Early on in this trip I realised that my travel style is very much to turn up to a country without having done a lot of research and just go with the flow. This has worked well for me so far as I haven’t found anywhere that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy.
Serbia was no different. As I had spent 3 months travelling around Spain and Portugal I needed to leave the Schengen Area for another 3 months. I had randomly made my way to Croatia before Christmas as I had found a cheap flight from Ireland and so decided to make the most of my time East and do a mini Balkans tour. I briefly googled the culture, visa requirements and exchange rate, then hopped on the next overnight bus from Kotor to Novi Sad.
Novi Sad is a reasonably large city with many points of interest. I was able to stay right in the middle of the city, making everything I wanted to see an easy walk away. The first stop was the Fortress and clock tower across the river. A half hour walk from the city centre the Novi Sad fortress and click tower looms over the side of the river. Within the fortress there are cafes, restaurants, art galleries, the museum and of course souvenir shops. However the main feature is without a doubt the clock tower.
Every face of the clock tells a slightly different time and stands out against the fortress wall and green grass surrounding it.
Belgrade is somewhere I can only describe as an almost perfect capital city. It is busy, but not in an overwhelming way. Even though there are cars, trams, buses and pedestrians everywhere the balance seems to work effortlessly. As with every main Serbian city there is a wonderfully kept fortress in the city centre. Waking up early it was a wonderful experience to see the sun rise through the clouds over the skyline as I explored the fortress.
The pleasant walk took an unexpected turn when I walked through a tunnel and suddenly came face to face with a dinosaur. It turns out there is a walking with dinosaurs exhibition in the middle of the fortress and gave me a good chuckle whilst continuing my walk.
Next just down from the fortress I went to Princess Ljubica's Residence. A historical house turned museum of the different dynasties of Serbia. The basement level has an ever changing exhibition. I would only recommend this museum for those interested in fashion and architecture of different countries through the ages. It was very interesting however I am also slightly biased as I enjoy these types of exhibitions and can understand how this wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
Nis is a very interesting town near the border of Bulgaria and Romania. I originally chose Nis for two reasons. The first that it was close to the border and I thought would have been easier to get to my next destination of Bucharest Romania. As it turns out it is not an easy crossing and I needed to go through Bulgaria then into Romania. The second reason was the Skull Tower. Skull towers are very common around the world (a temple or church decorated in skulls) I tried to see one in Faro but had missed my chance and therefore was determined to see one before I left back to Australia. As morbid as it sounds it was a very interesting place.
All in all Serbia was a great country to visit and I am glad I added it to my list of travels in the East of Europe.
