In Montenegro, we have always lived in between. In between the sea and mountains, in between the winter and the spring, slowness and sudden liveliness. This natural connection has long been taken for granted. Today, however, it asks for being consciously recognized again.
The month of February in Montenegro is always a month a dividing line.
While mountains still keep the snow on their summits and stillness, by the sea one already feels the restlessness of the spring. Mimosa comes out without asking for permission, cafés are filled with chatter, and the sun, at least for a little while, reminds us that the seasons here are not strictly separated here.
It is exactly this in-between space, this subtle mixture of winter and the announcement of summer, which hides what Montenegro is special by — but also what we are unable to express clearly enough, let alone to devise in the long run.
This February issue of the Caffe Montenegro speaks exactly about that: about a country which should not divide its winter offer to “active” mountain and “dormant” sea. Since, Montenegro is not a destination of one season, one picture or one narrative. It is a mosaic of concurrent stories — if we allow them to get in touch with each other.
Montenegro has the sun, but other have it, too. What we alone have is the possibility to connect: the space, people, events and seasons. Not to consider winter as a break, but as a different quality. For offer not to be fragmented but devised. For mountains and the sea not be looked at as competitors, but as a common value.
Winter season in Montenegro must not be mere waiting. It must be a conscientious decision. Responsibility towards the space, towards the people who live and work there, and towards the potential we have, but often observe it partially. Integrated winter offer is not a matter of trends, but of consistency and vision.
Because … Because, Montenegro is not a destination to be filled in during winter, but a space which demands a responsible vision all year long. Since, Montenegro is not a seasonal product, but a system of values which asks for long-term responsibility. Since, Montenegro is not going to become year-round destination on its own — it is a matter of decision, not a matter of chance. Since, Montenegro is not a tourist break in between seasons, but a country which has to know what it does — even during winter.
While five generations of the Brnović family continues preserving the skill of navigations using “čuns” (translator’s remark: special wooden boats made for navigating fresh waters), reminding us that some things should not be improved, but understood, new brands come as a result of child’s slip of the tongue and spontaneous word games. Tradition and contemporariness do not stand opposite each other here — they naturally follow each other, quietly and without a need for assertion.
Parties which do not last all through the night, but leave the space for conversation, culture in which alcohol is not any more a condition for having a good time, secret concerts without an address or big stars, soaps smelling of nature and home, folk costumes embroidered with golden wire, but also digital nomads who choose Montenegro because they can work by the sea in the morning and spend the night under the mountain sky — these are all different faces of the same country.
