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Nis was our first stop in Serbia. The research I did and the information I found on the Internet was a little bit exaggerated but we enjoyed exploring .We did have a nice hotel with great staff and the location was 5 or 7 minute walk down a bit of a run down street to the modern pedestrian street, similar to Plovdiv, just not as long but very nice and vibrant with lots of restaurants and shops.
I don't know how these old towns with narrow twisty streets develop such beautiful pedestrian walking streets. They have to tear down many many buildings to get an avenue as wide as they are. Anyway they are great for people watching and strolling and shopping.
There is a large Eastern Orthodox church in Nis that we wanted to see, it's supposed to be beautiful. The tourists map for Nis was indicative, not accurate. The church appeared to be SE of our hotel. We walked miles, no church. Finally found it in a completely opposite direction. We stopped at a gas station for help and the attendant came outside and thru hand gestures he pointed the way. A really nice man. The church was beautiful inside but there was a wedding in progress and another one waiting so we left. No pictures. Problem, we had no idea where we were, absolutely no idea. Even after asking a couple we still weren't sure. Finally 2 ladies came to our rescue. The hotel never looked so good. We asked at the hotel how to get there. It's a 10 minute walk away. We went back to visit the church and there was another wedding going on but people were going in and out so in we went. The murals covered the walls and ceilings. The colour blue they used is mesmerizing, I cannot describe it and pictures do not do it justice.
The meals in Serbia are huge, really good food, cheap but huge. Night one in Nis I ordered pork medallions. There were 8 pieces of meat on my plate each at least 3 inches across. Kitty had boneless ribs, same issue, way too much food. We took the left overs, and there were lots, and fed the stray dogs on the street. Now we order an appetizer and share a meal and even then it's a lot of food. One appetizer is usually tomato salad, the tomatoes here are outstanding.
The market in Nis was fabulous, you can buy almost anything. Kitty picked up a small bunch of grapes; the vendor wouldn't take any money. Same when we tried to buy 1 peach, wouldn't take any money. The fruit was delicious.
We visited a concentration camp in Nis. Since we had been to Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland we had to go here. Enough said
The bus ride to Novi Sad from Nis was about 4 hours. We stopped in Belgrade for about 15 minutes and drove to Novi Sad. What a cute town. Neat architecture, lots of narrow streets plus a large central square and a pedestrian street. This place is going to be fun
THE INTERESTING STUFF
We are still astonished at the number of people who smoke.
Fashion statement..white running shoes are in. You see more people wearing those than almost anything else
The are 80 Serbian dinars in 1 Canadian dollar. The firest time I withdrew from an ATM, I took out 20,000 dinars.Our hotel bill in Nis was 18,000 dinars. It'seems tough getting used to leaving a 200 and a 50 as a tip in the restaurant. I just used an ATM and have a pocket full of bills marked 2000. The conversion factor is 0.0125. My calculator is used a lot.
We did over 100,000 stips in 7 days
It's not common for restaurants to have butter for bread or buns
We have never seen so many shoe stores and opticians
Pedestrians have the right away in crosswalks (sort of). In Calgary the law is the driver has to wait until the pedestrian is totally across the road. Here, cars stop for pedestrians at marked crosswalks but then they try to clean their headlights on your ass as you walk by. The message is don't dawdle
Serbians are great people, not much English here but everyone tries and so far we have always gotten our message across.
That's it for now
We are off to some gorge, a bational park like Banff and small town tomorrow.
Hope you are all well, we are doing great, booked our Belgrade hotel for the end of the month. Splurging a little on luxury, we probably deserve it. These trips are fun but they are not always easy.
I can tell we have been traveling for a while, I took the second Bounce sheet out of its plastic bag.
Hippies out
- comments
Barbara Helka Hugs to you and Kitty! Peter - your blogs are always so interesting! Wish I was there!
Dawn Wyver What an amazing life you and Kitty are experiencing. Your trip sounds fantastic. Would love to see the photos.