Early Fall in Zlatar

Hallo takealookers!

In my previous post I wrote about my productivity week in Kopaonik. I've decided to extend my productivity week by another 2 weeks, but this time in Zlatar. Nothing makes me more productive and at peace than a mountain, forest and an amazing view. Zlatar is a mountain range in southwestern Serbia, 1627m high. Unlike Kopaonik, Zlatar is really low-key and not extremely popular with the tourists, yet. However, if you ask me, the nature in Zlatar is even more striking than in Kopaonik, not that there is a competition. The green colored hills covered with amazing smelling pine trees are divine. The air is fresh, crisp and pine scented. It's indeed an extraordinary experience going for a hike here, it rejuvenates your body, restarts your brain and makes you feel full of energy. Also, arriving to Zlatar you will be greeted by truly breathtaking Zlatar Lake, an artificial lake created in 1960s after a damn on river Uvac was built. The turquoise lake contrasts amazingly with the surrounding pine hills, this makes for a breathtaking scenery.

Given that Zlatar is not very touristy, you're really able to see how the locals live. There're many farms in the area, you will see herds of sheep and cows at almost every hill, which is something I enjoyed a lot. With that said, locals make and sell wonderful dairy products, such as cheese and Serbia's pride kajmak, which is a creamy cheese typical of this region. Additionally, prosciutto choice here is divine, but there's also something for the vegans out there, such as amazing homemade jams, forest berries, blackberries slatko (I think my BF would sell me to get this stuff, he loves it like dope), pine honey and of course lovely fresh fruit and vegetables. The food here is divine! I haven't had or made a single bad meal in all the time I stayed there. 

One thing about Zlatar that needs to be said is that the weather is rough and it changes fast. This is probably the coldest area in the country, it's by default colder than other places. So, end of September, beginning of October we had basically 3 seasons. Rainy gloomy fall days, sunny, warm Indian summer and full blown snowy winter. Yes, you heard it right, and all this in two weeks time. To be frank we weren't bothered at all by the weather, or snow for that matter, it was a magical experience to be greeted by snow first thing in the morning. 

As an added bonus, while you're in the area it might be worth taking a little filed trip into the Tara National Park to visit the lake Zaovine and Spajića lake (pictures above). Both lakes are artificially created in 1980s, when a damn was put on the river Beli Rzav. The panoramic view on both of the lakes is stunning and definitely makes for a must see when in the area.  

For our stay Zlatar we rented out a wonderful, little, wooden lodge - ZlatAir Lodge. There are total of 4, wonderfully furnished lodges. Each one tells it's own story, and I'm sure you will find the one that suits you. The lodges have two bedrooms, spacious living room area and very well equipped kitchen. The lodges are located in a slightly remote area, which is exactly what I we wanted, but don't be worried, there're other properties in the neighbourhood and a nearby store, restaurants and so on. The lodges are nestled in a small forest and sounded by pine trees and it's trully wonderful to wake up every day here, enjoy a nice cup of coffee on the terrace or some BBQ, when it's not snowing of course. This indeed an amazing location for the home-flexible to focus and be productive, also the lodge was comfortable to work from, which is definitely a huge plus in my book. 

Alright takealookers, that's it for this week. Hope it inspired you for your own productivity getaway in the mountains. Next week we're visiting one impressive person's wooden dream city creation, so stay tuned for that. It will be announced, as always, on my Instagram and Facebook. 

Thank you for reading this and have a good one!

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