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Novi Happy in Novi Sad
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A 10 dollar ticket would take me about three hours north by train to the much talked about city of Novi Sad, Belgrade's little sister. Well almost. We got to the last of a few stops along the way and after a few minutes everyone got off the train. Only a couple of German lads and I were left. I asked them if they knew what was going on. No. We got off too. The one conductor who knew a bit of English shook his head exasperatedly, giving you the impression this sort of thing wasn't unusual, and said something about problems up the tracks. I followed the throngs up to the bus stop where a young guy smiled and said, 'Welcome to Serbia'. It was only around three bucks to get me the rest of the way and about 40 minutes later I was in the chilled out and attractive city of Novi Sad, population 200,000ish.
The Lazin Hostel was another good one and nicely located in the old town, although it fronted a narrow street that was lined with restaurants and bars where the typically social Serbs would go until around 3 a.m., seven days a week. To say it was noisy is putting it mildly. The iPod or earplugs are a necessity or as was the case on a couple of evenings, if you can't beat 'em... My favourite spot for both cappuccinos and beers was Martha's Pub, just across the street, where the slogan is "save the pumpkins" and the bevies are cheap. Novi Sad was like a mini Belgrade, complete with a fortress and a big town square and a pedestrian area with great people watching and overpriced drinks. Another interesting and unusual spot is the 'Strand' on the Danube, an actual sandy beach with a park, large grassy areas, resto/bars, beach volleyball and basketball courts. Tunes play on speakers that are mounted on light posts along the main path and it is crowded.
On Friday night the guy who runs the hostel prepared dinner for his three friends who were visiting from Tunisia and invited Dayna and Michelle (Auz) and me to join them. The next night the Auz girls and I went clubbing along with Vincent from Paris. All of us were heading to Budapest. Just about everyone at the hostel was stopping in on their way to Sziget. The following night the whole bunch of us had dinner out with the Tunisians at a rooftop restaurant that overlooked the main square. We went out late and consumed a lot of beer. For a change, I took a train out to the small and picturesque village of Sremski Karlovci for a few hours of scenery and a cappuccino.
That was about it. I will miss Serbia but I Budapest is high on my list and I'm ready to get moving again. More thumbnails ...
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