to me. My kids stared in awe as they entered the room and I pointed out these players drank all their milk every day and therefore grew so tall – it had the desired effect! Hvala (thank you), Montenegrin National Basketball team!
We set off to the nearby Biogradsko Lake, which was very picturesque. We took the easy 4 km walk around the lake, a nice path with information about the animals and wildlife geared towards children. We took a break to have a little swim in the lake and my 6-year-old was very proud he swam “all the way across the lake” (it’s not all that wide, but still an accomplishment at that age). The woods are very pretty. We were headed up on another walk to get to an observation tower where you could get a tree top view of the virgin forest, when it started raining – hard. We decided to take a break and drove back to town for lunch. We drove towards the ski slope to the adorable Savardak – a former goatherd’s cottage, complete with thatch roof. Our 4-year old was convinced it was the straw house in the “Three Little Pigs”. It is charming inside, but the weather had improved, so we took an outdoor table near a babbling brook. We decided to try to kačamak. Keep in mind – portions are BIG in Montenegro. The very nice waitress told us this was a portion for 2. We actually debated getting two – thank goodness we didn’t. When it arrived at the table, we learned it was easily for 6 (maybe 8). It was delicious, but so heavy. It is a combination of melted cheese, a type of cornflour and potatoes – very hearty mountain fare. Delicious, but boy did it sit like a block in our stomachs afterwards.
Luckily, the weather improved and we decided to hike it off. We continued on to the ski slopes. This I really didn’t understand. The town is cute and quite organized, but the road going out to the ski slopes was filled with crater-sized potholes – and this is the only road leading to the slopes. We played slolom the whole way there. What in the world do they do in the winter time? Hopefully there are shuttles with drivers proficient in braving potholes.
We asked the guard at the slope’s parking lot about the trail and he gave us directions on how to bypass the first part of the trail. Unfortunately, we got a little lost in the beginning. To make up for it, though, my sons discovered the biggest snails we had ever seen. I have never seen snails so big – what a hit that was. We eventually found our way back and the trail was incredibly popular with the younger members of the family because it was filled with raspberries and wild strawberries. We hike a lot with our kids, so even our 4-year old can climb quite well, but raspberries and wild strawberries provide even better incentive. It was quite a hike to get to the top, but it was beautiful! I am a pretty good hiker, but I was exhausted for that last stretch (maybe thanks to the kačamak sitting in a block in my stomach?), my 4-year old amazed my husband and me. At the top, he saw horses grazing and he sprinted full speed uphill to reach them. My husband and I looked on in awe – guess we’re getting old. My 6-year old wandered into a flock of sheep and had loads of fun. There was an eco-village at the top – little cabins you can rent (we had been told about it in the Kolašin visitor’s office – they can arrange booking). I must admit, it is an idyllic, scenic spot with the beautiful mountains all around. Next trip! To make the day even better, we found blueberry bushes. We never find these hiking in Italy and the kids were thrilled. So now our bellies were filled with kačamak and fresh berries and we were having a great time. Unfortunately, it was getting late and we had to make our way down before it got dark, so it was down the mountain, picking berries all the way. What a wonderful outing. We topped off the evening with a swim in the pool before bed.
The next day we had been planning another hike, but we decided to give the kids a little rest and enjoy swimming in the morning before our long drive to the Boka kotorska (Kotor fjord). We would be staying for a week in the lovely town of Perast, right on the water, close to Kotor. Good think we relaxed this morning, because the drive turned out much longer than we expected. We packed up and started our drive.
Next up: Perast and the Boka kotorska
Sep 12th, 2009, 10:57 AM
#12
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Loving your trip reports! We spent quite a while at the Decani Monastery which like you, we were in awe of. I was actually a bit intimidated by the Italian KFOR guards (although they were very nice to us). They thoroughly searched the car, including the trunk. Did you notice the bullet holes in their little hut at the entrance? You do enter another world when you pass through the entrance. The day we were there an American KFOR unit was there with a Serbian group. Since the war, pockets of Serbian nationals live in enclaves in Kosovo guarded by KFOR. This group was visiting from another part of Kosovo. The guard we talked to was pleasantly surprised to meet some fellow Americans. We had some Serbian teenage boys with us who loved talking to the monks, so the monks invited us up to their meeting area across from the monastery itself for some grappa which was quite a treat!
You're so right about the roads and judging distances. I pitifully underestimated driving times the first time we were there. What looks direct on a map may be anything but!
You're so right about the roads and judging distances. I pitifully underestimated driving times the first time we were there. What looks direct on a map may be anything but!
