Montenegro

Barb’s two motorcycle trips to Montenegro included lunch on a mountain with a view of the fjord, a night in a ski lodge, getting lost in one of the national parks, and a small cafe where the meal is prepared fresh based on what they have available. These adventures are almost exactly what I would want when I travel, but considering that I crashed my family’s dirt bike on my first try when I was thirteen years old and haven’t ridden since, I probably should look for another mode of transportation. However I get around, Barb tells me that Montenegro is simply a beautiful country and she would definitely go back. Her pictures of canyon, fjord, icons, and churches preview what I found traveling to Montenegro while staying at home.

Linda added her online research to Barb’s in-person exploration to help me get deeper into the forested mountains and medieval villages of Montenegro. She pointed out the bears, wolves, and glacial lakes, as well as outlining the history and literature. I particularly noticed Petar II Petrovic Njegos who worked on uniting Montenegrin tribes into a centralized state independent of the Ottoman Empire. His concessions to Serbia presaged both what would become Yugoslavia and the amicable separation in 2006. In his spare time, he wrote epic poetry, religious literature, and drama, with the most famous work being The Mountain Wreath: https://www.njegos.org/petrovics/wreath.htm

Because I didn’t find any Montenegrin restaurants in California, I took the opportunity to cook and had a fun meal with Heidi and Linda including:

· Borek (I made this recipe vegetarian by grinding up Morningstar Farms grillers and adding potatoes, peas, and zaater): https://ethnicspoon.com/burek/

· A Montenegrin version of polenta (we not only poured the sauce over the polenta, we dipped the borek into it as well): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYLbeyW7f_o

· Sopska salad (this was perfect to balance the rest of the meal): https://www.internationalcuisine.com/montenegrin-sopska-salad/

· Heidi made a delicious chocolate cake with strawberries for dessert, so I haven’t yet tried the palačinke (Balkan-style crepes): https://thebalkanhostess.com/palacinke/

· We finished our evening listening to music by Vanja Radovanović: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBpXv3ZHKbQ

I am so grateful to Barb, Linda, and Heidi because the library is light on Montenegrin history and literature. I chose not to read the romance novel with a Montenegrin prince, the thriller with Montenegrin witches in Russia, and the travelogue where someone found a kitten while bicycling from Bosnia to Montenegro. The travelogue would have been more relevant if the man and his cat had stayed longer in Montenegro. I found more relevant options when I searched for Crna Gora, the Montenegrin name for itself. There the Los Angeles County Library has downloadable folk music from this group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4Aypn6hhM

Movies from Montenegro are scarce online. Each one here gets a little closer:

· Casino Royale is set in Montenegro but not filmed there, leaving out the amazing scenery. It can be watched on Netflix but it’s just a thin association.

· The R-rated Meet Me in Montenegro spends most of its time in Berlin, but there are glimpses of Montenegro (it would be a spoiler to say exactly how much): https://tubitv.com/movies/589137/meet-me-in-montenegro

· The movie I enjoyed most is both set in Montenegro and filmed in Montenegro (recognizing that Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia before it broke up). Allan and I both saw Force 10 from Navarone years ago, but I understand the story better now that I’ve been reading about the Partisans and the Chetniks while working on my blogs for two additional formerly Yugoslavian countries, Bosnia and Croatia: https://tubitv.com/movies/312177/force-10-from-navarone

I found more poetry for Montenegro than books or movies. Here are three poems dedicated to Montenegro from non-Montenegrin poets and four poems by women poets from Montenegro:

· Poems by Tennyson, Marquis, and Henning: https://www.njegos.org/petrovics/poems.htm

· “An Open Wound” by Tanja Bakić: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/march-2017-montenego-an-open-wound-Tanja-Baki-jim-phelps

· “Time” by Dragana Tripković: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/march-2017-montenegro-time-Dragana-Tripkovi-peter-stonelake

· Two poems by Jovanka Uljarević: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/march-2017-montenegro-women-writers-two-poems-jovanka-uljarevic

I always enjoy finding an internationally known musician from a country as well as experiencing their local music:

· An interview with Miloš Karadaglić: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR3eC5jlFjA

· Miloš Karadaglić’s performance of “The Sound of Silence” by Paul Simon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ieXIFA67Zc

· The Books of Knjige has more comedy online than music, but since I don’t understand Montenegrin, I’m choosing the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U52OyZa1_lc

To understand a little more about the culture of Montenegro see:

· A survey of the language and religion of the former Yugoslavia including Montenegro: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/euro-hist/world-war-i-tutorial/v/language-and-religion-of-the-former-yugoslavia

· An interview discussing wedding traditions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zmLap0FAM

· Information on a famous icon painting school: https://www.rastko.rs/rastko-bo/umetnost/iseferovic-ikone_eng.html

· Paintings by Vojo Stanic (this video is like walking through a gallery of paintings with a friend who keeps calling your attention to another painting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sWtyb992s

· A cartoon by Dušan Vukotić: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGrCOEQaPDU

The National Tourism Organization of Montenegro has quite a few 360 degree photographs of famous destinations and several museums that you can “walk” through by clicking where you want to go: https://www.montenegro.travel/en/news/1696

I enjoyed both of these travel videos:

· Rick Steves' Eastern Europe: Dubrovnik & Balkin Side Trips (which includes Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Buk6NPVPg

· The travel video Linda found and we watched twice to get all the details: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VtXuGg0Qkro

I also enjoyed the list from The Crazy Tourist of the fifteen best places to visit in Montenegro: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-montenegro/

I would love to go! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Montenegro and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Евгений Дмитриев https://unsplash.com/photos/SUjnFMdjdKw