Exotic landscapes are not always distant and hidden. In the heart of the Mediterranean, separated from Italy by the Adriatic Sea, there is a small country that is only an hour flight from Rome or Budapest, or one and a half hours from Zurich; a tiny country where your photo adventure begins: Montenegro.

Skrcko Lake

Crna Gora or Black Mountain is a fairy tale country with a fairy Tale name, a mysterious place that had slipped out of memory, but is, once again, flickering back into vibrant life. It is little wonder that many famous European botanists and geographers, while visiting Montenegro, disregarded their various exploratory quests and became passionate travel writers. For travelers, Montenegro is one of the few undiscovered and undisturbed natural gems of Europe. It is Europe in microcosm; the best the continent has to offer in one tiny place and even better, it comes gift-wrapped by the Adriatic and the Sky. For photographers, it is a dream come true.

They say that God must have been inspired while creating Montenegro because He poured all of his creativity and exciting nature contrasts into this miniscule place of only 13, 812 square kilometers. It is also said that there are few places in this world where the eternal struggle of natural elements has shaped the face of the earth with such passion and fascination.

With Scandinavian Fjords, Spanish Beaches and Swiss Alpine pastures and peaks, a traveler can be skiing in the morning and sunbathing next to the shimmering sea in the afternoon the photo opportunities are endless.

Black Lake

Its fabulously jagged coastline of the Adriatic Sea offers a variety of dreamlike beaches, coves, bays and islets. Then, when you get there, you discover that the reality is even more exotic than promises made in tourist brochures.

If one really wants to get to the heart of Montenegro, the specialties of its national cuisine - which gets its character from the Montenegrin natural and ethnographic diversity, all of which have left an indelible trace – are a must try.

Here’s what Wikipedia says of Montenegrin cuisine:

Montenegrin cuisine is a result of Montenegro's geographic position and its long history.

The traditional dishes of Montenegro's heartland and its Adriatic coast have a distinctively Italian flavour which shows in the bread-making style, the way meat is cured and dried, cheesemaking, wine and spirits, the soup and stew making style, polenta, stuffed capsicums, meatballs, priganice, Raštan, etc..

The second large influence came from the Levant and Turkey, lately largely via Serbia: sarma, musaka, pilav, pita, burek, Ćevapi, kebab and Turkish sweets like baklava and tulumba etc.

Hungarian dishes goulash, satarash, djuvech are also very common.

Last but not least, continental Europe made its mark mostly in the desserts department. crêpes, doughnuts, jams, myriad types of biscuits and cakes, all make a contribution to the average Montenegrin's waist-line. Vienna-style bread is the most prevalent type of bread in the shops.

Mrtvica Canyon