Montenegro is a Balkan country south of Croatia and north of Albania and Greece.  I stayed in a small city of 30,000 called Herceg Novi, near the Croatian border. Montenegro regained independence in 2006 from Serbia. Previous to that, it was part of Yugoslavia — a country that existed from 1918 to 1992. It constituted the first union of South Slavic peoples as a sovereign state, following centuries of foreign rule over the region under the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy. 

It’s difficult to get a pulse on the people there. Sometimes they are cranky, sometimes they are really nice. The man at the bus station got flustered at me  because I didn’t understand him yelling MUSHKI (men) meaning I had to use the men’s pissy toilet as the others were locked or something. It was a squatter for sure.

I had a difficult time finding the guesthouse gate because the property is not next to the road — it’s sort of sandwiched between other apartments on a hill. I was wandering around staring at Google Maps while a Jack Russel terrier yapped at my heels. Then I heard someone shouting out and it was my host telling me I was too quick for him as I’d turned on my heel and was walking away. I’m sure that happened all the time.

After a rest in my room, I ventured out to find some dinner. I had a decent vegetarian pizza and a $5 glass of wine with it. I think I was the only tourist there.

Day two: I had a massive sleep-in! Obviously needed it. Once I got my shit togeether, I wandered the old town then had a salad and coffee. My general impressions thus far: this place is an undiscovered gem, but there’s also lots of concrete from the communist era. The old part of town is small but charming. My guesthouse host is generous and friendly — he brought me some local cheese which is aged in oil for three months and very pungent! There is not a great selection of vegetarian food but I managed — no worse than Italy and Switzerland to be fair.

Day three: What a gem this place is! And it’s great for introverts because nobody talks to you. No weirdos approaching you to talk or sell you anything. I heard English a grand total of four times that day. I was surrounded by Balkans who just minded their own business. The promenade has “beaches” (concrete slabs) where ppl actually lie on beach towels to sun themselves. My back aches just thinking about it. This feels like a country on the verge of becoming discovered. The rich are moving in, though. The place will change immensely in the next few years.

The town has four towers/ forts. The first is the fort down by the water which I never got to. The second is the 17th century Turkish clock tower in the small square. The third is Kanli Kula meaning tower of blood! How terribly gory. Built by a Bosnian king as a fortress then changed hands to the Venetians, Spaniards, Turks and so on. Then my favourite was the Spanish fortress!! Higher up the hill and built during a very short reign during the mid sixteenth century. Free to enter and an absolute ruin, I couldn’t stop taking photos.

Some random observations about this town and maybe Montenegro in general? I have a limited experience restricted to this area of course so take this all with a grain of salt. Also keep in mind I’m a sensitive little flower:

#1: The people here are aloof with strangers. I see them being warm with those they know. So maybe the “first wall” is high. I have experienced warm hospitality from my guesthouse host. And a random stranger helped me today at the grocery store. Bus station attendants and clerks are generally pretty rude and unhelpful.

#2: English is not widely spoken.

#3: Cheap clothes!

#4: It’s difficult finding vegetarian food other than pizza and salads.

#5: September is a great time to visit, as the weather is warm but not too hot.

#6: All dinners seem to cost 8€.

Friggin cat fight at 2:30 am out on the terrace and so I threw some cushions at them. Hopefully they will stay away now. I see some house plant shrapnel on the ground. There was a brass wedding band up the street so I went to check out what the racket was all about. Then read a trashy romance novel in the park. For dinner I found a little sushi place and had a tofu noodle bowl with Prosecco. Nice change from pizza!

Okay so I take it all back about folks here being grumpy. I walked the opposite way along the 6km promenade and it was more touristy but way friendlier. I felt like I was in a different country. Montenegro ranks 73rd out of 156 countries on the happiness scale.

One day I went on a jaunt to the monastery up in the hill. The predominant religion of the area is Eastern Orthodox. The church was undergoing renovations inside unfortunately, but the view at the top near the cemetary was fab! I got my steps in that day for sure!

The night before my friend Jen arrived, I bought myself a $2 beer and sat on the beach to enjoy the sunset and lapping waves. It was a bittersweet last night of sorts, as it was the last night I would be flying solo. Jen was staying with me for four nights then I was heading to Istanbul to meet up with my partner Randy, who had just retired and was meeting me abroad.

Jen made a special side trip from Spain to come and see me, which was much appreciated. It was nice to see a familiar face from home. Our accommodation was difficult to find, so I told her to meet me by the church in the square. Modern technology is so great — we were texting on WhatsApp the entire time she was in transit, so we were able to find each other easily. We squealed when we saw each other and exchanged hugs.

The next day, Jen and I visited “Bloody Tower,” a well preserved fort built by the Turks. An historical re-entacted video played in a dark stone room and there was access to the prison cells where prisoners had carved text and etched ships in the stone walls. There was no signage whatsoever and so we had to do research and make up our own stories.

We then hiked up the hill towards the Spanish fort, which I had visited earlier and loved so much I wanted Jen to see it. We took a pile more photos and Jen loved the acoustics of the rooms so much she sang some opera!

We finished off the day with a well-earned aperol spritz on the waterfront. I felt like we deserved it, due to the 12,000 steps we took and 41 stories’ worth of elevation gain we climbed.

The next day we took an awesome 8 hour boat tour to Perast, Lady of the Rocks and Kotor. I found Kotor to be very touristy — my previous impression that Montenegro was “undiscovered” was unfortunately not accurate. I feel like Herceg Novi is relatively undiscovered, for now, but Kotor, being on the cruise ship route, has suffered the same fate as many European destinations in that regard.

On the way back, we sat near some fun drunk Irish lasses and exchanged numbers. Apparently we now have an open invitation to Belfast!

After a few great days, we both packed up to go our separate ways — her back to Dubrovnik, and me to meet Randy in Istanbul.