Sep 12th, 2009, 01:28 PM
#13
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Romana....thank you for such a detailed report..excellent...<u>my apologies</u>...I answered your other thread on Durmitor, incorrectly assuming that you were planning for next August (2010)...so I brashly included my thoughts and some past history of Old Yuoslavian travel, "Tito Time"...could be of some interest to you now that you've already been...<u>what a fascinating part of part of Europe!</u>...so I'll copy my post herein.
Romana:
I'll be reading all of your report with deep nostalgia engulfing me. Turn your clock back to "Tito Time", when we roved every part of the Old Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, and I can still recall the potholed roads (holes as big as a small pond, no dividing markers, petrol stations few and far between, lodgings grim and food choices grimmer)...but yet, a beautiful country with every conceivable type of terrain....and fewer tourists than outer Mongolia.
If I dug into my journals to recommend any lodgings or restaurants like the smoke-filled "hotel" on Pec's square, The Metohiya (rated "B")...no "A"'s in town, but one "C"...I'm afraid I could be of no help. In those days a town like Pec' had very few vehicles, everyone was walking to and fro all day and part of the night...the same scenes we found in Prizren and all the towns near and along along the Albanian border and deeper into Kosovo. We were in constant fear of running on empty, and our German-plated Ford Escort rental car drew ogling stares everywhere we went..we just smiled back and the ogles truned to smiles also...but leaving the car out in the open wherever we could park it, not a thing (like windshield wipers, hubcaps, tires) was ever taken).
As you go deeper in and eventually to Sarajevo, these days, you'll find well-maintained rodes in comparison, and certainly plenty of fuel, roadside inns and better choice in lodgings. We had driven directly south from Sarajevo on the usual poor road which by now must be greatly improved, and there was no evidence of a national park at the time in the Zabjak area, but the highway would have been treacherous in a snowstorm (it was October!, and it had snowed earlier that week so we saw the remnants all the way to Podgoric(ts)a, and then on to the aforementioned Pec')..I remember marvelling at the surprisingly beautiful snow-covered soccer stadium in the small town of Andrejvica (sp. ..from my notes)where it began to snow again.
Anyway, I doubt if this is much help to you....the beauties of the entire region are all yours now. Enjoy!!
We have been back to the former Yugoslavia a few times since then....and couldn't get over the massive changes....driving down the newly built and finely engineered super highway from Zagreb to Zadar (via Plitvice)....we couldn't help but smile and shake our heads, remembering the Old Yugoslavia. But we sure had adventuorus fun on that first trip...and memories that can be shared, in disbelief by most of today's visitors.
Stu Tower
Romana:
I'll be reading all of your report with deep nostalgia engulfing me. Turn your clock back to "Tito Time", when we roved every part of the Old Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, and I can still recall the potholed roads (holes as big as a small pond, no dividing markers, petrol stations few and far between, lodgings grim and food choices grimmer)...but yet, a beautiful country with every conceivable type of terrain....and fewer tourists than outer Mongolia.
If I dug into my journals to recommend any lodgings or restaurants like the smoke-filled "hotel" on Pec's square, The Metohiya (rated "B")...no "A"'s in town, but one "C"...I'm afraid I could be of no help. In those days a town like Pec' had very few vehicles, everyone was walking to and fro all day and part of the night...the same scenes we found in Prizren and all the towns near and along along the Albanian border and deeper into Kosovo. We were in constant fear of running on empty, and our German-plated Ford Escort rental car drew ogling stares everywhere we went..we just smiled back and the ogles truned to smiles also...but leaving the car out in the open wherever we could park it, not a thing (like windshield wipers, hubcaps, tires) was ever taken).
As you go deeper in and eventually to Sarajevo, these days, you'll find well-maintained rodes in comparison, and certainly plenty of fuel, roadside inns and better choice in lodgings. We had driven directly south from Sarajevo on the usual poor road which by now must be greatly improved, and there was no evidence of a national park at the time in the Zabjak area, but the highway would have been treacherous in a snowstorm (it was October!, and it had snowed earlier that week so we saw the remnants all the way to Podgoric(ts)a, and then on to the aforementioned Pec')..I remember marvelling at the surprisingly beautiful snow-covered soccer stadium in the small town of Andrejvica (sp. ..from my notes)where it began to snow again.
Anyway, I doubt if this is much help to you....the beauties of the entire region are all yours now. Enjoy!!
We have been back to the former Yugoslavia a few times since then....and couldn't get over the massive changes....driving down the newly built and finely engineered super highway from Zagreb to Zadar (via Plitvice)....we couldn't help but smile and shake our heads, remembering the Old Yugoslavia. But we sure had adventuorus fun on that first trip...and memories that can be shared, in disbelief by most of today's visitors.
