It’s hard saying goodbye to new friends. Peja and his family became truly dear to us in the time we spent in Montenegro. They taught us so much about their beautiful country and relationships in general. We hope to see them again one day (maybe in America?).

Other local friends were Ano & Karlo. Owners of Siesta, the bar where we have darts night. We met them even before we got into the marina. Ano is Karlo’s father and he is a great keyboardist and singer (he drove us to his regular gig last fall – a wonderful night!). Great people who made our stay in Montenegro very special.

Someone asked at lunch last week what food we would be taking with us when we left. My mind immediately flooded with ideas.

The list goes on, avjar (red pepper spread), prosjut (thick rustic prosciutto), flaky almond croissants (ok, maybe not local but super tasty nonetheless)…..

I didn’t think our final darts night would have many people in attendance, given how many had already bolted for the season, but we still had a good turnout! Lots of laughs, a bit of dancing, and winner takes all went to the ladies, after the gents put up a mad good game.

There were only two places I would be disappointed to leave Montenegro without visiting, Skadar Lake and Durmitor National Park. The park will still have to wait, but luckily the social club through the marina offered a last minute trip out to the lake, complete with a wine tasting. Most of our boat projects are done, so we were happy to jump on board.

We made a quick stop on the way out to take photographs of Sveti Stefan. This island was leased by the government to an exclusive resort ($5,000/night) which hosts all sorts of fabulous celebrities. Unfortunately they had to close during COVID, and then a dispute arose with local authorities over the rights to the beach. The resort has refused to re-open their doors and instead is suing the Montenegrin government. A total waste in my opinion, but still a photogenic spot.

Skadar Lake is the largest lake in southern Europe, and shares a border with Albania. The biggest source of flow to the lake is from the Morača River, which we had driven along earlier in March, along with karstic springs. Our boat cruise was only 90 minutes, which barely touched the surface of the boundaries of the lake. I had brought my binoculars, so we were able to do some birding as we puttered along. We also went past the island of Grmožur, a former prison now turned nesting site.

After the boat tour, we walked up the hill to the Besac Fortress for a local wine tasting.

The Besac Fortress was originally built by the Ottomans in 1478, and it later fell into the hands of local Montenegrins at the beginning of the 18th century. During World War II, Italians used it as a prison, after which it was later abandoned. A massive earthquake in 1979 decimated the fortress, but with funding from UNESCO, they were able to rebuild. The fortress now encompasses a restaurant, and we had a lovely afternoon sampling local wines and local dishes – my favorite being all the smoked fish!

They had a local guitarist playing, so Trip and I couldn’t resist…

I’ve been throwing away my daily sourdough discard, or making a single flatbread out of it. However, after a little bit of research, I found that adding just a bit of baking soda for a leavening agent produced crumpets! A new morning treat on the days I do eggs.

I can’t resist, the animals here are just fabulous. Very posh dogs, and lots and lots of cats.

Between cooking classes at the monastery, and showing off my ravioli tray before a fabulous dinner with AJ & Jen, pasta was on my mind. I know it’s easy to find dry stuff in the stores, but it really is easy to make on board. I just have to remember to mix a single egg with however much flour the situation calls for, knead it a bit and then let it rest before dinner that night. Perfect for two. This time I had a pile of broccoli, some leftover rotisserie chicken, lemon, and parm. Yum.

We love the big social gatherings, but it’s nice to slow the pace and have a quieter visit as well. New friend Virginia had invited us for lunch at her new digs just out of the main part of town.

She had lucked out on a small apartment with the most amazing view of the bay, and delightful landlords. We lazed the afternoon away with rose wine, zucchini fritters, and the most delicious tomato tart.

Of course I spent half the time watching new construction going on near by….no sense of OSHA here. No hard hats, no safety tethers, walking around on joists four stories up!

And in true Montenegrin fashion, Virginia’s landlord came out as we were leaving. Tom, a former warship engineer (I think every man in Boka Bay served on a warship in the 70s-90s), was retired with enough land to have a few apartments attached to his house. More importantly he grew an amazing assortment of crops, had chickens and pigs, and made his own wine and raki (which of course we had to sample). I will never get tired of Montenegrin hospitality.

I really had not expected to get hooked on cold water immersion, but the small group of friends that kept it up made it worth the effort. I particularly love the fact that Karin re-named it Ocean Spa Day.

Karin, Jen and I had one final day to enjoy the water and each others company, before I spotted my arch nemesis the next morning.

And of course, Blackie the cat was there to say goodbye as well, guarding his beach and keeping us company.

What I’m excited to try next is free diving. We knew that Jen was a certified scuba instructor, but I had no idea that she was a free diving instructor as well. In just an hour of classroom instruction of breathing technique, I was able to go from 30 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds of holding my breath. I have to admit this is something that I won’t be pursuing in depth till we’re in warmer water, but I can’t wait to start the breathing practice! All these incredible new skills I had no idea I would pick up this winter.

Some thoughts about driving in Montenegro:

• The lines in the middle of the road are merely a suggestion.
• The roads are rarely wide enough for two cars, much less a truck or bus.
• Montenegrins know no fear of heights and many roads are at the edge of cliffs, and, if you’re lucky, they might have guard rails.
• Locals obviously know the roads better, but are more than likely to pass on blind curves, leading to near heart attacks on the part of unsuspecting foreigners like ourselves.

With all that said, I did finally get comfortable enough driving around to tackle the Serpentine Road from Kotor to Cetinje. 8.3 kilometers with 30 hairpin turns. As described on one website: “This narrow road can be treacherous. With inward-leaning concrete barriers on one side and jagged rock on the other, multiple vehicles may have to reverse their way back up the road when meeting a bus or construction vehicle coming the other way.” I thought we were going up early enough in the season, and early enough in the day to avoid such traffic, but within minutes I found myself backing down a road to let a truck through (impatient, but friendly enough). While pulled over and admiring the view, we watched one poor cement truck driver have to back up three times to let oncoming traffic come through.

P.S. I highly recommend the Citroën C3 Aircross. It looks like a bloated Mini Cooper, but it sat low to the ground, handled well, and comfortably sat four. Woohoo!