Novi Sad, Serbia 7-9 July 2006

Kanako, Parish, his British friend, Ben, and I traveled to northern Serbia for the largest music festival in Eastern Europe, called the EXIT fesitval. It started in the late 90's sometime as a protest to Milosevic. It took place inside a fortress which was pretty cool--my photos don't show it, but it became so packed with people at night (and I have been to similar festivals) that I could hardly stand it!

The trip to Novi Sad was interesting in itself with Parish's delapidated yellow volkswagen overheating. We spent some time at the festival Friday night and on Saturday relaxed in the centre of Novi Sad which is actually very pretty and civil (as opposed to where we were staying on the outskirts of town across from a big trash heap). Most of the museums were closed for some odd reason but fortunately one of the museum directors heard us complaining and let us in for a special tour of an art gallery containing works from a former Serb diplomat's personal collection. It was a unique experience since we were the only ones there and received explanations on all of the pieces as well as allowed into the archives room...of course, after such a cultural experience, you need to balance it out with some drinks at a cafe, which we did for a number of hours ;o) Some of us made it to the festival Saturday night, but it didn't include me...I know, pathetic right? Sunday afternoon, after eating some lamb and great salads at a roadside traditional restaurant, we made our way down the road. The trip turned into an ordeal with the car breaking down after exiting a pay toll. Fortunately there was a tow truck on the opposite side of the road which carried us 40 km down the road to a small Croatian town (you cross a lot of borders because of the weird shape of the countries) to a mechanic. After restarting the battery and replacing the alternator, we were ready to go. Mind you, this is my first time ever experiencing a car breakdown. You should know I stayed calm and contributed a considerable amount to evaluating and resolving the problem :o)

Of course, restarting the battery was only a temporary fix so en route to Sarajevo early Monday morning, we had to buy a new battery which I put in. We made it! Whew-hoo!

Click here for the photos!