I was a bit absentminded before we left for Montenegro. I ran out of time with everything going on and did not do any gluten free restaurant searching or worse, I didn’t even prepare restaurant cards in the local languages, which could range from Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian, Russian, Albanian, Bosnian… there were usually five or six languages on every pack in groceries and none of them were English!
When we first arrived on Sunday, we bought some emergency supplies at a convenience store on the way to Lipci because we weren’t sure what would be open on a Sunday and I needed a gluten free breakfast at home on Monday morning before our rafting trip.
Navigating the first grocery was a little terrifying because everything was so foreign and the language was incomprehensible to try and figure out what gluten, wheat, etc would be. Still, we stuck to known basics like polenta, rice, lentils, meat, and yogurt.
Later on that day we realized most groceries were open and throughout our visit we found that they actually carry a lot more gluten free cereal than we have at home, which we enjoyed a lot during the mornings at the flat. We also ran into a place selling a bunch of Schär products, so we picked up some bread for me to take rafting on Monday, which came in handy because the rafting company provided both breakfast and lunch and it was nice to supplement the none safe bread with my own.
With our own kitchenette at home, we did a fair amount of home cooking, having lentils and sausages one night, rice and pork another, and so on, but after diving on our second day there, we stopped for lunch in Budva since we wouldn’t visit it again later with the hour drive from our flat.
We actually just visited a restaurant next to the dive center that they recommended, called Konoba Langust, because we were hungry and we received a 10% discount coming from the dive center. Prices were pretty touristy, but the food was alright.
The restaurant was sat right at the beach, which was nice to look out onto, plus the restaurant was really cute and had a wonderful Mediterranean feel.
Without a restaurant card to show the waiter my restrictions, plus the pretty dismal knowledge of what gluten even is in Montenegro, I decided to go safe and order a risotto dish with shrimp. I did ask if it had any flour in it, because you never know, and he assured me it didn’t. Who knows if he actually knew what flour means, but I did not get sick the whole trip, even when some waiters were really clueless or confused what I was asking.
After that lunch we headed to Sveti Stefan to see it before heading home from Budva and it was sooo hot, we just had to stop for an iced coffee at Hotel Adrovic.
The coffee was pretty expensive, closer to Zurich standards, but the view was magnificent.
After our rafting and diving days, we had several stay-at-home days to relax and enjoy the swimming across the street. Snacks and drinks were included everyday. 🙂
In the evenings, we often cooked at home and enjoyed the amazing mountain view from the balcony. I always like eating at home on holidays without good public transport because then Kay can enjoy alcoholic beverages as well without driving my butt around as the designated driver.
One night he made pork chops with sauteed onions and peppers, served with a side of rice. It was pretty darn yummy and sooo much food.
We didn’t always eat at home. A couple nights we ventured out for meals in the nearby towns. After all, Kay would spot coastal restaurants like the Tramotana beach bar and want to try them out.
It was wonderful how even with high 30ºs C/90ºs F, the night would cool to the low 20ºs C/70ºs F. It was the perfect for sitting outside at night without overheating.
At Tramotana we had local cured meat and cheese with olives for our appetizer. Very Mediterranean and after this, we bought some similar meat and cheese in a grocery to eat on the balcony at home.
This was a place that had no idea what gluten was, but I again explained “No bread! No flour!” although I really don’t think he knew what flour is, but he was a very attentive waiter since we arrived earlier than most Montenegrins usually do and he always made sure we were taken care of. The food turned out fine and I ordered this delicious octopus dish for my main. 
Later in the week we had reservations at Ćatovića Mlini, which we knew would be rather expensive for Montenegro, but it had good reviews and was close to Lipci. It seemed like an oasis of wealth compared to the surrounding area. It was one of the few places that looked really well kept and was beautiful.
We had come earlier in the week and booked a table outside for Friday evening to get a spot outside, but even despite booking in person, they lost our reservation and just sat us at a last table next to the water, which was nice… but that path was also used by a huge group of Russian guests (30+) with many children running forth and back right next to us. That got a little annoying by the end of dinner.
For a starter I ordered mussels to make sure I got enough of them on this trip. I really adore them hot. In German, there is no word distinction between oysters and mussels… black and grey, so I always am a bit tripping what to call them in English.
For the main, Kay and I both ordered the same: black risotto with truffle sauce, fresh fish, and shrimp. It was heavenly! I almost wanted to come back again just to order it twice. 🙂
For dessert I ordered flambeed pineapple with a cream and ice cream topping. It looked a little strange, but the taste was also amazing with the carmelization.
The last place we went for dinner was Aquarius in Herceg Novi, which also had a wonderful seaside view.
Our waiter here spoke better German than English, so we went with that. I ordered mussels one last time, this time for Kay and I to share, even though he is not the biggest fan of seafood, and he really liked these ones with a lovely tomato sauce. It was almost like a soup.
After the mussels, Kay went for steak (boo!) and I went for the catch of the day with potatoes. It was a salt crusted fish. I am not a big fan of avoiding really small bones during a meal, but the taste was worth it.
We really miss out on fresh fish back in Switzerland, so it’s always nice to get some when we are out and about.
