Montenegrin sketches
Summer in Montenegro, especially mid-July - August, was unbearably hot. After 9 in the morning I don’t feel like going out. I wonder how at noon at this time the beaches are filled with bodies, also small children.
I, who grew up in dry Central Asian 40 degree weather, dreamed of forest coolness on the Budva Riviera - high humidity affects. Everyone who has the opportunity to escape from the coast, go to the mountain forests.
Behind the capital Podgorica, the Path to the north of Montenegro lies under the Morachitsa bridge - this is a new attraction of the entire Balkan Peninsula. Not from the word "bother", but from the name of the river. Although the difficulties in its construction are not small. After completion of construction, it will be the highest bridge in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
The bridge is supported by 5 columns, the maximum height of which is 161 meters, and in a place with a roadway will be 175. The length is almost a kilometer. Width 24 meters. Construction is carried out by a Chinese company. Speaking of summer: the heat is such that the work happens at night with lanterns.
A bridge over the Moraca River is needed as part of a global highway project to make Montenegro more accessible, including for a new one, for progress. The highway began to be built on May 11, 2015.
So far, the Interstate Road winds along serpentines along rivers, along gorges. very picturesque, but not fast. In the near future, you can get to the Montenegro coast from other countries of the Balkan Peninsula, and most importantly from Serbia, twice as fast.
Kalashin. The population is only about 10 thousand. The most popular winter resort in Montenegro, it is located on the main highway to Serbia. In summer, it attracts with its quiet provincialism.
It seems that the rain begins, and the horses did not have time to feed the wild apples. Would it be such a downpour in Primorye now?
Biogradska Gora. At an altitude of 1094 meters lies the glacial Lake.
Those who want to ride on the lake have to wait a long time for the line. But around the lake there is a 3-kilometer walking trail, accessible even to preschoolers.
Beech, some specimens more than 400 years old, and trunks above 60 meters.
Huge trees covered with moss - this is the only moist forest in Europe. Untouched flora and fauna, even a brown bear, is found in protected forests.
Already in 1878, Prince Nikola visited here, and announced that from now on these territories are under his protection. And since 1952, Biogradska Gora Park received
national status.
In the west of Montenegro is the most beautiful Boka Kotor Bay. Here, protected from strong currents, there are farms for growing mussels and oysters. Where else can you buy fresh?
We go to the mussel farm.
Mussels live up to 6 years. The growing individual attaches to stones, rocks, concrete, and remains in this place forever.
When the mussel is without water (for example, at low tide), it tightly compresses the valves, and can hold out for more than a day with its supply of water. So we’ll bring to the kitchen in the best possible way. This is my first purchase of mussels outside a restaurant in my life. Will be studying? They gave us a business card, how to cook.
I take a mussel master class from my neighbor. For beginners, as you know, always the most “pleasant” job. And the chef at that time fried garlic with herbs in olive oil.
Mussels feed on plankton and pass a huge amount of water through themselves. At the same time, not only plankton is absorbed, but also all the harmful substances that are in the water. They accumulate in the body of a bivalve. There are cases when cholera was infected by eating mussel meat.
I wash the shells thoroughly. It is very important that the water is clean where your mussels are harvested. The farm where we were located is far from settlements.
The nutritional value of the mollusk is almost ten percent of the protein, an abundance of vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements (especially copper, so necessary for blood formation).
Pouring white wine. It's time to lay mussels for 3 minutes. Do the doors open? Done.
It turns out that when we set off to explore new places in our free time, we find abandoned villages. And around the fruit trees.
Fig or fig, it is also a fig tree, grows even on the poorest soils, although the yield is better at ponds. It is believed that this is one of the most ancient cultures on earth. Typically, fig trees live up to 60 years, but in special cases even up to 300. It was Adam and Eve who covered the nudity from the fig tree, based on biblical texts. Everything is in order with our clothes, we collect fruits for food.
Fig fruits in the Mediterranean from August to November. Is the ripe fruit visible when you pluck: if milky juice flows, then it is too early to collect such fruits. From the juice that got on the skin, you start to itch, it is better to put on things with a long sleeve for collection.