New Year’s Eve in Novi Sad

During my high school years I learned a valuable lesson about the ‘’big night’’.
Don’t expect anything. It’s just another night out – it can be great, or it can suck big time. Ether way, it’s not your wedding and shouldn’t be over planned.
The best way is to simply go with the flow, and this year, if you happen to be in Novi Sad, there will be several ‘’flows’’.

First, there is the traditional concert and fireworks on the main city square – Masimo Savic is probably the biggest star on this venue.
Other ‘’stages’’ will include traditional Vojvodina music on the smaller Mladenci square, which is almost next to the main square; a lineup of DJ, both local and foreign will play on SPENS, a big sports center that is also near by.

So, if you happen to be in Novi Sad on the 31. December, feel free to venture out in the cold - there will be dancing on the streets.

Number of visitors to Serbia remains stagnant

Serbia, although never a ‘’hot destination’’, has seen a steady increase in the number of visitors since the regime change in 2000. It seems that this trend hasn’t continued into 2008.

According to the State statistic agency, the total number of visitors that Serbia received during first 10 months of this year is lover by one percent compared to the same period in 2007.
The most popular destination is the capitol Belgrade, then the second largest city, Novi Sad. The majority of the visitors, around 38%, stayed in spas and other thermal resorts like Vrnjacka Banja. Also, most visitors came from Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Germany.

I know that this isn’t a big downturn, but I think it may be a good sign for thing to come, especially having in mind the ongoing economical slowdown and the poor state of air travel industries.

I guess 09 isn’t going to brake any tourism records in Serbia - at least no positive ones.

Eco-house ''Small Bodrog''

Similar to most developing countries, village and ecotourism in Serbia have a lot of potential, but sadly, most of it is untapped. Although the local and regional governments are always quick to point out that tourism is a great source of income, money and other real backing rarely follows the reassuring words.
That’s why I’m glad to see small scale projects like ‘’Small Bodrog’’ (‘’Mali Bodrog’’ in Serbian) in Backi Monostor.

This country house was built 150 years ago in the style typical for the 19. Century south-east Austria–Hungary era, and was recently renovated and turned into a historical site.
Alongside the house and its preserved interior, ‘’Small Bodrog’’ displays the traditional large backyard with its well and accompanying buildings that were used by the generations of farmers who lived there.
I think it’s very good that people take the initiatives in their own hands and try to develop their cultural heritage into a tourist destination for everyone to enjoy, and also make some profit.
You can visit this small but interesting place and find out how people lived in this part of the world almost two centuries ago. I doubt it’s going to blow you away, but it should at least prove interesting.
The entry ticket is currently under one Euro, which is another incentive.

Find out more by calling +381 25/807-163, or just 025 807 163 if you are already in Serbia.

Joan Miró exhibition

Sombor is a small sleepy town in the far north of the country, but it’s organizing a very interesting event. Starting on 27Th November, Sombor city museum will open a big Juan Miro exhibition. There, almost 70 paintings, graphics and drawings created by this Spanish contemporary artist will be displayed.

I can’t say that I know a lot about his work, but he is a world renowned painter and sculptor, so this looks like an ideal opportunity to visit Sombor for a lazy afternoon of art and relaxation. The exhibition is open till December 20Th.

Medical tourism in Serbia

Being sick isn’t usually the first thing people associate with travel, but the phenomenon of medical tourism is growing in Serbia.
A little background story:

Republic of Serbia, like all former Yugoslav countries, has a very strong social approach to medical care. All citizens are eligible to receive a complete medical insurance package, provided by the state. There are several bases for this, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a child, unemployed or something different – everybody has it.
This system is in place for almost 60 years, and wasn’t disturbed by the regional conflicts or anything else.
Naturally, the level of medical services has dropped in the period of 1990-2000, but is steadily recovering. Because of this, Serbia has a lot of medical professionals like doctors, dentist, nurses and many others. Now, some of them have set up private clinics or smaller practices, because a lot of people choose to pay and receive faster service. For example, an ultrasound diagnostic will be complete after some 45 days from the moment the patient show up in the general hospital; in a private practice, it takes only few days to make an appointment and receive full results.

Medical tourism offers to foreign visitors, usually those from Western Europe, a chance to come to Serbia and get the medical treatment they need at a much lower price. For example, dental procedures are 4 times cheaper than in UK and the noninvasive diagnostic methods like magnetic resonance imaging are even cheaper.

So far, Belgrade and Novi Sad (capitol and second larges city) are expanding offers in medical tourism. Belgrade, with its international airport is the logical first choice, but organized transport to Novi Sad is also available.
In my case, I use both private clinics and state run medical institutions in Novi Sad, and I’m generally very pleased with the levels of service and professionalism, even having in mind that the free options are somewhat slow.
If you have some kind of medical condition or problem, especially a non-life threatening, like bad teeth or knee injury, think about this somewhat unusual option.

For more detailed information, check out Serbia Medical Tourism.

Beer Museum

Do you like beer?
I absolutely love it – no matter what time or place, I won’t refuse a cold one.
So you can imagine why I was pretty excited when I heard that Celarevo brewery (now part of the Carlsberg Serbia company) opened a beer museum!

The Beer Museum, set inside the brewery complex in the small northern town of Celarevo, will showcase how the process of beer-making evolved in this region. Although people were traditionally more inclined to wine or schnapps, beer became more widespread in the 19th century. Now it’s the most popular alcoholic drink in the land.
Celarevo brewery was established in 1892, and although there are older ones in the country (Apatinska brewery began working in 1756); this is still an impressive history of uninterrupted production.

I trust there will be things to see in the newly opened museum.
Of course, a chance to try out some of the beers from the current Celarevo production line like Lav and Tuborg, and then compare those to other big European brands like Kilkenny or Guinness isn’t either going to spoil the trip to this, shall we say, house of learning.

Days of Honey

Another day, another food festival!
This one named somewhat unimaginatively ‘’Days of Honey’’, is intended to promote... well, you guest it, honey.
It will last for three days, starting on the 17th October, and the location is town only a few dozen miles from Belgrade - Indjija. This little town in Fruska Gora range is by itself a pretty interesting place, being somewhat of a mini industrial Mecca inside Serbia, all thanks to its local government that has wisely offered a variety of Greenfield investments opportunities.
This place is definitely going places, no pun intended.


Having that in mind, I’m betting ‘’Days of Honey’’ will be a very meticulously organized event, and should at least prove interesting.
The main venue will be the town square, where the honey makers will present their products, and local art societies perform music and small-scale plays. Beside honey, there should be other kinds of honey-based products – I recommend you try Medovaca, a honey-infused schnapps drink. Personally, I prefer my spirit straight and cold, but Medovaca isn’t half bad, especially if you like sweet liquor.

This is chance to see a micro industrial boom town and try a lot of different honey flavours while drinking honey-schnapps – how bad could this half day visit be?