Cinema city Novi Sad

If you heard anything about the second largest city in Serbia, Novi Sad, it was probably because of Exit, the fastest growing music festival in Eastern Europe.
Although that sounds like some bad promotional slogan, it’s actually true.

But Exit starts in July.

Right now, Novi Sad is all about Cinema City - international film and new media festival.
What’s the connection? Both festivals are managed by the same team of young, experience people, with the backing of local and regional governments.
This is only the second annual Cinema City, but it has a lot of potential. There will be several projection locations – some indoor, and some under the open sky, right in the city center. Alongside those, experimental workshops, new media labs and of course, a lot of nightlife events (we never pass an opportunity to throw a good party) will take place.
The festival starts on the 14th of June, and will last another 7 days.
Check out more about Cinema City.


I know the festival is starting really soon, but if you’re in the region (Belgrade, possibly), you should come to Novi Sad at least for a day.
If you like movies and/or you like to go out and party, this is the best ticket in town.

Fruska Gora – introduction

I’m continuing to write about mountains in Serbia, but Fruska Gora is somewhat special.
Unlike the majority of places that I described so far, Fruska Gora is really close to my home, and I got to know it quite well.
Local pride aside, it’s really a great place in many ways, so I decided to make a series of articles about it.

First of all, it’s not a mountain. It’s more similar to a really small mountain range, and it’s made up from several elongate, wide hills, extending 80 km lengthwise east to west, and about 15 km north to south. The highest peak is Crveni Cot at only 539 meters, which is not exactly gigantic.
It’s located in the southern part of the northern province of Vojvodina, and it’s the regions only real non-flat part. Second largest city in Serbia, Novi Sad is practically just next to Fruska Gora; some neighborhoods are even almost on it.
Belgrade is around 50 kilometers to the south, depending from the point of reference.

If I had to describe Fruska Gora in one term, it would have to be: ‘’Green’’. The hillsides are covered with either orchards, grape and wine plantations (Grape dance in fact takes place in Fruska Gora), or with wild forest and meadows.
There are several mane-made lakes, and one or two natural ones. The most famous and beautiful is Ledinacko lake that was formed right in the middle of an abandoned quarry (there will be a special article about it, it’s really quite stunning, but has generated a lot of controversy).



To people that live near it or on it (there are several small towns and even more villages), Fruska Gora is very important.
For some, it’s their livelihoods or home, for other a great, accessible recreational destinations.
But trust me, everybody, including me, loves it very much.

You’ll find out why exactly in following articles.

Divcibare

Central and southern parts of Serbia have a very diverse mountainous landscape, but there is only one that is loved by every school kid in the country - Divcibare.

I'm not sure how exactly this whole thing started, but almost every elementary school takes it's pupils at least once to Divcibare. This has become an unwritten tradition.

Divcibare are located in the western Serbia. To get there, you will have to travel some 40 km from Valjevo, the largest city in the region, or 120-130 km from the capital, Belgrade.
The trip isn't hard, although the roads aren't great - expect potholes and bad surfaces.

Now, you're thinking: ''this is all fine and good, but what's that got to do with children?''.
Well, to put is simply - Divcibare are an ideal place for kids.

The highest peek is 980 meters above sea level, so Divcibare get a decent amount of snow every year; the resort has one ski lift, and the slopes are really mild.
But there are a lot of (no that expensive) ski instructors, so a lot of kids start learning how to ski or snowboard right there.

Divcibare have a very stable climate, and around 200 days a year are basically windless. Also, the air quality is so high that the mountain was declared a ''climate treatment resort'' in 1963.

During the spring and summer months, the activities can include hiking, boy scout trainings, nature schools and sports like tennis, handball and basketball. I'm not sure if there are any public pools, but it's more then likely.

In fact, only the late autumn period isn't interesting - every other period of the year is guarantied to be super-fun for the youngsters.

Visitors can choose between several hotels, apartments and private accommodations - whatever is your choice, be sure to try the local dairy and dry meat product - they are famous in the whole county, and for good reason.

So, if you have kids and are planning a visit to the region, take a 2 or 3-day detour to Divcibare.
It isn't going to be spectacular for you, but the younger members of the family will think different.

Kopaonik National Park

National park Kopaonik is located in central Serbia, 230km from the capital Belgrade. It is accessible from two corridors - Josanicke Banje and Brisa.

Although its one of the biggest nation parks, it doesn't cover the whole Kopaonik mountain; its situated on a flat region, a plateau caller Suvo Rudiste, and is surrounded by mountain peaks.
Around 118 square kilometers of protected forest and other mountainous landscape are incorporated in the park, and there are 12 separate zones (Kozje rocks, Vucak, Mrkonja, Jankova pond, Gobelja, Barska river, Samokovska river, Metodje, Jerak, Suvo rudiste and Duboka plain)

These zones are classified as ''special interest'' areas, because of the animal and plant species that live there, and are intentionally isolated and additionally protected (I'm not sure does this mean that they are no-go areas for tourist). Local laws, as well as a number of different international conventions regulate the park.

Of all the wildlife species that are living in the park, its variety of birds is probably most famous; those include scops owl, rock partridge and red-backed shrike. Bigger species of mammals like wolfs and bears are a rarity.

