There is a glass ball on the mantelpiece. In it, over a small castle, it is snowing from apple blossom petals. Nearby, in a blue velvet jewelry box, is a miniature composition of cold silver depicting the nativity scene where the baby Jesus was born. These are souvenirs from Montenegro. Visual beacons of memory of a journey to a fairy-tale land on the Adriatic coast.

Undiluted watercolor, written by a heavenly artist, this small mountainous country appears before us. Bright: blue, green, turquoise, ultramarine, smoky blue, oatmeal cookies, sugar pink, red-orange, all like Van Gogh's irises. An impressionistic paradise for eyes tired of the monotonous grayness of a dusty industrial anthill. A resident of a city with a population of over a million who is not tempted to travel cannot escape the feeling of separation from reality here, you “deafen” so much from all this riot of colors and fabulous landscapes. The blue sea off the coast, strewn with small green islands, right there, turning his head, are mountains through which cotton clouds, houses with red roofs and flowers everywhere pass slowly and lazily. Serpentines of roads, old European cars with the patina of time, tall stately Montenegrins, dilapidated Austro-Hungarian, Spanish, Venetian fortresses, Orthodox monasteries with a halo of a light halo from the number of shrines stored in them and again mountains, sea, mountains, sea ...

Huge Russian distances and open spaces often interfere with the perception of our local beauties. Stay up until you get there. There is no time for contemplative rest. Montenegro in this regard is the complete opposite. The country seems like a toy, especially from the height of the mountain view. Everything is so close here that from the center of the country - the capital of Podgorica, you go to the coast for an hour and a half, if using the Sozina tunnel, and two hours, if you go around the mountains. And on the coast, historically significant cities are located half an hour from each other. And no idle lying on the beach! Montenegro is too attractive for active tourists, it's a pity to lose a day and not get new impressions. Of course, the sea calls beach tourists, who are hungry for a wild tan, but yes, everyone will choose a vacation here for themselves.

No, I'm not a tourist - extreme, Elbrus does not shine for me)) but, like any Soviet child, as a child she loved to climb trees, construction sites, into destroyed houses, play lightning and Cossack robbers. Montenegro will make a child out of you again, there are so many opportunities for this kind of tourism. What kind of fortresses and forts, abandoned villages you will not find here, but these mountains! They are beautiful and close. Reach out your hand, take a backpack and sneakers, and go! And in the evening, back on your terrace or in a cafe on the embankment and breathe, breathe ... air that does not contain exhaust gases and products of petrochemical industries.
Overripe roses that no one cuts, the sun that does not burn, the air that does not have enough lungs, the blue-blue sea, in which the frigates of pirates no longer sink, the mountains that beckon with featherbeds from the clouds - is this not paradise!

And as a guide in paradise, the guides of this group are perfect. I was lucky to talk and travel around Montenegro, accompanied by Stas Sedov. Very positive, interesting and attentive our compatriot from Russia. After all, the question of a Russian-speaking guide is always relevant. Only by receiving information in your own language can you count on not missing a single detail. Thank you, Stas, for the service and rich program, as well as Marina for the hike to Mount Vrmac. Good luck to you guys and prosperity!

May 20, 2013