Italy, Montenegro, Serbia and Austria

[OZDUCK]

While at Virpazar, this is the noise and view we woke to each day

Gosh nature is sooo noisy - couldn't you tell it to shut up That looks like an absolutely beautiful place to stay.

 

[RB]

Gosh nature is sooo noisy - couldn't you tell it to shut up That looks like an absolutely beautiful place to stay.

I was a bit surprised when I first replayed my video. We were lucky the windows in the apartment were so good! By the time we left I think we had become a bit used to it. Certainly was nature at its best

 

[OZDUCK]

I was a bit surprised when I first replayed my video. We were lucky the windows in the apartment were so good! By the time we left I think we had become a bit used to it. Certainly was nature at its best

I followed your 'links' about the area and realised that we probably got within 50 km of it in 1976 when driving from Greece to Italy. From what I remember, in those days it was a very backward area e.g. lots of working donkeys around, hand labour in the fields etc. Also the border with Albania was still fortified and restricted military areas were often encountered. There was certainly little to no tourist infrastructure.

 

[RB]

30th May Day 2 in Virpazar
First up some washing (big plastic baby bath provided but no machine). Some great fruit & yoghurt from the supermarket-stone fruit was plentiful & very cheap & ultra fresh.
Fortress Besac Walk- an easy uphill walk about a 10 min walk from apartment.1Euro entry paid to attendant who had old adding machine calculator. Very few visitors so some great photos opportunities. Fortress was built by Turks in 1478 from local stone (plenty available!). Has had an interesting history- conquered by Montenegrins at beginning of 18th century & partially destroyed, used as gendarmerie station between World Wars, during Italian occupation used as a prison, 1979 an earthquake further damaged and then some EU intervention to rehabilitate & conserve. Some good old photos to be seen of the fishing industry & the town.
Lake Skadar is the largest lake in Southern Europe. Plenty of info here Lake Skadar: Montenegro's Hidden Gem
1pm Lake Skadar boat cruise- plenty of choice & many touts. You need to buy a national park permit for 4 Euros from a designated spot then pay 10 Euros to the boat of your choice-gives you a 2hr lake cruise. We went with Golden Frog company as they had good reviews-today was 11 people in total plus driver & guide. Enjoyable & educational trip on a wooden boat. We were surprised by the volume of trash (apparently overnight storms increase the rubbish flow and they were blaming the Albanians). Think 2 hrs is about right-we went to the left side from the village. Our guide was entertaining- an anecdotes-bad prisoners who could not swim were housed in prison on the island. When released they & their family were housed in homes with no chimneys-when the ex-prisoners went to markets etc others knew they were ex-prisoners as they smelt of smoke. . The other yarn was that early roads were plotted according to the direction that donkeys found their way downhill-modern road engineers in Montenegro are still known as donkeys.
While waiting to start the cruise we were entertained by a swimming labrador chasing ducks on the water-the ducks won but the dog was the best swimmer I have seen! -apparently the game is repeated every day
Dinner at Silistria-a replica of a 19th-century boat gifted to King Nikola by the Turks, permanently docked by Virpazar's main square. Traditional Montenegrin grilled meat and lake fish are served on deck or below. Mrs RB had the carp (regarded as the prime fish of the lake) ok, but as expected was very bony. A few Russians sat outside wrapped in blankets, we opted for inside. Good service by a Serbian lady who was keen to talk to Aussies

Silistria boat restaurant, Virpazar - Ada Bojana For MeAda Bojana For Me

Out the front of our apartment


View from Fortress Besac


Another Fortress View


The Fortress


Virpazar as seen from the Fortress


The boat cruises enter the lake via the stream starting on the bottom left

 

[RB]

Plenty of photos taken during the boat cruise




Plenty of open water but also sections of reeds and lillies

 

[RB]

A video Mrs RB shot during the cruise

 

[RB]

Monument to the Partizans & Heroes of WW2 at Virpazar


The Lake Sceciality-Carp!


Choice of boats for lake cruise-comfortable enough for 2 hrs

 

[RB]

31st May-Day 3 Virpazar
Walk to Godinje.
About 8km out and back via the road. It is a pretty flat with only 150 metres difference in elevation. It was a bright sunny day with the best weather so far. There were quite a few other walkers & cars. There was some fantastic viewing spots-the never ending lake, hills, veggie gardens etc. We had a lazy afternoon back at the apartment. We bought some great hand made souvenirs- the lady we bought from lives on the premises in the heart of the village.
Pretty happy with the decision to spend the full 2 days here-don't think we needed longer.

