SERBIA: SREMSKI KARLOVICI AND SUBOTICA

Posted August 2, 2009 by David McGuinness

This morning started early with a cab ride to the small town of Sremski Karlovici, about 10km from Novi Sad. Travelling without Mikica was testing my basic Serbian to the extreme but I had a decent conversation with the taxi driver via hand signals and my basic Serbian. He seemed to have a high opinion of Irish people as so many seem to have here. A couple of days ago in Belgrade we met an old man who spoke only basic English but on learning that we were Irish wanted to give us a litre bottle of plum brandy! We still had more than half a bottle left from Mirko so we politely declined.

Anyway I digress... when I arrived the town was still sleeping, so I wandered around and took in the lovely central square. Unusually for Serbia, it's named after a Romantic poet–Branko Radecevic, who was a son of the town.

After a coffee in the square I wandered around a little more, caught a taxi back to Novi Sad and then a bus to Subotica, a town near the border with Hungary. The Hungarian influence is even stronger here and many signs are displayed in both Serbian and Hungarian. The architecture is also more in the Hungarian style with bright colours and dashing patterns. The town hall is a riot of styles and one of the museums looks positively Gaudi-esque.

The food too is heavily influenced by Hungary, with menus heavy on Paprika and Goulash ubiquitously available. The Synagogue is pretty impressive too though fairly run down. Tired after a long day I spent the evening watching Sopranos on Fox Crime!

This blog is part of an Off-The-Beaten-Track Travel Diary. Click on the links below to navigate through this journey.