This post sees us drive from Berane to Kolasin in Montenegro via Manastir (Monastery) Sudikova, Mojkovac and Biogradska Gora (Lake Biograd).
Our 6am rise in Berane presented us with a mountain range covered in mist and roughly 15C. This is summer. We can’t even imagine how cold it must get in winter but we could hazard a close guess based on the mountains of wood already cut and stacked up in all the local houses that led to our first stop in the Sudikova Monastery. We were greeted by the only nun living in this Monastery for 10 years now. She showed us the Church of the Entry of the Theotokos. The only Church in the Monastery was built in 2005 on the ruins of the original Church built in the 14th Century and destroyed by the Ottomans but founded here because of the miraculous spring that appears ever few years and heals many people who bath in it. The iconography in the Church is simply stunning, as you will see below.
The town of Mojkovac is surrounded by mountains and the perfect place to relax. For only the second time in our trip we sat down to breakfast, which was the best to date. Three eggs, two sausages, feta cheese and plenty of bread (toast does not exist in Montenegro) were delicious and only cost us 5AUD each. Ridiculous. The Latte Coffees were served in glasses like in the past in Australia and cost only 2AUD. Double Ridiculous.
Biogradska Gora (Lake Biograd) is 3.3km in perimeter, 12m at its deepest, 1120m above sea level and a refreshing 17C to swim. I know because I dived into the lake to bring you a full report in the upcoming movie !!!
Kolasin (Pop 8,380, Elev 1,016m, Founded 17th Century) is the main Ski Centre for the country and surrounded by peaks topping 2,000m. A nice sleepy town with a pedestrian strip and colourful homes with steep pitched roofs.
Our day in Kolasin was perfectly capped by a sumptuous local food feast in a fabulous stone and wood restaurant right on the river only 5min walk from our apartment. The outside temperature dived but the opening Montenegrin Cabernet quickly warmed us up. To follow was local trout for Leo and I and smoked pork for Paris. In the centre a totally local dish of stewed beans and the big one – potato salad drowned in 3 cheeses !!! The only green stuff was cabbage and parsley - we noticed that cabbage is big in the Balkans. Despite that, we “limped” back to our apartment…
Enjoy the mountainous north of Montenegro…
BERANE:
We stayed in that little green house on the left... magic!
Manastir (Monastery) Sudikova:
Potato Salad drenched in 3 cheeses,
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