The flight to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, from Rome is only 1 hour 20 minutes. Flying towards the coast the rugged mountains and green farmland come into view.
Podgorica is no doubt a great place to live. The guide book said it is one of the dullest capital cities in Europe, a bit harsh. It has busy shopping streets and some nice parks. We were only there for the night, so didn’t do much sightseeing.
Podgorica has a major parking issue. The kind man at the car hire at the airport said there are plenty of car parks. He neglected to say that all of them are full. Any space on or near a road has a car in it. Paid carparks were all full. Footpaths double as car parking spaces on occasion. We finally managed to find a space after driving around for sometime. It was a short walk to the hotel.
We left the next morning, heading for Cetinje, the historical capital. It was the capital of Montenegro until the country was subsumed into the first state of Yugoslavia in 1918.
The road through the mountains to Cetinje is stunning. The rocky mountains loom on either side of the highway.
The town sits in a basin surrounded by the Loveen massif. Look up in all directions and you see mountains.
The main street is pedestrian only. The trees are all bare right now, but it will look wonderful soon. Visiting before tourist season and crowds means not seeing places are their very best. I can live with thst.
There some stunning buildings in the town…the French embassy.
An old building. It looks like something the Adams Family would have liked.
The Minestry of Culture.
A colourful street.
The Blue Palace is the official residence of the President of Montenegro. It was built in 1895.
You see the mountains in the background.
Busy cafes in the square.
King Nicola’s Palace has been a museum since 1926.
A small church near the Cetinje Monastery.
The Cetinje Monastery is a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It was founded in 1484 by Prince Ivan Crnojevic of Zeta. It was devastated in 1692 in a war in 1692 and rebuilt in 1701 – 1704.
Always a mountain in view.
History museum.
The National Museum was once Government House.
Another fabulous old building in the main street.
Another square with outdoor cafes.
I liked the colourful row of houses and shops in the background, particulars the yellow building. I loved the detail at the top.
Not far away we found the Fairy of Loveen, a monument to 350 American Montenegrins who died when their boat was sunk off Albania on their return to Montenegro to fight in WWI.
Behind it is the Vlach Church. The Vlach are believed to be the remnants of the Romans who retreated into less accessible areas when their boat was Slavs arrived. The fence is made from 1544 barrels of guns taken from the Ottomans during the 19th century wars.
Car parks were also difficult to find in Cetinje. We did find one not far from the pedestrian street. We were delighted to spot and empty space near the Vlach Church!
Then it was back on the road through more mountains. Some still had snow on top.
We missed a turn towards Kotor and instead of telling us to turn around the satnav sent us on a detour along a very narrow and winding road down through the mountains and back up again.
We passed tiny settlements, abandoned houses and the occasional small farm.
Once back on the highway we soon began to descend towards Kotor on the coast. We had to stop to take in the view a couple of times.
From the top it was switchbacks all the way to the bottom. Just as well we had practice on the 8 kilometres for switchbacks on the way to Casa Debbio, the house we had in the Apuane Alps in Italy.
There were wildflowers along the road on the way down.
We were lucky to have blue sky all the way.
Next stop Kotor.
.
