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Published: September 15th 2007
Hello again,
I've not been feeling 100% the last couple of days and my hostel had free internet so I decided to get on top of all my e-mails and blogs.
I was paranoid the entire train journey from Budapest to Novi Sad that I was going to fall asleep and miss my stop, as Novi Sad was not the last station on the journey. My fear was not helped by the conspicuous absence of any station names on the trip. Finally I arrived at a station at about the right time for arrival and where I could just see a small sign with Novi Sad written on it so I cheerfully disembarked. My first impressions of Novi Sad and Serbia was very favourable, however I knew that this was going to be a far from relaxing portion of my journey. The streets were crowded with people despite the fact that it was a Monday night and everyone was bustling with activity. I decided to walk rather than attempt the buses and set off down the street happily noticing a complete lack of concessions to tourists. With the exception of advertising and product names there were no signs written in English and no huge groups of tourists waiting for their tours. I arrived at my hostel which was run by a really friendly Serbian man. After I had the made the bed I set off to explore Novi Sad. The pedestrian areas and street cafes were all full and it really felt like a Friday or Saturday night. I ate at a nearby cheap place called "Foody, Foody, Foody" which was really classy - well, actually it resembled a cafeteria but it was really cheap and was good food so I was happy. After eating I walked around and admired the citadel at night which was all lit up and then headed back to my hostel for an early night! Yay!
I got a good nights sleep and didn't even wake up when the two guys that were in my room came in that night. They had been travelling with each other for the last few days when they had met in Belgrade. One was an Aussie guy called Rod, and the other was a Finnish guy called Jouni. They and two German girls also staying at the hostel invited me to breakfast at a nearby place. I ordered the Beekndeks (bacon and eggs) which came in a huge portion. The eggs were cooked directly onto strips of bacon so that they became one. I also had hot chocolate which was European hot chocolate so it was really thick and filling. After stuffing myself at breakfast I walked around Novi Sad again soaking up the atmosphere and climbed up to the citadel to see the view, which included the remnants of a bridge which I'm guessing was blown up by NATO. I headed back to the hostel and hung out there for a while and then Rod, Jouni and I headed out (almost literally next door) to a pizza and pasta restaurant where I bought a huge pizza and stuffed myself again. After dinner we headed across the street and had a few beers in the pub opposite (which played the dorkiest music) and then at about 1am headed back to the hostel.
Rod took off the next morning so Jouni and I headed to the breakfast place again. This time I ordered Vojvodanske Palacinke which was pancakes stuffed with really nice bacon and cheese. But it was again a huge portion and was really filling (and a really strong taste) so didn't quite finish it this time. I headed off to the train station then to catch a train to Belgrade in the afternoon. I had considered going to Subotica but decided that I would be travelling a long way just to stay for an hour or two. I had to wait ages at the station because my train was really late so I didn't get on till about 4 or 4:30. I arrived in Belgrade and walked the short distance from the station to my hostel. Belgrade was like an even busier Novi Sad, but was much more like a capital city. The hostel was quite small and friendly and I got to know the people in my room. There was two English girls (Sarah and Tessa) and a French Guy (Manu) who had just travelled from Croatia. The four of us headed out and started walking around the town. We walked to the citadel area which had a great view over the Danube and Sava rivers. On the way back we looked for somewhere to eat but couldn't find it anywhere - eventually we came across a take out pizza place and ate there. Then afterwards we bought a double scoop of ice-cream (we'd also had ice cream before pizza because every 20 minutes you would walk past an ice-cream vendor). After that we headed to a restaurant and had a few drinks. And then after that we all headed to a salsa dancing club where Manu showed off his moves. Then we all headed back to the hostel.
The four of us headed to an internet cafe the next morning because the internet was down at our hostel and spent a little bit of time there. Manu disappeared to catch a bus and the three of us decided to go to the Military museum because the girls' book had recommended it. We asked beforehand if it was in English and whether it was just weapons and clothes or if there was history. We were told it was in English and had lots of history. Well, they lied. The English parts were ridiculously brief and there was very very little historical context so the whole museum was kind of dull. The last section was recent history and was a tad disturbing. They proudly displayed part of an American plane that had been shot down, as well as uniforms and weapons taken from various enemies. There was also a torture weapon which was also proudly shown. After the disappointment of the museum we decided to head to Gardos which is the Old Town of Belgrade. It looked like a short walk but it took almost two hours to get there, and when we got there we couldn't find the town anywhere. In the end we walked the opposite direction to the way the book said (and the way I said we should have gone to start off with) and found the old town. Then we walked down to the banks of the river where Sarah was called over by a guy on the microphone and by answering a question right she won a prize (a pad and small jigsaw - but it was exciting). We caught the bus back and then decided to go out for a meal, but whilst everything was cheap it was a bit more expensive than we thought it would be so we spent ages trying to find somewhere before heading back to the first place. I got some Serbian sausages and mixed vegetables (chick peas, carrots and rice). After we finished the meal we headed back to the hostel.
The girls left early the next morning to go to Kosovo. At that point I was also planning to go to Kosovo the next day but then I realised that it was the opposite direction and would mean that i would have to travel at a much faster speed than I like to. I spent the day walking around and catching up on e-mails and the previous blog but I wasn't feeling very well so I had quite a slow day and got an early night.
The next day I woke feeling a little bit better. I headed over to the station and bought my train ticket for my next destination. I spent the rest of the day just wandering and then came back to the hostel and wrote this blog. My train to Bucharest in Romania leaves at 16:10 and its just going past 15:20 so I'm going to head off to catch my train now.
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non-member comment
What Hostel did you stay at?
I am planning to visit NS soon.