Stu Tower
Sep 13th, 2009, 02:30 AM
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Stu,
My husband went on a trip to the area when he was in high school, in 1959. He vividly remembers staying one night in Andrijevica where they heard gunshots throughout the night. We've been back recently, but haven't been able to visit the Peja/Andrijevica area yet; it's on our list. I too enjoy hearing him talk about the former Yugoslavia. Despite the improvements (which are many), the area is still so underdeveloped compared to the rest of Western Europe, which I think is part of the draw for us, in addition to the scenic beauty as Romana described, and the warmth of the people.
Ellen
My husband went on a trip to the area when he was in high school, in 1959. He vividly remembers staying one night in Andrijevica where they heard gunshots throughout the night. We've been back recently, but haven't been able to visit the Peja/Andrijevica area yet; it's on our list. I too enjoy hearing him talk about the former Yugoslavia. Despite the improvements (which are many), the area is still so underdeveloped compared to the rest of Western Europe, which I think is part of the draw for us, in addition to the scenic beauty as Romana described, and the warmth of the people.
Ellen
Sep 13th, 2009, 07:41 AM
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Ellen...impressed to see that in his high school days your husband gave up Hawaii and Cancun for Andrijevica (thanks for the spelling...I'll correct my journal)...and I strongly agree with your assessment of being drawn to the unusual, off the typical tourist map. Such intriguing fun.
I've been scanning some of my selected pre-digital pics of every country in the old Soviet Bloc, as far east as Uzbekistan, no less).... My late wife was an ardent folk dancer (in L.A.) and Balkan dancing was her favorite...so obviously we hunted out any and all dancing events (most of them impromptu) throughout every country we travelled in those heady days. The Kosovan town of Prizren had a festival going on, and there was Judy actually leading some of the dances! At a wedding in Bulgaria which we were "invited" to by the bride's uncle who was standing outside the banquet hall as we drove up in our German rental car. We talked in "pidgin German" (he was some sort of an an engineer and that was the only remotely understandable "language" between us) as I asked him to suggest a "hotel"...next thing I knew, we were in the hall being <i>Slivovitz</i> toasted (dressed in jeans and sweat shirts) as "Our great American friends", and once again Judy took the floor and led the dancing (all of which she was so familiar with). Priceless.
Thanks for your post, Ellen...and <b>Romana</b>, please forgive the hi-jacking, but it all seems to fit into your theme of offbeat travel...
Here are some pics of folk dancing in Uzbekistan (Uzbek SSR) in the 80's....they're scanned and can be enlarged by clicking on the magnifying glass icon..and moving the mouse as desired.(By the way,Ellen, what business do you have in Kosovo...if it's not confidential, I'm just curious)
Note: In the old days, Podgoric(ts)a was known as "Titograd" of course.
Stu Tower
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...raSamarkand85#
I've been scanning some of my selected pre-digital pics of every country in the old Soviet Bloc, as far east as Uzbekistan, no less).... My late wife was an ardent folk dancer (in L.A.) and Balkan dancing was her favorite...so obviously we hunted out any and all dancing events (most of them impromptu) throughout every country we travelled in those heady days. The Kosovan town of Prizren had a festival going on, and there was Judy actually leading some of the dances! At a wedding in Bulgaria which we were "invited" to by the bride's uncle who was standing outside the banquet hall as we drove up in our German rental car. We talked in "pidgin German" (he was some sort of an an engineer and that was the only remotely understandable "language" between us) as I asked him to suggest a "hotel"...next thing I knew, we were in the hall being <i>Slivovitz</i> toasted (dressed in jeans and sweat shirts) as "Our great American friends", and once again Judy took the floor and led the dancing (all of which she was so familiar with). Priceless.
Thanks for your post, Ellen...and <b>Romana</b>, please forgive the hi-jacking, but it all seems to fit into your theme of offbeat travel...
Here are some pics of folk dancing in Uzbekistan (Uzbek SSR) in the 80's....they're scanned and can be enlarged by clicking on the magnifying glass icon..and moving the mouse as desired.(By the way,Ellen, what business do you have in Kosovo...if it's not confidential, I'm just curious)
Note: In the old days, Podgoric(ts)a was known as "Titograd" of course.
