October 19: Novi Sad

 Last Day On The Viking Eldir

Today is the last day on the ship and because of the modifications to the schedule due to the low water levels of the Danube today was one of the days that we had a new excursion.  We were told we would ride for about an hour and a half to a small town named Novi Sad where we'd have a walking tour and taste some local pastries.  Then have a concert and free time before returning home.  Through dinner Kim was really reluctant to get on board a bus for such a drive with no real "significant" thing to look forward to.  But I decided I wanted to go.  We'd given up one day's excursion to get an additional day of cruising and I couldn't see the point of staying behind to sit on the ship.  Yesterday's excursion through Belgrade had shown us there really wasn't much more to see.  By the time dinner had ended she somewhat reluctantly agreed to go with me.  Such a sweet girl.  But THE BEST part of the day today....as we were walking during our free time, my adorable wife said, "I think this may have been the best excursion they've provided on this trip."  :)

The thing was we really DID NOT do anything significant.  But all of it was enjoyable and gave us a real taste of local life in Serbia.  And the three woman concert was simply amazing.  We both agreed it wasn't very good, it was EXCELLENT.

Started the day in the Farmer's Market and got to see my favorite food, vegetables!

Serbian treat - Uštipci - a fried dough ball with several options for toppings:  I preferred the apricot and plum

Novi Sad is known for it's many tunnels and passages

Pedestrian street

Local cathedral

Synagogue....at the start of WWII there were 80,000 Jews in Serbia; at the end 8,000 - the rest had been sent to the "Death Camps."  The final group were held captive in here before being sent off to the camps.

The girls concert - truly outstanding :)

Concert Sample

Local Bermet - the Serbian sweet wine :)

Hold on.....there's a story - On our walking tour our guide showed ups a shop with healthy ice cream made of all natural ingredients.  I PICKED THAT shop to return to.  We did....walked in and the girl said "Sorry our electricity is out, so we are not open."  So we went to the alternative - a gelato shop :)  I TRIED :)

Final dinner - but NOT the end of the adventure....on to Budapest!