We took a train from Brno to Novi Sad, Serbia. This WAS part of the included cost, but the train left at 8am on Friday and I had a liiiitle too much fun the night before so I missed it. :P I ended up taking another train, with changes in Bratislava and Budapest, and arrived in Novi Sad at 4am. I found our hostel, which was located right in the midde of the city, and waited for the rest of the group to wake up. The hostel manager was a pretty chill guy and we just chatted it up while waiting.
Saturday was the day to visit the city of Novi Sad. It's the second largest city in Serbia with a population of around 400,000, and was a pretty quiet community. It was FREEZING in Serbia at the time! Back home in Brno, we found out that it had actually snowed. Novi Sad has the Danube River running though it; on one side of the river is the main residential part of the city, the other has the castle. The castle was pretty impressive... There are over 16 kilometers of tunnels underneath it! There's a myth that a tunnel also runs beneath the city, and also a myth that there is a huge treasure hidden somewhere underneath, but neither have been discovered yet. Much of the tunnels are still unexplored. The actual city of Novi Sad is pretty quiet, but still nice. We walked around and had a free walking tour from a lady that lived in the city. We left Novi Sad in the afternoon to be on our way to Belgrad! Here are some pics of the first day:
Cathedral in the center of Novi Sad. This is a shot from our hostel... It was literally right in the center of the city :)
From the top of the fort at Novi Sad, with the Danube River on the right.
Main park in Novi Sad. It used to frequently flood when the Danube rose too high due to rain, etc. They have since built barriers to prevent it from happening.
Our next stop was Belgrade, the Capital of Serbia! With a population of just over a million, it's a little larger than Novi Sad. There are a ton of things to do and see in the city... unfortunately, it was pretty dark and murky during my time there. We had an organized tour of the fort and the city in general, stayed in a pretty cool hostel (I can't remember the name of it) and had a lot of fun! The fort was pretty incredible, it used to be the entire city of Belgrade until whichever kingdom at the time gave the city permission to build outside the walls. Belgrade has been an establishment for over 7,000 years!!! That's a long time! Lots of history within the city... It was definitely a good visit. Here are some pictures:
The Cathedral of Saint Sava, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. The interior is still under construction, with a planned completion date of I believe 7(?) years from now. They have to paint all the walls and finish some of the construction. It's really impressive though!
I remember this as one of the most important buildings in Belgrade, but can't remember which one... I think it might be the Parliament or the Court?
Center of Belgrade. The longest street in the city runs through this area (the back left) and ends at the entrance to the Fort. Shops line the street up and down; it's definitely the place to do some shopping.
View from atop the fort. The Danube runs straight through the city, splitting a couple times while it does.
Between the two separate walls of the fort. The one on the right enclosed the old city and where everyone lived, and the one on the left enclosed the military fortress of the city. They had a bunch of antique artillery equipment and such on display.
Well, that's my trip to Serbia.. Definitely recommended!! In my next post, I'm going to talk about some of the parties, etc. I had while in the Czech Republic. It has been one heck of a wild ride, that's for sure! I'm currently in the middle of finals week and can't believe this exchange is almost over :( Making the most of these next couple weeks!
Until later,
Jake
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