However the time that the Serbian rail website had given us didn't actually exist and instead of heading for Novi Sad we were stuck with a four and a half hour stopover in Subotica. Whilst Subotica did look as though it would be a decent way to spend a few hours, sightseeing with a pack on our back didn't really appeal to us so we were holed up in a coffee shop for a few hours, watching time tick by slowly.
Anyway, we boarded for Novi Sad and before we knew it were sat in a carriage, in a train that was going at about 20 kilometres an hour, talking and drinking plum rakija with a local while he chained smoked his way through a packet of cigarettes. Smoking laws aren't only liberal in Serbia, they're pretty much non existent.
We hit Novi Sad and on recommendation from the guy at our hostel headed out for dinner at Zlatiborsko Prozorče. Welcome to a whole new level of language barriers!
When you're presented with a menu that reads like this
and you end up with a meal that looks like this, I think you've done quite well.
We later learned that what we had was pljeskavica, uvijaci and pasulj (a massive hamburger like pattie, chicken wrapped in bacon and smokey baked beans). All delicious and traditionally Serbian. They were however a touch on the salty side. Maybe that's to encourage more beer consumption. We indulged them.
The next morning we set off for a walk up to the fortress but not before stopping in for coffee at a pastry shop on the way. For the measly sum of $2 we had a Serb coffee (similar to Turkish coffee) each and discovered krempite. Wowzers! This version of krempite was made with silky smooth cream cheese like custard, topped and bottomed with a thin layer of pastry and had a layer of cherries.
We also returned the following day and had an Italijanski krempite and a Serb styled croissant that was filled with a big chunk of ham and cheese. The krempite was essentially a slab of Italian meringue and whilst it was good it was just too much. The croissant was more bready than a French style croissant and was v good.
Back to the fortress. This is the place where the world famous EXIT Festival is held each year. It would be the most brilliant setting for a festival.
The fortress itself was fairly cool but the most interesting part of the walk was heading back to a river crossing that's well out of the city centre and took us through an interesting little neighbourhood where we think we saw Novak Djokovic's house. Well it was big, on the river and had a tennis court and a swimming pool. Surely it must be his.
Getting up to the bridge to cross it was easier said than done and involved us sneaking through an undeveloped patch of dirt under the bridge that was filled with gypsy huts.
On the way over the bridge we saw "the Danube's best beach" . Maybe it looks a little more appealing in summer.
Along the walk we tucked into our first burek (fried layers of filo pastry filled with meat, cheese etc.) of Serbia which whilst not actually being a Serbian dish originally is very Serbian. Burek with Yoghurt is the classic Serbian breakfast.
For dinner that night we took another tip from the guy at our hostel and dropped into Plava Frajla. Nix had a pot of "spicy Serbian stew" which was packed with beef, pork, mushrooms, capsicum and onion and she devoured it in no time. I was lucky to get a taste. I went for ćevapčići with exceptionally more-ish potatoes. Om nom nom.
We didn't get up to much on our final day in Novi Sad as it was the Orthodox Catholic Christmas Eve and not a lot was open. Orthodox Catholics celebrate Christmas on 7 January.
We were able to find Lipa open for dinner where we revisited ćevapčići and tried crumbed chicken stuffed with kajmak. Both v average. So that was a bit of a lowlight to end on but our few days in Novi Sad were enjoyable nonetheless.
Barrie-ometer of "Feel" - brave bulging buoyant clairvoyants