Stu Tower
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...raSamarkand85#
Sep 13th, 2009, 09:42 AM
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Stu,
Although not confidential, it's a long story. Short story is that I became aware that the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) partners with the American University in Kosovo in Prishtina and the American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik. I've brought students from both universities to the US on 18-month or less training visas. We have grown very close to them and several have become our surrogate children. My husband, an attorney, is going to teach a law course at AUK this winter. Kosovo, as you know, was badly damaged during the war and they don't have electricity and water 24 hours a day yet, so there is still a lot of infrastructure building to do there. These two universities give their young people outstanding educations.
We intend to do a lot more traveling in the Balkans which is one of the reasons I find romana's trip report so fascinating and educational - and well-written!
Although not confidential, it's a long story. Short story is that I became aware that the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) partners with the American University in Kosovo in Prishtina and the American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik. I've brought students from both universities to the US on 18-month or less training visas. We have grown very close to them and several have become our surrogate children. My husband, an attorney, is going to teach a law course at AUK this winter. Kosovo, as you know, was badly damaged during the war and they don't have electricity and water 24 hours a day yet, so there is still a lot of infrastructure building to do there. These two universities give their young people outstanding educations.
We intend to do a lot more traveling in the Balkans which is one of the reasons I find romana's trip report so fascinating and educational - and well-written!
Sep 13th, 2009, 09:54 AM
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Romana,
Your comments about Podgorica made me laugh - they're right on! We drove through it to get to the Albanian border. As we progressed, the road became more and more "rural", shall we say, and we seriously questioned that a country lane would lead to an international border. My husband had the foresight to bring a compass so we knew at least that we were going in the right general direction, We soldiered on and eventually, voilà, arrived at the Albanian border (where we were greeted by the hind quarters of a very large goat, but that's a tale for a different thread
!
Your comments about Podgorica made me laugh - they're right on! We drove through it to get to the Albanian border. As we progressed, the road became more and more "rural", shall we say, and we seriously questioned that a country lane would lead to an international border. My husband had the foresight to bring a compass so we knew at least that we were going in the right general direction, We soldiered on and eventually, voilà, arrived at the Albanian border (where we were greeted by the hind quarters of a very large goat, but that's a tale for a different thread
!
Sep 13th, 2009, 12:01 PM
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Ellen...are you two from Rochester? Hope you were able to download the Uzbek snaps.
We too, drove the narrow backcountry road to Gusinje and had lunch at Piave at a place that was less than a Michelin! I have a great pic of an Albanian who pked his head into our car, wanting a ride....he had jusy come across the border, or so he said, wanted to see his wife in Pec.
Stu
We too, drove the narrow backcountry road to Gusinje and had lunch at Piave at a place that was less than a Michelin! I have a great pic of an Albanian who pked his head into our car, wanting a ride....he had jusy come across the border, or so he said, wanted to see his wife in Pec.
Stu
Sep 13th, 2009, 04:59 PM
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Stu,
These are the experiences that we remember! We're from Elmira, about 1.5 hours south of Rochester. Yes, your Uzbek pictures were wonderful. There are so many wonderful places to visit, experiences to be had and so little time...(and money)!
These are the experiences that we remember! We're from Elmira, about 1.5 hours south of Rochester. Yes, your Uzbek pictures were wonderful. There are so many wonderful places to visit, experiences to be had and so little time...(and money)!
Sep 14th, 2009, 12:34 AM
#20
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Dear Stu and Ellen,
Thanks for all your comments and wonderful memories! We live in Italy, and there is a great expression in Italian “L’appetito viene mangiando”, roughly “one’s appetite increases while eating”. It’s the same travelling, isn’t it? We always get so many great ideas for future trips while on our present one… and from storytelling by other avid travellers about their past trips.
I obviously agree with you that this a fascinating corner of the world and I also grew up going on visits to “the old Yugolsavia” and have nice memories of having visited it as a kid (although it is my first time to Montenegro).
Stu – your Uzbekistan photos are fantastic – another country way up on our wish list. Ellen – too funny that you are in Elmira. I had a very nice four years out in Ithaca and did my share of trips around central NY, including passing through Elmira. Small world!
Thanks for all your comments and wonderful memories! We live in Italy, and there is a great expression in Italian “L’appetito viene mangiando”, roughly “one’s appetite increases while eating”. It’s the same travelling, isn’t it? We always get so many great ideas for future trips while on our present one… and from storytelling by other avid travellers about their past trips.
I obviously agree with you that this a fascinating corner of the world and I also grew up going on visits to “the old Yugolsavia” and have nice memories of having visited it as a kid (although it is my first time to Montenegro).
Stu – your Uzbekistan photos are fantastic – another country way up on our wish list. Ellen – too funny that you are in Elmira. I had a very nice four years out in Ithaca and did my share of trips around central NY, including passing through Elmira. Small world!
