Susan's NGTAW Blog: Njegusi - Smoked Ham, Cheese, Woodcarving and Montenegrin Moonshine

The mountain town of Njegusi

Thursday, July 7 - Trip Day 8

We had climbed up the slopes of Mount Lovcan via two large motor coaches, enjoying spectacular views of the Bay of Kotor and the Adriatic Sea, while causing lots of traffic snarls. When we reached about 2700 feet, we stopped at the village of Njegusi.

Njegusi is a rural mountain village, producing famous smoked ham (proscuitto), local cheese, wildflower honey and locally distilled alcohol products. Its population is around 200 people, all of whom were glad to see tourists back in their area after the 2 year Covid drought.

Barn and Smokehouse for Njegusi hams

Tourists are eagerly welcomed at the roadside souvenir shops

Restaurant Konoba - our stop for treats in Njegusi

Most welcoming of the guests

Tables ready for our crowd of 30 people on 2 busses!

Our first stop was at the Restaurant Konoba, where they were pleased to share samples of the smoked ham and cheese, as well as generous servings of the local wine. We then walked down the road to tour the smoke house and learn how the ham is cured and produced.

The smoke house also had a small still for making alcoholic spirits - from roses, nettles, berries, and of course, plums. We walked past a number of souvenir stands that were also selling local cheese and honey. Michael and I bought ham, cheese, honey and alcohol to bring back home - we didn't want to miss any of the local highlights!

Local specialties - Njegusian prosciutto ham and local cheese

This plate of local goodness was delicious, as was the wine

Walking to the local smokehouse, at the end of the street

You have to imagine this toasty, smokey, hammy fragrance from all of these gorgeous hams

Their local still - alcohol flavored (separately) with plum, berries, roses and nettle

My guy resting on the culvert at the end of the lane

Woodworkers gallery

This lovely man speaks no English and I have no Slavic languages, but he waved me in to come for a visit in his gallery. It's filled with woodcarvings, and was a fun cultural experience trying to understand what he was explaining to me about the various carvings.

Examples of Montenegrin folk costumes

A unique and beautiful octopus, carved from a tree stump and roots

His collection of fire arms and munitions - from the war, as best as I understood

This couple was happy when we bought honey and whiskey from their shop

The cheese with walnuts is missing - I bought it to take home

It's for sale - maybe a mountain retreat in someone's future?

Pastoral mountain fields

Heading for the road to return - including the tunnel

Breathtaking views

The Adriatic and Bay of Kotor in evening light

Tonight's dinner was al fresco on the lido deck, with the freshing sea breezes. We had fresh oysters from the Bay of Kotor durng our cocktail hour. The, we ate with new friends Skip and Kris and enjoyed the piano music by our musician, Mario, while we motored along to return to the Adriatic and head to our next stop: Albania!