MONTENEGRO

Montenegro, the small ecological state in the Balkan with Mediterranean climate, is a jewel in the south of the Adriatic sea. Contrasting and unique and of stunning beauty it possesses a great variety of landscapes. Shores of the open dark blue sea, high mostly forested mountains, deep river gorges, sleepy peaceful and clear lakes, a rich flora of wildflowers, the striking Kotor bay enclosed with high rocks, with its pebbled beaches, turquoise water and soft waves - all this makes that country a destination for unforgettable vacation time. Two thirds of the years days are sunny, half of the year is swimming time. The mountains are bedecked with snow in winter, perfect for recreational skiing holiday. Four magnificent national parks show you wonders who take your breath away.

Montenegro is bordered by five countries, its nowadays capital is Podgorica, the old royal capital was Cetinje, the official language is Serbo-Croatioan, it became an independent state in 2006 and has roughly 670 000 citizens. The currency is Euro.

There is a ton of information on Montenegro on the Internet, therefore I am content with short descriptions, but I have to use a lot of superlatives like dreamy, glorious, fantastic, wonderful, mystic, breathtaking, unique, marvelous, gorgeous, striking and so on, to tell the story, together with my husbands meaningful and and masterfully taken photos. In the end you cannot help but falling in love with Montenegro...

Kotor Bay

View of the bay from high up in the Lovcen lime stone mountains.

An artificial tiny island in Boka bay near Perast, with the church "Our Lady of the Rocks" the only structure on it. Unbelievable how the island was built - by sinking old ships and filling them up with rocks! It can be visited by boat - we didn't, which I regret now...

Kotor with the antic city part , the beach,

and the walls and the steps rising up to the fortress Sveti Ivan - 1300 steps.

Kotor attracts many tourists, due to the beauty of its coast and its medieval old city center.
 
The morning haze over the bay with the sight on Kotor.

Prcanj - features a stunning waterfront with many small pebbled beaches - often with stone jetties, which locally are called "puntas", they form enclosures for small boats and are very useful for sunbathing. It also has the largest church in the Kotor bay, named Zupna. People from all over the world sick  with asthma, come to seek healing in Prcanj because of the quality of the fresh clean dry air and mild weather.

Since it was autumn at our visit, the weather was sunny and warm, very pleasant, not hot. The nights cooled off to let us sleep by open windows and balcony doors, no air condition was needed at all during our stay..

 

Swimming in those soft waters was the greatest pleasure - view on Dobrota.

One of our own small strips of "private" beach - this one is in Kumbor.

2500 years old Budva with Venetian architecture - the beaches are sandy and if one is looking for nightlife of bars and music it can be found there. We had a lovely afternoon at one of Budva's beaches, the Jaz beach, which was quiet and tranquil at this out of season time, we saw almost no tourists but only local families with their children.

 

A stroll at the beach walk in Perast. Women sold handmade items all along the way. I bought a tablecloth with crochet around linen fabric.

Their handiwork is of great workmanship, perfectly executed - crochet and embroidery of napkins, tablecloth and curtains, and knitting of wool sweaters and jackets.

Where mount Orejo comes down and plunges into the entrance of Kotor bay there the enchanted town of Herceg Novi was built on the steep of the mountain. Therefore this is a city of stairs - flights of stairs have to be walked down to the sea, passing Stari grad, the old town with a heritage way back to the 15th and 16th century, and then up again to the parked car. The city is famous for its abundance of flowers and exotic plants, trees and shrubs lining the streets.

The fortress Kanli Kula above the old town, well preserved and very impressive.

View from the fortress over the town to the sea.

The spire of one of the churches in Herceg Novi- palm trees are everywhere, now in autumn loaded with fruit.

This is a first insight into this unique country full of natural wonders and lovely dwelling places - and there is more to come.

All photos by Uri Eshkar