The wild men of Serbia

Location: Nis
Km on the clock: 2,694

I kept following the EuroVelo6. My goal for the day was Novi Sad since I didn't make it there the previous day as planned. There's a brand new cycling path on top of the embankment but locals told me that most cyclists just keep cycling on the road. I'm sure that's because of the lack of signs. I was lucky enough to cycle on the new path since I just wanted to get off the road.

An elderly guy flagged me down at some point and shouted: 'Hellooo'. So I stopped to also say hi. His name was Milan. He and his friends just finished some work on his little holiday house behind the embankment and invited me to hang out for a bit. I accepted.

'We just installed another gate to my little piece of land here to enter it from the road. Since there's the new cycling path, we're not allowed to drive on there with our cars anymore', told me Milan.

He and his buddies shared their food with me and even offered me something to drink. After we were done eating, they put a few bottles of homemade Rakja (Serbia's national alcoholic drink) on the table. It was filled up into 0.5 liter Fanta bottles. Of course I accepted to have one drink with them because I didn't want to be rude. And of course we didn't have only one. As refreshment drinks on the side we had beer. :D

They cracked lots of jokes and later they told me stories about the wars in Serbia in the 90's and that they feel that since then their country has a very bad image in the world. 'But this is not who we are', they said. 'We're not wild men with knifes between our teeth. We're good people and we would love to show it to the world'. I can tell, these guys were everything else than a herd of wild men. These were just some harmless elderly men chilling, drinking and enjoying their retirement.

I was definitely tipsy when I said bye to Milan and his friends and cycled to Novi Sad. I checked into The Tesla Art Hostel right in the city center where I was welcomed with smiles and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Again no wild men here.

Novi Sad is Serbia's second largest city after Belgrade, it hosts a huge variety of festivals every year and the night life is also not too bad. I spent a few relaxing days here and was lucky to meet some wonderful people to spend some time with.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris) am Nov 4, 2019 um 11:12 PST

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The temperatures went above 40 degrees Celsius the day I left Novi Sad. I took the direct road to Belgrade. I pedaled up a pretty steep section just outside of Novi Sad.  My t-shirt was soaked from my own sweat. Another elderly man flagged me down and also shouted: 'Hellooo'. So I stopped again to also say hi. He and his brother offered me some coffee and a bucket of water as a shower. It was a great shower! Exactly what I needed in this moment. And again, those guys were no wild men.

After a couple of days in Belgrade I cycled in direction south to Nis. Locals told me this is the one city in Serbia that I must see. Okay, why not? Along the way I reached the 2,500 kilometers milestone of my journey. Whenever I stopped to ask people for directions they were always happy to help. The owner of a small village store even gave me some lemonade and ice cream when I asked him for directions. Absolutely amazing! I don't think that's what wild men armed to the teeth usually do.

Although Nis is Serbia's third largest city it felt more like a small town to me. It's a lovely place but I honestly can't comprehend why this city is a must see. Maybe it's because of its annual Jazz Festival Nisville. But unfortunately I just missed it.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris) am Aug 15, 2019 um 1:45 PDT

From Nis I headed in direction Kosovo. The ride to there wasn't only a challenge, I even experienced the worst night of my journey so far. It was a night full of frustrations and doubts about this trip. But I'll tell this story another time. ;)

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris) am Nov 2, 2019 um 1:52 PDT

One last thing about the wild men of Serbia. I cycled across the entire country and I got the chance to meet quite some Serbians. Everyone who I talked to or spent time with was super friendly and welcoming to me. For me, there are no wild Serbians with knifes between their teeth. I'd visit this country any time again. Without any doubts!

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