Montenegro - Happiness and Sorrow

At the border to Montenegro, things were surprisingly calm. It was important to keep distance in front of the control booth, and when presenting identification and vehicle papers, the engine had to be turned off. I was at the wheel and since I had cracked corners of my mouth for a few days, I unknowingly smiled at the gatekeeper with white residue of my cream on the left and right side of my mouth and practiced my first Montenegrin words happily. Luckily, I didn't understand a word of what he said to his colleagues while laughing. Thanks to my husband, I was informed shortly AFTER crossing the border that there were still remnants on my face. I would have preferred to continue driving unknowingly... Oh well. They will never see me again ^^

We spent the first night unexpectedly at the shore of Tivat Bay. Since we wanted to refill gas and were too late at the gas station, we quickly looked for a spot nearby and ended up at the end of the airport runway. Behind the unfortunately closed beach bar, I found two functional showers, from which we removed the shower heads. For the first time, Basti laboriously refilled our water supply with jerry cans. This time, it was out of the question to continue driving without water if we had something in reach. After a few takeoffs of the airplanes over our heads, it was quiet on the runway starting at 7:30 p.m. and we had a peaceful night at an almost perfect spot by the sea.

Since we had heard multiple times that the bay is a popular anchorage for cruise ships, we decided against the tourist attraction and drove up to "Goran's Farm" high up the mountain above Kotor. Goran used to be a police officer, but he has always dreamed of having his own farm with animals. He has fulfilled this dream so far that he now lives in an old ruin with his wife, a watchdog, two cows, three cats, a handful of goats, various chickens, and a pack of pot-bellied pigs with piglets. At first, we were alone between the ruins with another man who was on his way to Vietnam as "Scooby-Doo". But in the evening, we sat around the campfire with a young couple who were on their way back from Iran with their two children and a local family, and we tried white wine, rosé, and red wine. The day can sometimes change quickly 😊

The next morning, Goran showed all visitors the nearby underground bunkers and war remnants. This was impressive not only for the children. There was also an underground hospital, but we couldn't go in anymore. I didn't want to go in myself because I already had the feeling that it could be too close for me. And after hearing the stories from the others, the idea alone gave me a heavy feeling, and once again I was infinitely grateful for every day that we all were spared from such disaster and suffering.

While everyone was on the bunker tour, I suddenly heard faint shots nearby. When one of these shots hit our motorhome, I cautiously peeked out from under the roller blind. I saw a few figures in camouflage and masks running around between the ruins with a kind of machine gun. What somewhat reassured me after the initial shock was that there was also a man in "civilian" clothes standing near the motorhomes and seemed to be a sort of monitor for the whole thing. Bravely, I ventured out to see what all of this was about. The "monitor" immediately explained to me in English that the men were "only" playing paintball and that the paint doesn't cause any damage. Except that I have to clean our things, right? At least I think my appearance resulted in him sending the whole group further away from the vehicles. As an old Waldorf student, I understood from his instructions to the rest that the men were speaking Russian. I found that very absurd. I probably don't have to explain why... Strange day ☹

The children enjoyed the time among the animals - which, by the way, all lived freely on the mountain among us. Leonie became a cowherd when the large quadrupeds wanted to "graze" under our awning, and I was happy to finally have a pet pig for compost waste. I highly recommend it to anyone with a garden, I tell you!!! Felix enjoyed the many "secret hiding places" and my favorite man enjoyed the view with a cold beer. Here too, the finite nature of our water supply drove us again. Goran himself lives there without running water and electricity. As a thank you for the great days, we bought a large chunk of homemade feta cheese and a few eggs from him.

Next was a disappointing detour inland. Montenegro is so small, and in order not to immediately fall behind, we also wanted to get to know the inland. Bad weather was announced, and we planned to treat ourselves to a **** campsite and pamper ourselves with a sauna and jacuzzi. Unfortunately, the **** campsite had the worst shower in a long time, we were the only guests, and the sauna and jacuzzi were not available despite initial promises. Some uncle, who apparently was the only one who could make a fire for them, passed away?!? Well, that's how we ended up going back the whole way after one night and hiding by the sea again based on the recommendations of other travelers. Just like sometimes we stay longer unplanned, this was the first time we moved on unplanned... We actually wanted a break from the "hopping" - that's what I call it. We have become so accustomed to traveling with the children that after several short stages and free camping ("hopping"), we always treat ourselves to a longer break in a campsite to let all the new impressions sink in and to hopefully meet other children.

We found both after the rain on the coast in Ulcinj, in the very south of Montenegro.

When we arrived at the campsite, it initially seemed very quiet. In mid-October, mainly retirees are on the road or a few individual travelers on their way home. One of them was a group of retirees with EIGHT!!! motorhomes, or rather luxury liners, which were as big as buses, only to transport a maximum of 2 people, on their way to BALI. Yes! BALI. Hallelujah. Well deserved!!!

With the sun, more children also came to the beach. After some initial approaches from me to the accompanying mothers, the children also found each other. This time, our little group initially consisted of the Frenchwoman who emigrated and had Laotian roots, who lived in Berlin for a long time and then emigrated to Montenegro with her husband and 2 daughters. And Marija, a Montenegrin who moved back here with her 2 sons and her German husband. Both of them were immediately very likeable to me and open to strangers, like all the people we have met so far. Well, except for the German guy from the north, "Scooby-Doo". It took him a while longer ^^ A super nice young couple with a motorhome from Leutkirch and 2 more children joined us a day later. They made the mix perfect. It was nice that you were there Stefan and Natascha!!!

The showers were good, there was a washing machine, the restaurant at the campsite was open, the food was delicious, Moritz, our Appenzeller, could move around freely among the friendly stray dogs, and everything seemed to slow down. Until Moritz had his terrible fatal accident!!!

One morning, just as I had once again laid out my yoga mat on the veranda of the abandoned beach bar at sunrise, Moritz dashed across the beach in his youthful recklessness at full speed. Suddenly, I only heard a loud yelp, and he was lying about 150 meters away from me next to a knee-high thick post. On one hand, I would like to write it all out of my soul again, but on the other hand, it was so terrible that I will spare you. To understand why, despite the animal clinic and everything, we had to decide the next day to let Moritz be put to sleep, let me just say this: The sun probably blinded him so that he didn't see the post. The unbraked and unprotected impact at a minimum of 40 km/h was so violent that his spine and heart were too severely injured. Maybe a lot would have been different if we were in Germany, but we weren't there. Fate led us here and took Moritz away from us again on that day. I believe that everything is predetermined by a higher power, be it God, Allah, Buddha, or whoever. I don't understand it either, but it helps me to accept it. ☹ Some may think "it was just a dog," but he was part of our family, and Felix had taken him to his heart as his "little brother." Sometimes he would say, "hey Mom, you have three kids!" 😊 After a small farewell on the beach, everyone wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible. As soon as possible, we gathered our belongings and left the country. We hope to see Marija, Thoujan, and their families again someday...

We visited Ulcinj before we fled from the beach and left the country. The old castle was great and distracted us. We pampered ourselves in the restaurant and left Montenegro with mixed feelings and fully stocked supplies.

Our conclusion on Montenegro: A small country with potential. We felt comfortable and would have liked to stay longer... But things often turn out differently than you think.

Until someday, "little brother"...