Montenegro day 1: The plane was empty!

Sunday, 2nd October 2022

Flag of Montenegro. Credits: Wikipedia.

Originally we planned to travel to Crete but with £300 return flights we thought it was a bit too much to hop onto the Mediterranean.

We also planned on travelling in September but Jorge forgot to request annual leave and early October was what he managed to get.

With Montenegro ranking high on the up-and-coming destinations, affordable and hopefully still warm in October, it was an easy pick.

We flew with Wizz Air, a low cost airline that charges for everything. The cheapest ticket includes only a backpack so we had to pay extra to take a carry-on bag. It was almost the double of the basic price to have hold luggage.

When I was checking-in online (checking-in at the airport also has a fee...), it wanted to charge £30 to seat the three of us together. No, thank you. I chose the random seat selection. The boys were seated together in row 5, I got row 36. It then politely informed me that I could change a seat for £18. Oh, please!! I showed the pc screen the finger and left the seats as they were.

To my indignation, the plane was empty! We were 'randomly' sat separate to prompt us to spend more money. Bastards! A few others seating near me had the same fate. Luckily we were allowed to change seats during the flight, reverting to our allocated seats before landing. Something to do with weight distribution for taking off and landing.

Podgorica's airport is small and, without hold luggage, we were out in 5 min. Manuel's priority is always to buy a SIM card and we rarely leave the airport without one. 'Communications are top priority' he says. He wanted the 500GB card for 2 weeks for €10 but compromised for the 400GB card with 500min & 500 texts for the same 2 weeks and €10. We are renting a car and may need to make calls.

Taxi fare to the city centre is a standard €12 ride and there is a stall at the arrivals gate so you can't miss it. Requests cannot be made so you get dropped off at the centre, wherever that may be.

The taxi dropped us at the Independence Square and we walked 15 min to our rental flat: Apartment Alexandar, where we were greeted by the host.

The building is a bit old and the entrance looks a bit derelict. Access to the building is via fob or code and there is a small lift. As soon as you get to the flat you are greeted with a high security door and a refurbished flat. Exactly as we got in St. Petersburg, Russia. Unkept outside, fob to gain access, immaculate inside. Must be a Soviet thing...

We dropped our bags and popped to the nearest bakery for some late lunch. We got 2 huge chocolate croissants and a ham & cheese pastry, washed down with deliciously thick natural yogurt. These croissants must be a local think as they can be found in every bakery.

It was past 4pm and we had some time so we decided to start sightseeing on the western side of the river Morača, the Nova Varoš (New Town). The eastern part is the Stari Varoš (Old Town).

At the Nova Varoš is where we can find the Petrovic Castle (Dvorac Petrovića). We were expecting a castle, what we got was a small mansion. It was underwhelming.

It was built in 1891 and it's the former residence of the dynasty Petrović. In 1984, King Nikola's castle chapel and the surrounding buildings were converted into an art gallery, which is now part of the Centre for Contemporary Art of Montenegro.

The entrance gate and stairs are of note, mainly because it is clear they were built around existing trees. It was very noble and ecological of the Petrović and as early as the late 19th century!

The castle sits on the Park Petrovića and we found 2 interesting things. 

The chapel has the bell cords running from the bell tower on the outside of the building and fixed to the side wall. It is clear that bells are rung from the outside of the chapel and not from inside as usual.

The park bins are made of metal with a top cover that swivels. We are not sure why. It's not that the bins have bags to be removed in an easier manner if the top is swivelled upwards as we couldn't see any bin liners. Could it be that by swivelling the top upwards, it can used as an ashtray?

I was curious to what the below could be. Jorge seems to think it is a lean-on for cyclists as they wait for the green light. It makes sense as cyclists would use the top handle to grab and the bottom step to fix their foot. It's a good idea. Pity this particular one was missing a couple of screws and was very wobbly.

Not far from the park stands the Podgorica Cathedral: Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Saborni Hram Hristovog Vaskrsenja).

As in the flat, the outside is unfinished and dirty, the inside is superbly decorated and impeccably clean.

Unfinished stairs with the new covered slabs waiting to be used.

The finished work has already been destroyed.

Next door to what looks to be a dumping ground.

The cathedral belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church and it was completed in 2013. Its highlights are the frescoes and their gilded background and the floor mosaics. It is so new and the frescoes so fresh that it feels like this is the best church you've ever been in. It's as if all the other stone churches with no decoration are boring.

The exterior of the building features an unusual contrast between roughly finished stone and carved stones.

The door is made of carved metal. Iron?

There are two bell towers with a total of 17 bells, the heaviest one is the biggest in the Balkans and weights around 11 tons.

Entrance to the cathedral is free and it's open Monday-Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday 8am-9pm and Sunday 7am-9pm. There is a gift shop by the entrance.

There are a few bridges crossing Morača river.

One of the most striking is the Millennium Bridge (Most Milenijum) which was built in 2005 and is 173m long.

Running parallel to the Millennium bridge is Moscow Bridge (Moskovski Most), a 105m long pedestrian bridge built in 2008, a gift by the city of Moscow to the people of Montenegro.

It was 6pm and we had seen the attractions on the Nova Varoš. Manuel was right, Podgorica is small!

We walked to the Stari Varoš (Old Town), found a restaurant and had an early dinner: Gostiona 1928. Service was great and the food was superbly cooked but they only had two cakes for dessert so we skipped dessert.

I read online that you should tip up to 10% and round up the bill so that's what we did for the whole trip, much to Manuel's annoyance who kept saying 'that's an American thing!'.

For 2 starters + 3 mains + 1 beer + 2 cocktails + water we paid €65.

Seafood risotto with saffron

Gnocchi in tomato sauce with cheese and spinach

Pappardelle with zucchini, bacon and mushrooms