Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Let's make 2013 the best year ever ;-)

Here is some photo inspiration to kick off the year of 2013

All photos found on weheartit

Get into the Christmas Spirit

If you have not yet gotten into the Christmas or holiday spirit, we can suggest for you to try the Hot Wine (or maybe better known as Mulled wine or Glogg) to help you get the right "feeling".

Photo courtesy of Cherokee Billie

They usually serve hot wine at most restaurants and cafe's in the city center of Podgorica, and it is well worth taking your loved one('s) out for a cosy warm treat. 

Photo courtesy of Lorie W- The Kitchenarian

It is time to get into the Christmas or holiday spirit! We hope you enjoy the seasonal holiday with your loved ones. See you for New Year's!

DIY Jar Lantern & Gold/Silver Pomegranates

Yes, you can have a DIY Christmas in Podgorica!  We have been in a holiday"crafty" mood ever since the weather in Montenegro turned chilly.  A few weeks ago when we were searching for material for our advent calendar we also picked some extra supplies for some for home made Christmas decorations. These DIY crafts are extremely easy and quick to make. 

1.  Lantern:

YOU NEED

    glass jar    pliable wire     spray paint

We found the glass jars and pliable wire at and Spray paint at Kips. 

Spray paint the empty jars white  (you can, of course, experiment with different colours). 

Cut 2 pieces of wire the circumference of your jar.  

Twist them together and secure around the top of jar.  

Cut 2 more pieces for the handle (you decide on length).

Twist these pieces together and tie to the wire you first attached around the jar.  Our wire is quite thick but looks great with thinner wire as well.  

How easy and cute are these?

 

2. Painted Pomegranates:

YOU NEED

pomegranates  &  gold and silver spray paint

Pomegranates can be found at local grocery stores

Christmas Shopping

After days of rain, the sun finally popped out showing a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains.  It was a perfect day to get out and do a little Christmas shopping.  We decided to head down to the Porto Montenegro on the coast near Tivat in search of some unique gifts. Here are some of the cute shops we hit while out and about: 

noe & zoe

Noe & Zoe is a beautiful and whimsical store with unique prints and simple shapes. We found the perfect gifts for our kids in this shop. Our favorite purchases are the prince/princess crown, pink tutu with layers of stars underneath, and a soft pillow in the shape of a whale.

Supermarket

Supermarket is the perfect shop for all things unique. We loved this store in Belgrade and were so excited when it came to Montenegro. The shop is a bit smaller though still filled with special items.  It is really hard not to buy when in this store.  

Advent Calendar

What's Christmas without an advent calendar?  We have not been able to find a calendar in Podgorica so we decided to make one ourselves.  The problem being - there is not a single one-stop-shop to find craft materials...or at least we have not been able to locate one.  It took a long time to find supplies but here is our version of an advent calendar made in Podgorica and what you will need to make:

YOU NEED

string

clothes pegs

washi tape

paper

stamps

glue

Our journey in search of materials lead us to KIPS (clothes pegs), Kalija (string), Supermarket (washi tape), Pan Expert Bakery (brown paper bags; the bakery was very kind to support our DIY project), from Canada: stamps (ok, sorry we had to cheat a little bit....:-)).

Have you made your calendar yet? If not, remember to have fun, be creative and enjoy the season! Do you have other traditions for this holiday season?  We would love to hear.

Christmas Tree

We are very excited, because We Found Christmas Trees for sale in Podgorica! After looking around and almost giving up, we finally found a place that sells you the real christmas tree (if you want the plastic trees in different colours they can easily be found...).

We found the real deal in a gardening-centre called Kalija, located 7km from Podgorica on the way to the airport on the left hand side after passing KIPS (the big yellow building). They also had a cute little selection of small stuff that can come quite handy for some crafts projects. Good to know, right?

Playgrounds

Playgrounds are one of the more popular activities for kids and although there aren’t many options for children in Montenegro… there are a few gems to be aware of. If your children are like ours, they have endless energy and love climbing, swinging, sliding, jumping, chasing and hanging – all of which we prefer they do not use the furniture in our homes for! Finding a playground in Montenegro can be challenging and finding a good playground is almost impossible. Many are old and broken. Even if they were functioning, we would question the safety.  Recently, we have seen a few new and better designed playgrounds popping up, mostly around new building complexes, which gives hope. Here are a few of our favourite:

Porto Montenegro (Tivat area): In late March a pirate ship shaped playground opened with lots of areas to climb, jump and slide.  This playground is the favourite amongst our kids. In addition to the beautiful new play area – it is in a beautiful setting with sea views and close shopping. After the kids have burned off their energy there are a few tasty restaurants for you to recharge at (and perhaps sip a well-deserved nice glass of wine). We will definitely be sharing of these restaurants in our blog posts to come.   

Sport Club in Donja Gorica: This is a brand new playground in what will be soon a true sport complex for all ages, located at the University of Donja Gorica. Parents can enjoy a cappuccino (and full menu) at the cafe while watching their little ones play and have fun. The grounds are secure though the equipment is for post toddlers only. 

Park Petrovica (Podgorica): 1-block north of the hospital is a nice enclosed park with 4 separate play stations for kids. The park is full on the weekends though some of the equipment is in need of some TLC (tender love care).