Ulcinj, Montenegro

A wonderful bus station greets us at Ulcinj including a cafe to unwind and wifi to contact our Airbnb host who picks us up promptly.

This Airbnb is family run.  Sasha, his wife and three children, plus his sister and one set of parents live on the top floor with rooms below.  The original home (of his parents) is at the bottom of the property waiting to be revitalized.

We see fig, grapefruit and pomegranate trees on the property.  Sasha says they lost a mandarin tree last January when the temperature was -10 for 3 weeks...a first for Ulcinj.

Marko goes down and plucks a few figs off the tree for us.  I like dried figs but don't like the fresh ones found in our grocery stores ... but these ... warm from the sunshine, soft inside and out, with red, oozy centres,  the flavour is like a jam parfait ... luscious.

Yotam Ottolenghi was spot on when he said:  

"I am sure that in the story of Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit was a fig and not an apple or pear, or anything else".

To my disappointment the pomegranates while looking red aren't ready until September.

Walking around neighbourhoods we also see olive trees and kiwi and grapevines.

Our abode is peaceful, high above the chaos of city beach, the clubs and the bay; looks down on Old town and yet is just a short, very steep walk away.

On our balcony, we watch the changing light from dawn to dusk and the calls to prayer from the mosque on the bay orientate us to the day.

On day 2 our host kindly delivers us to and from his favourite beach...a stony one, like many in Montenegro. This day the surf is pounding in, so we content ourselves with renting a beach lounger and umbrella.

Wandering Old Town is a treat, new discoveries with each visit.

On the way to Old Town, we can wander through the grounds of St Nicholas's church and its ancient grove of Olive trees with their lacy trunks, fruit slowly ripening until harvest in October.  The bells from this church send their lovely sound up to our balcony several times a day.

We are passing some Non-Shengen time here so that we can eventually move on to Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, so we are more domesticated, less touristy.  It feels good.

We work on plans for Italy as we will be four travelling around and solidify our plans for next winter...the chores of the homeless!!

We go on a small tour today to Skadar Lake.  We are from Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Hungary and Canada.  We all hit it off and have a great day.

We drive to the lake, see the Park museum, have a boat ride ending at a beach for swimming and lunch, stop at a wine shop, visit Virpisar, then home.

The air is very smokey today.  There are wildfires all around in the mountains.  Thankfully there is only scrub growth and not trees to fuel the fire.  Several evenings the smoke drifted as far south as Uljcinj so that we fled the balcony for the A/C room.

On the drive home, we see flames in several places.  There is no fire fighting here, the blaze simply runs its course

On the drive, we pass through the Sozina tunnel 4+ km long.  It shortens by 25 km the drive from the capital Podgorica to the main port in Bar.  We also drive by the Haj Nehaj fortress built by the Venetians to fend off the Ottoman Turks:

Skadar Lake is the largest lake in southern Europe and lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro.

When we arrive at Lake Skadar National Park we go into a small museum.  Flora and fauna are highlighted including taxidermied animals.  There are 2 protected areas for birds in the park.

One stunning bird is a Dalmation pelican...a young bird and it is enormous ... the world's largest freshwater bird.  Their wingspans rival that of the albatross and the flocks fly in graceful synchrony.  In mating season their yellowish pouch turns red.

Then there is the 

beautiful European bee-eater:

We enjoy the display of hand made fishing gear and furniture from a fisher's house from generations ago.

Before leaving we watch a film on Durmitor National Park (a UNESCO site) in the north.  We wish we could get there and explore it over several days.  It's 3 canyons are second only to the Grand Canyon.

For a mid-morning snack on the boat we get lovely cheese, cubed up with honey to dip it in, delicate fry bread bites much like bannock and Montenegran red wine.

Some views from the boat:

At one point without us being aware the pilot glides into water lilies, picks one for each woman on board, turns it into a necklace then places one around each of our necks.

He also lets each of us take the wheel for a while:

As our boat pulled to shore women were just bringing in the fresh catch for our lunch.

We have an hour of free time before lunch for swimming or relaxing.

  Our guide shows us a water caltrop, AKA - chestnut, washed up on the shore.  

I look them up when home again.  Quick Facts: floating annual aquatic plant - growing in slow-moving water -  shape resembles the head of bull or flying bat - contains 1 large starchy seed - cultivated for food in China & Indian subcontinent for 3,000+ years.  Not grown or eaten now.

You wouldn't want to step on one:

Lunch is a wonderful, delicate fish meal and more Montenegran red wine.

As we leave the beach this fanciful tour boat arrives:

On to this gorgeous wine cellar to pick up Montenegro's finest:

A quick stop in the village of Virpazar:

Our happy crew:

At long last, we get to Long Beach, thanks to our Airbnb host who drove us there and back.  Fourteen km of glorious sand and small waves.  Something always conspired to keep us from here.  No camera can do it justice:

Sasha has a friend who works at Mojitos, so that's where we land.  We love this ... our own little slice of Cuba.  Cuban music and the best Mojitos this side of Cuba.

Tonight a thunderstorm, unfortunately very little rain.  Hopefully, no more fires were started.  We watch the lightning over the sea from our covered deck.  Morning dawns with black skies and wind, with a temperature drop to 17 degrees.  The waves are really coming in at city beach:

The smoke from wildfires is clearing and for the first time in a week, we can see the mountains of Albania in the distance.  As night falls, the lights of Albania wink back at us.

As we get ready to leave Montenegro, a trial starts in the courts in Podgorica.

Two alleged Russian intelligence operatives have been named as the main organizers of what authorities say was a coup attempt against Montenegro's pro-Western government and the trial of 14 suspected coup plotters begins.

The defendants, mostly Serbs are charged "with creating a criminal organization" with the aim of undermining Montenegro's constitutional order and thwarting the government's bid to join NATO.

This country would be a jewel in Russia's treasure chest.  Hopefully they back off.

Tomorrow we head to Bar for a couple of days before catching the ferry to Bari, Italy ... a 7 1/2 hour sailing.  Reviews of the ride had words like disaster, horrible, sinking tub and descriptions of hundreds of people on the floor, wet carpets, non-functioning toilets, no food, etc., etc.  But, everyone tells us: NEW BOAT.  Let's hope so as thunderstorms are now in the forecast for a travel day.