 

[RB]

Virpazar to Kolasin
To make things easy for ourselves we organised for our Virpazar hosts to transfer us to Podgorica train station. Again good driving & then help to buy the train ticket & a fond farewell. Discussion during the transfer revealed that a lot of Chinese & Turk investment is happening in this area, long leases are replacing freehold in the deals and one of our hosts is visiting China next week as part of a local Govt delegation. We passed a train at a siding-about 500 new Fiat cars on the one train-apparently built in Serbia, transit through Montenegro & destined for Italy. As expected the train was a little late-I can can grant them a little leeway when 2 people can travel 90 minutes for less than 7 Euros (only 75 km in reality). Carriages were the “old dog boxes of 6 seats” from the 60’s of NSW trains. Spent some time with a couple from Yamba, a town where we used to live & their daughter now lives in PQQ where we also now live-Small world. Some incredible scenery & bridge engineering happening and many tunnels- We crossed the Dinar Ridge, apparently one of the most scenic rail journeys in Europe with rocky river canyons then wooded landscape of the Bjelasica Mountains.
As arranged we are met at the train by our host & transferred to Mrdja Apartments.- no seat belt required and we found this very common in Montenegro & Serbia.
Many of the photos are taken from the train so a little difficult to get good shots.

A not particularly inviting station at Podgorica

 

[RB]

 

[RB]

 

[RooFlyer]

Just catching up ... enjoying the TR. That bridge is spectacular!

 

[OZDUCK]

More great photos - some of that rail trip looks like what was shown on an episode of "Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railway Journeys Series 4 - Balkans"

 

[RB]

I have posted a review of our apartment here Mrdja Apartments-Kolasin Montenegro

Around Kolasin-
Kolasin was established by the Turks in the 17th Century.
We found Kolasin a bit more developed than Virpazar with the winter skiing seeming to provide the impetitis for commercial activity. Food & drink seem to be slightly cheaper than Virpazar. There are more stand alone bars/coffee shops & a bigger variety of accommodation options-even a 4 Points Sheraton. There are 4 bigger supermarkets & a few “corner” stores that have a following. You can buy a big slice of pretty good pizza for 1 Euro & a restaurant sells us 2 soups & bread for 4 Euros.
The weather is cloudy & thunderstorms threaten throughout our stay but don’t particularly hinder us.
Day 1 afternoon- we walk around & take in a few of the historical sites- memorial for fallen fighters, the lower & upper square etc . A thunderstorm halts our walk to the Botanic Gardens but we view the Church of St Dimitrius- a little story I read online
“One can miss a lot of amazing stories without a guide in Kolasin. Sometimes the most interesting stories are the most obvious ones, but there is no one to tell them. But not now, not in Kolasin and not with Ivan. He told me to pay attention to the roof of the Church of St. Dimitry. One would expect to see three bells there, but there aren’t any. It is an unusual sighting for someone who is used to seeing typical orthodox churches. Church bells were melted down into ammunition during many wars in Kolasin region. Their sounds were replaced by gunshots. After the war it was decided not to return the bells on the church in memory of terrors of the war and for it never to return here” – currently the separate belfry has a wooden ladder & a couple of big ropes.
The rivers Tara & Moraca are prominent here & skiing, hiking, mountain biking and rafting are promoted. For those seeking more info on Kolasin I found this web page pretty useful Kolasin – Discover Montenegro

The church sans bells




Ate in the restaurant here on the 1st night-a little underwhelming


Seemed a little out of Place








Time to get inside-weather changes quickly around here

 

[RB]

