Serbia & Montenegro, Day 5, June 1st, 2024

We had a full day of sightseeing, enjoying local food and I was also celebrating my birthday today.

We started a tour of Montenegro early morning and I met the group outside the Sea Gate from where we caught the coach. 

Our first stop was Cetunje, the former Royal capital city of Montenegro. 

We had a guided tour of the Royal palace, where King Nikola Petrovic-Biljarda, his wife and five daughters used to live. The palace is now a museum. The palace is now left as it would have been in the first few years of the 20th Century. 

Outside the palace, there is a monastery and we also had some time to explore the city and I had a cup of coffee with some of the group. 

When we returned to the coach park there was a rally of Yugo cars which were manufactured in the former Yugoslavia upto the early 1990s. 

We had a lovely Montenegrin lunch in the Konak restaurant and then we went into the mountains to visit the Lovcen Mauseleum where Petar Petrovic-Njegos is buried. 

There are 421 steps to the viewing platform, and part of the walking route is through a tunnel. The mauseleum and views are spectacular, so the walk was worth the effort. 

We returned to the base of the mauseleum and had a cup of coffee in the café. 

We travelled back to Kotor via the mountain roads, and arrived in time for our second dinner in Bastion 3 Restaurant, just outside the city by the North Gate. 

I had beef broth, stuffed peppers, salad, beer and a banana for dessert, but as the day was my birthday, I had a piece of birthday cake. 

Some of our group noticed the activity in Trg od oruzja, including the building of a stage. We found out that Prijavo Kazaliste, a band from the former Yugoslavia were performing a live concert. 

I joined Valentina, Simon, their daughter Frosina and others and we watched the concert in a very busy square. 

Prijavo Kazaliste were formed in the 1980s, and their "Yugo-stalgia" rock music was popular with the audience including many young people.

Photo Prijavo Kazaliste in Trg od oruzja