It was a nice combination of cooking and eating out with the kitchen at home and the bonus of being so close to the sea was that I could pop up and grab snacks and cold drinks during the day.
Montenegrin food is in line with the whole Mediterranean diet in the region. Lots of fresh fish, fresh flavors, and several options for those suffering celiac disease. I did not get sick one time and have gotten fairly confident with ordering things on the fly even without restaurant cards explaining my illness, but then again I do not react as strongly as others might.
The first day going through pass control to get in and the subsequent two hour drive and first grocery impression had me wondering, “Dear Lord, what did I get us into??” but when we finally made it to the 
After a 3.5h drive over the border and into Bosnia and Herzegovina, we put on sleeveless wetsuits and started our day-long rafting trip, which was a lot of fun.
I had asked if the food included on the rafting trip could be gluten free and they assured me it would, but I am glad I found some Schär bread to bring along, because there were definitely no substitutes for the gluten parts of the meal like bread and pastries at breakfast and grain laden soup or bread at lunch. Womp womp. But I could have potatoes and meat and I survived just fine.
Kay was happy to test out his new outdoor underwater camera, but after two dives, we decided to leave it at that. With a free afternoon, we decided to stay in Budva for lunch and a stroll.
We also wanted to make sure we saw Sveti Stefan, one of the famous sights.
The Australians on our rafting trip warned us that you are not actually allowed to visit the island unless you are staying there, which is quite expensive, so we just had the look from the road above and left it at that.
After all the early days, I was really ready for some relaxation with a capital R. We planned for several days at home with a mix of home cooked dinners, restaurants, and snacks by the water. 
I also never got tired of the changing look of the mountains with the light.
My favorite part of the place we stayed was the deck with sun chairs right across the street.
From there, the view of the mountains was uninterrupted.
I also loved popping back upstairs for cold drinks and snacks. 😉
After a couple days relaxing, we put some clothes on and headed on the 29 hairpin turn drive up to the Njegos Mausoleum.
The drive up was incredible with great views down to the bay of Kotor. 
A storm was rolling in when we finally made it to the mausoleum and Kay made me come inside because after noticing lightning in the distance, my and other womens’ hair was standing literally on end
No lightning ended up hitting the area where we were, but it was so exposed that we did not want to risk it in those conditions.
After braving the worst of the rain, we headed back down the road with wonderful sunset clouds and light along the way.
Below is the bay of Kotor again with another storm front coming up in the direction of home.
Over the weekend we headed back to Kotor again because they had a local festival we wanted to check out.
And the next day we went to Herceg Novi in the afternoon for a stroll and early dinner.
The country definitely has a lot of beautiful views, but don’t think that it all looks like this.
I didn’t take any pictures of all the trash and abandoned buildings we saw, but any place where you could possibly stop on the road, there were trash bags and sometimes hillsides had trash spilling over into dumps. We saw them on every road, especially around the back country with less populated areas.
Also what was really weird to us was that it looked like none of the houses are ever renovated. Many are in disrepair and falling down, while next door a new house is being built up. Even more often, we would see apartment complexes or even large scale hotels being built, simply abandoned and already decaying.
In these two pictures, it’s a bit hard to see, but on some of the only beaches the country actually has, there is trash and junk laying around. Below you can see cardboard and stuff covering the beach.
There was definitely a lot of beauty to be found, but I worry what this place will look like in 20-30 years if people continue to dump things wherever and not pull together as a community to take care of buildings and public spaces.
I did, however, decide to try out a coconut frosting from Blackbird Bakery, which while it was delicious… it was again not that easy to make and it was quite liquid even a few days later. It was not the most pretty icing. I am not sure I will make it again because it requires a lot of multi-tasking in three different containers and cooking liquids to the just perfect, not boiling temperature, before adding to the other ingredients. So much room for error!
But look at that cake below! The yellow cake turned out fabulous. I made two cakes in my 8″ pans and then frosted. I was a little unsure how much frosting there really was, so I didn’t do as much as I could have and I ended up putting a thick layer on top to take care of it.
For Swiss National Day, I decided to make a new attempt at chocolate cake with the Everything GF book because the recipe from Blackbird Bakery did not turn out so well for me.
This was for a mocha chocolate cake, so I made a cup of coffee from our automated coffee machine (so quick and fast) which was the perfect amount for the recipe.
I made the mistake of licking the spoon above because it LOOKS like chocolate syrup, but it was pure cocoa powder with coffee and it tasted disgusting! 🙂
This time I just made a chocolate frosting from the Everything GF book instead of trying something difficult and it turned into a much nicer frosting. I could have put a bit more water in to make it smooth on better, but it was fine.
I decorated the outside and top with almonds. I also left the top layer puffy and round. Both cakes puffed up more than the yellow cake, but I didn’t want to cut too much away, so I trimmed the flatter layer for the bottom and left the more round one on top. 
It was a pretty sumptuous cake. Again it was light and airy and you couldn’t tell at all that it was gluten free. I wanted to make a really nice gluten free cake while my BIL was in town to show him that just because something is GF, doesn’t mean it has to have a terrible texture or taste. We made a pack of store-bought pasta in the summer at my FIL’s house with minimal toppings and he really wasn’t impressed, so I hope I made up for it with this cake. 🙂