I have never visited Kopaonik National Park, but I have traveled to Kopaonik Mountain - the landscape is beautiful and often simply stunning. I can only imagine what the park looks like, but I can bet it's even more picturesque, due to it's protected status.

If you're into bird watching or are interested or love untouched mountain scenery, Kopaonik National park is the perfect place for a one-day visit.
For more info - kopaonik.net

Kosovo Mountains

Similar to the entire region, except the coastal parts, the climate in Kosovo is continental.

Much of Kosovo's terrain is rugged, and its mountainous area, including the highest peak Đeravica, at 2656 m above sea level, is located in the south-west, bordering Albania and Montenegro.The mountain range dividing Kosovo from Albania is known in English as the "Cursed Mountains" or as the Dinaric Alps.

The Kopaonik Mountain is located in the north, bordering Central Serbia, although all of its ski resorts and other tourist destinations are outside Kosovo. The central region of Drenica, Crnoljevo and the eastern part of Kosovo, known as Goljak, are mainly hilly areas.

The Šar Mountains are located in the south and south-east, bordering Macedonia. This is one of the region's most popular tourist and skiing resorts, with Brezovica and Prevalac as the main tourist centers.

I have never been to Šar, but it is supposed to be very picturesque and beautiful; its untouched landscape is covered by glacial lakes, pine forests and very small villages, populated by sheep herders. A big part of the mountain (39.000 hectares) was declared a national park in 1986, with the purpose of protecting more than 147 butterfly species, and around 200 birds.


Although some locations are promoted as skiing resources, many of those are poorly managed and maintained. I believe that only Kopaonik has a developed center suitable for ski tourism, and that you should skip all others.

On the other hand, if you are interested in hiking, camping and love nature, these places, especially the Šar Mountain are a perfect destination for you.

Kosovo and Metohija (Kosovo)

The most southern tip of former Republic of Yugoslavia, and now Serbia, Kosovo has had a very turbulent past.
In the last 20 years, its citizens have seen civil unrest, uprisings, curfews, low intensity guerrilla war and finally, the NATO bombing campaign in the 1999.
After the war that lasted more than 3 months, foreign forces entered the province under a peace agreement between Yugoslavian government and the NATO alliance. Since then, the province is formally still a part of Serbia, but in reality functions as a independent state under the peacekeeping force KFOR and the UN mission in Kosovo, or UNMIK.
Since the 1999 war, representatives of Albanians, the mayor ethnic group in Kosovo, have been seeking formal independence from Serbia, a move that is opposed by the Belgrade government.

I don’t want to go into the question of independence or the recent history.
I do not live in the region or believe I have a deeper understanding of this prolonged conflict.
Instead, I will try to write about interesting locations inside Kosovo, and all the things that foreign visitors could find worthwhile.

In the next part, read more about the nature and geography of Kosovo, here on Experience Serbia blog.

Grape Dance

Sremski Karlovci is a well-known town in Serbia. They are culturally and historical very significant (more about them later), but are also host to the most famous vine festival in the country - the annual Grozdjenbal, or loosely translated - Grape Dance.

Sremski Karlovci is located in the Fruska Gora hills, a small mountain range in the northern province of Vojvodina. Traditionally, grape growing and vine making are very widespread in these parts, and the small hills and valleys are covered with grape plantations and orchards. The climate and, more importantly, soil composition are ideal for the cultivation of not only grape vines, but also many different kinds of central European and more resilient Mediterranean fruit tree breeds.

The Fruska Gora region had experienced its vine revolution in the late 18. Century, and it lasted almost to the beginnings of 1940'es. In that period small, family based farms (traditionally called ''salashi'') began to label and export their vines abroad, and the region started to build a reputation as a important, growing producer. But after the WW2, these farms were nationalized by the socialist government and merged into big collectives - this decision had effectively killed of all previous brands and the collective mentality gradually decreased the vine quality.

Now, more than 25 years since the abandonment of large-scale SSSR stile agricultural units, the small farms are rebuilding their vine production - in the traditional, 19. Century manner. Today, many farmers make and brand their own vine, interested more in its quality instead of shear quantities.

That's why the town of Sremski Karlovci organized the first Grape Dance in 1996. The festival doesn't have a long history, but it's proven to be very popular and almost certainly the most visited vine festival in the country.

It takes place every year in the end of September, intended, like all vine festival, to coincide with the end of grape harvest.

But unlike most festivals, Grape Dance is much more oriented towards live music.

A big concert stage is erected in the middle of the town, and for the next 3 days a great number of artist perform there - almost every music genre is covered: starting from traditional and folk bands and musicians, classic orchestras, pop stars right to heavy rock and experimental band.

Of course, you can try a lot of different vines in the small stalls and pavilions that line the neighboring streets. The producers of almost every brand are always present, so you can chat with them and find out more about their products.

I try to go every year, and Grape Dance is well worth it. The only big problem is the traffic jams that occur regularly, especially in the evening hours. Because of the terrain, there is only one main road (not counting the backwater roads that are of poor quality) that links Sremski Karlovci to the bigger surrounding cities.

Also, there aren't enough parking spaces, although the town will probably deal with that soon. If you plan to visit the festival, you should go by train.

Grozdjenbal is a developing event. It started with very humble, but it's obvious that Sremski Karlovci administration and the wine-making community are working hard to improve it. I'm certain it will only get bigger and better.