Academic Travel Post #5: Montenegro

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A little post about a little country today!

Montenegro has (oddly enough) been on my bucket list for quiet some time now! It started out when Jay Gatsby told Nick Caraway that he carries around a medal that was awarded  for "Valour Extraordinary" during WWI by Montenegro. Then, when James Bond's Casino Royale was set in Bukva, Montenegro, my interest was only further piqued. All in all, it was not exactly what I expected [read: no Daniel Craig] but I am glad that I got a chance to add another stamp to my passport! Not to mention that I got to visit one of the world's newest countries. Montenegro only declared its independence from Serbia in 2006. Also, despite the long drive, I was not kidding when I said the country is little! Montenegro is about the size of Connecticut, meaning that you could fit 35 Montenegro's in the state of California! 
To get to the old capital city of Cetinje we had to drive our bus onto a ferry (^^) and sail across a lake before then continuing over the narrowest, sketchiest switchback up the mountain. The ascent was terrifying, but the view from the top looking out over the bay and the Mediterranean sea was gorgeous!
Books in the old royal palace (^^) 
And because I cannot imagine a better way to end a blog post than with a Great Gatsby quote: 

“Little Montenegro! He lifted up the words and nodded at them-with his smile. The smile comprehended Montenegro’s troubled history and sympathized with the brave struggles of the Montenegrin people. It appreciated fully the chain of national circumstances, which had elicited this tribute from Montenegro’s warm little heart. My incredulity was submerged in fascination now."

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 

PS you should probably check out Montenegro's 2013 entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.. I can't be sure but I think it features two rappers, a shoutout to the Breaking Bad TV series and a girl fight.. Skip to 2:00min if you want to jump right into the full effect. Also you should probably watch THIS, because Go Montenegro!  

Comments

  1. Go Jugendreisen @ VeronicaDecember 8, 2013 at 9:45 PM

    Hi...
    Amazing, thanks for sharing this tremendous blog post with us. Glad to see all these pics. Keep sharing interesting updates with us.

    ReplyDelete

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