Blogs from Novi Sad, North, Serbia, Europe

Novi Sad – does the very sound of this Serbian city resonate with anyone out there in the ether…? A select few, I would suspect, but Serbia’s second city leans towards the arts, and scores the main bulk of its points for being precisely what it is, and not what it is attempting to be – in other words, a second city with a few touches of class destined to catch the casual tourist off-guard and make them realize that indeed some of travel’s best-kept secrets are just there to take you by pleasant surprise. Arriving in the early evening on New Year’s Eve was a strategy, as it felt like the city was warming up to play host to a buzz of activity as the evening unfolded. All the city’s main cluster of architectural gems ... read more

So… what’s on today. Travel to the border town of Szeged and cross into the province of Vojvodina in Serbia. Enjoy a stop in Novi Sad, the capital of the province, set on the River Danube and famed for its Petrovaradin Fortress Wake up call… 6.30am Bags out and Breakfast… 7.15am Departure… 8am Woke up and had a shower, packed and put our bags outside the room before heading down for breakfast. I love the concierge service, just put your bag out and it will arrive in your next hotel room… Unless you were Steph and Art who’s bags went missing. Steph got hers back when we arrived in Serbia, Tedon the other had did not get his back until Bucharest!!! What a stress… that’s a story for later. Breakfast was good, the usual holiday hotel ... read more

I'm so enjoying this holiday; not only is Hippie a wonderful traveling companion, but it's been educational and relaxing and just plain fun. I really wanted to experience a river cruise to better sell it moving forward, and being able to explore destinations I've not yet traveled to made this itinerary that more appealing to me. I also enjoyed exploring Hungary even more; my father is Hungarian and I feel that my roots are here; despite being born and raised Canadian. Being in Hungary reminds me of my grandmother, and her cooking, the decorations in her house and just the sights and smells; I'm sure it's more of an emotional response but it just makes me happy (if that makes sense.) We have now crossed over into Serbia, a country that I have much to learn ... read more

July 9, 2013 Initially I, of course, had great plans for a comprehensive Balkan trip, including the best places (mostly Unesco World Heritage Sites) in Serbia, Macedonia, Kotor, and Albania. The trip gradually boiled down to Serbia (Exit Festival in Novi Sad) and Kotor, with possible excursions to Dubrovnik in Croatia and Shkoder in Albania. Unlike the previous year, we’d not take the exhausting bus from Beograd to Montenegrin coast along the serpentine, but simply fly from Beograd to Kotor and back. Our (my and Vasily’s) second trip to Serbia and Montenegro was arranged somewhere in the end of March or beginning of April; we bought air tickets for a modest price and waited patiently. Alexey (my schoolmate) decided to join us later and would only stay with us in Serbia. This time we stayed one ... read more

12/07 I knew that I’d return to Exit this year and I bought the ticket already in April. Four days of extreme pleasure do not happen always. This time, though, I felt much better during the night and almost didn’t get tired and danced much less; generally, I spent less time at the festival, but that does not mean that I disliked it or anything of the kind. I just rested more. As always happens during my short trips, I had to make certain translations, so the pattern of the stay in Novi Sad was translate – dance – sleep – eat – translate – sleep – dance – sleep – eat – translate etc… This time I stayed in student dormitory Bajic alone in the room, because the second man moved out of the room ... read more