Today I am heading to the southern city of Nis. While Novi Sad was Serbia's second city north of Belgrade, Nis is Serbia's third city just over 2 hours drive to the south. Nis (pronounced 'neesh')has a long history and has existed from Roman times.

If you look at a road map Nis is on a straight line going thru Bulgaria and Sofia to Istanbul. From Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman times it was an important crossroad as the road from Istanbul branches from here north to Belgrade and Budapest, south into Greece and Macedonia, or west into Albania, Bosnia, and Croatia. Whoever controlled Nis controlled all the supply lines

This morning as I was leaving Belgrade the sky finally decided to clear and show a speck of blue cloud. Last night I had run a load of laundry and the hostel was nice not to charge for it. It was the best load of laundry in three years, it was a combo washer/dryer which we don't even have in North America

There were two morning buses I was trying to get. Either the 10.15 Nis Express of a 9.30 that makes some local stops. I got to the terminal with all my luggage just before 9. Originally she was going to sell me 10.15 ticket but I asked for the 9.30 since they both arrive in Nis at 1.30 so I might as well take the earlier bus and go sightseeing the local towns rather than sit at the bus terminal waiting 45 mins extra for the 10.15

The ticket was 1450D ($17). Waiting at the platform a gypsy woman with child in arm ran over. I wondered how she got in as it was by ticket only and why the guards don't chase her off. I didn't want her trying to grab any of my bags and she went away

When the bus came an attendant loads your luggage below and gives you a ticket number to reclaim it. I also had to pay 100D ($1.20) for the two bags. The gypsy woman came back and was waiting for me to take my wallet out so I paid the guy and got on the bus quickly

This time there were no police on the bus so not sure why there was both ways to Novi Sad yesterday. We went on the highway mostly seeing farmland which was the breadbasket of Yugoslavia

Halfway we made a rest in a small town and after that he went thru more small towns stopping. Some were very odd designed and poorly maintained bus stations. Some were outright scary and I thought they were derelict buildings but they were real bus stations still in use

As we neared Nis there were already road signs for Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Greece. On arrival in Nis I needed to find my hotel to dump my luggage.

I followed my map directions but there was no sign of it. I tried going round a few streets but had no idea. I tried to ask people but they seemed to be ignoring me in this town maybe thinking I'm a Roma person.

Eventually two guys who spoke good english said they knew the place and walked me there. It was at the start of the pedestrian street where I was but easy to miss

The hostel was on the fifth floor so I had to carry everything up. The room was really nice and much better than in Belgrade. Aside from Tv and ensuite it had a small kitchenette and fridge. I asked about hot water and extra blankets.

It was really nice I could stay here for an extra day and wouldnt mid an apartment like this. Later I tested the A/C and it was also a hot air blower so no worries about getting cold and sick at nights again.

Now I wanted to get some food and appreciate the town. It was more relaxed and touristy than Belgrade, similar to how Novi Sad had been. I'd passed by some grilled meat places so I decided to go there.

I went to one called 'Big Mammas'. They didnt speak english but I managed to order a cevapci again for 170D ($2). This time the meat had mozzarella cheese in the middle of the kebab.

The hostel had given me a map and it mentioned 'tinkers alley'. Excited I thought it would be like in Sarajevo with artisans. It was just restaurants on a cobbled street so a bit of a let down.

Then I ended up going to the fortress at the top of the pedestrian street. Surprisingly it was free entry and is just a big city park.

The main gates have arabic writing and Mosque style Mihrabs alcoves next to the gates. Just inside the gate is the hammam or turkish bath. Now it has been converted to a restaurant but is in very good condition from the outside.

Opposite was the armoury now used for a students art exhibitions. Further in were some Roman ruins and gravestones showing family sculptures. There were also remains of prisoner cells

The main path then led to the only surviving Mosque inside the fortress. Beside it were more earlier ruins from Byzantine times. There were lights on inside the mosque and inside was an art exhibition

The rest of the park didnt have much and it was cold, only about 12 degrees today. I checked the forecast and it will increase to 16 in two days after I leave the town, how nice.

I then wandered around the main part of town a bit. There was another Mosque I had passed when I had my luggage. When I went back it was locked. This was normal in Bosnia and they only opened them during prayer times.

There was also a Synagogue I wanted to find again which took some finding. There was an interesting monument showing four battles that had taken place in the town over the years.

I went down some steps I thought was an underpass to cross the road. It was actually a long shopping arcade running the entire length of the pedestrian road. Its a shame visitors wouldnt think to come down here and only the locals would know about it.

Now I wanted to go back to the room as it was getting cold. When I went up I tried to connect to the wifi. It connected then went dead. I'd been having this problem in the last two hotels trying to get a good connection

I went down to ask if there was another connection I could use so the guy came up. At first he thought it was the metal door on my room causing interference. He said we could goto another room that wasnt being used.

In that room there were three hostel connections but they all would not stay connected. He said there was something wrong with my laptop as his smartphone was working.

I gave up and went back to my room. Surprisingly after 930 it connected so I was able to do all my internet stuff staying up late until it died again at 1130 so I have to talk to them about what happened at each of those times