Day 2 –June 2nd. Our hosts provide the (paid) transport for our main adventure here- a visit to Biogradska Lake for the circular walk- they drop us off & return later for a pre-arranged pick-up. There are local taxis available or a bus service to the entry followed by an uphill hike or you catch a ride on the “mini train” service after arriving on the bus.
The lake is the largest and most famous of the area. It is glacial in origin and created in the thermal basin of the Biogradska river. The Biogradska supplies it with water and it flows out as the Jezerstica river. When full it is just over a million cubic metres, 410 metres wide, 3300 metres round and max depth of 12 m.
We go anticlockwise on a good wide path that varies from dirt to stone to concrete to wooden boardwalk. There are bus groups but on the day it is not overcrowded. Maybe not up to the spectacle of the Plitvice Lakes or Lake Bled that we experienced previously but still a great experience that was enhanced by the educational billboards throughout. There were very obvious changes as we walked-as copied from Wikipedia
Ecology
Although it is the one of smallest of five national parks in Montenegro, Biogradska Gora National Park contains great diversity of flora and fauna. There are 26 different habitats of plants with 220 different plants, 150 species of birds, and 10 species of mammals live in this Park and in its forest, there are 86 species of trees and shrubs. In the waters of the park exist three species of trout and 350 species of insects. Rainfall is extremely high in the area, averaging up to 100 inches per year, and allows the growth of temperate rainforest. One of the unique features of the park is its virgin forest, Biogradska Gora (16 km²) with trees over five hundred years old. In the very heart of virgin forest is Biogradsko Lake, the largest glacier lake in this National park. The most common tree species around the lake are European beech, sycamore maple and European ash, and on the slopes beech and silver fir.

The day is fairly still so there are plenty of chances to snap some reflections.

Firstly some photos from my phone
The mini train service


Start of the walk


One of the educational boards-highlighted the different looks and weights

 

[RB]

Some photos Mrs RB took

 

[VPS]

Stunning scenery and great photos

 

[RB]

Stunning scenery and great photos

Thank you! As I was going through the Biogradska Lake photos today & deciding which ones to use I started thinking I had underestimated what a fantastic spot the lake was. The ease of access, amazing variety of nature, easy tracks and lack of crowds make it a treasure.

 

[RB]

3rd June
Last day in Kolasin- general rain. Had to check-out at 11am (they had people coming in) & then kill time until the bus. The Botanic Gardens were very disappointing-overrun & only thing we could note were pine trees (Pinus Peuce with 5 needles) that are endemic to the Central Balkan Peninsular. On the walk back to town we re revisited the St Dimitrius Church-now unlocked & then we wandered the streets. We settled at a local bar 2X Coffee=1.6 Euro & free internet=A win on a rainy day. Our apartment hosts were to run us to the bus but their car was off the road so they ordered a 1 Euro cab ride for us and insisted on paying.
The bus stop did not inspire a lot of confidence but the bus appeared roughly on time (tickets purchased online before we left Aust)

Inside St Dimitrius


The bus stop with no signage-our worldly possessions


Kolasin to Kotor-
Bus trip operated by Vot ( Serbian Company)
A Mercedes bus of unknown vintage & in need to new seats, suspension & exhaust system. About 4hrs on a coughty day for driving with rain & terrible visibility. We were on a highway with a lot of altitude change & hairpins, so kudos to the 2 drivers. Throughout Montenegro there always seemed to be 2 employees on the bus. The journey would normally be a good viewing trip but not today- I would guess it would be pretty special to look down on Budva when it first appears



View from Kotor apartment back to bus stop. Note clouded hills in background-later photos are a sharp contrast


The positive thing was that our worst weather day was spent transferring. For many who were in Kotor on cruises (the Azamara Pursuit was in) it would have been a real disappointment.


Things had improved a little when we went pursuing dinner

 

[RB]

I have reviewed our Kotor apartment here D & D Apartment Kotor Montenegro

Around Kotor -City of Cats
We were met by members of our hosts family at the bus station & driven 500 metres to our apartment.
We arrived after 6pm so basically dropped bags, visited supermarket & then hunted down dinner-had been a long day so pizza slices from Old Town to walk with-best food since we left Italy. Watched a little French Open before an early night.

4th June-first full day-an ordinary weather forecast for the next few days so we opted to do the "Ladder of Kotor" later in the week. The physical setting of Kotor is quite amazing
Our first job was to decipher the washing machine & get a bit organised. Then a walk through harbour area (heaps of touts for boat trips) & continue through to the far end of Dobrota, about 8km of walking. We started the walk back before getting the local bus. An unexpected highlight of the walk was watching the rescue of a cat that had somehow ended up in the water-local fishers came to the rescue using an old hessian bag. Late lunch was at a local butchery-gourmet burger, good but not up to German versions from previous trips . Dinner was in the Old Town-mussels & fish, not bad- many bars and restaurants to choose from.
Kotor is by far the busiest place we have visited this trip. The whole harbour area was clamouring around people getting off the Celebrity Constellation & the Emerald Princess. The postcards we posted on this day took a month to get to Aust. Traffic through Kotor is a shambles most of the day-the road is a 2 lane link that struggles to cope with current vehicle numbers.
Traffic is commonly at a standstill


It is not all glamour