A Walk in Novi Sad’s Golden Hour

My recent trip to Serbia was incredible and everything I’d hoped for. I had wanted to return with Stephen since the moment I left four years ago and this time I wanted to explore the culture, history and food in the region as well as spend time with my friends. We spent 4 days in Novi Sad and I have so much to tell you but I’m going to do something unusual on this occasion – I’m going to start with some snapshots that I took on my iPhone on our final evening in Novi Sad. I left my camera at home so that I could stop being a tourist but as we took two dogs for a much needed long walk around the city centre, I tried to capture the atmosphere of a late summer afternoon in Novi Sad.

Our walk began where it ends in Trg Slobode, which translates as Freedom Square.

Novi Sad hosts the world famous Exit Festival each year and the whole town was ready for the July activities.

You know how I have a tendency to take photos of the same buildings over and over again? The Crkva Imena Marijinog is one of those buildings and is the Catholic Name of Mary Church in Trg Slobode.

In the background here you can see the Orthodox Saborna Crkva (Cathedral Church) as well as Vladičanski Dvor (the Bishop’s Palace).

This is Ulica Dunavska which translates as Danube Street. Novi Sad is located along the banks of the Danube river which is known locally at the Dunav.

We stopped for ice cream in a sidewalk cafe. During the golden hour in Novi Sad, locals flock down to the centre of Novi Sad and sit relaxing in such cafes until late in the night. It is a fantastic, festive culture.

Once we finished our ice creams, we continued on towards Dunavska Park, the big park in central Novi Sad. In English that would be Danube Park. We had to take a slight detour to get there because there was some sort of live performance happening at the end of Ulica Dunavska.  Which is great because I got to explore an alley way…

… and spot some local street art.

We got to walk past the old military garrison. Novi Sad was once an important army town and Yugoslavian youth travelled from all over the country to serve their compulsory service here.

We finally entered Dunavska Park and I was thrilled to see take a different route to the one I’d taken on previous occasions. We walked down long promenades…

… and past a tranquil wooded area.

Once we exited the path, we turned back towards the city centre but kept walking past the south entrance to Trg Slobode.

We chose instead to enter via the West entrance which offers a breathtaking view of the Crkva Imena Marijinog. By the time we arrived, the golden hour was up and dusk had officially fallen. Is it any surprise that I can’t stop taking photos of this church?

Thank you for joining me on this walk. I still have so much to tell you about monasteries, NATO bombs, World War II memorials and breakfast on the Danube River.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.