A Day in New Garden (Novi Sad)

March 23, 2026

Novi Sad, Serbia

What do you think is the nickname for this bridge over the Danube? (Answer at end of blog.)

Fun Facts for Serbia and Novi Sad

Serbia

• Produces the world's most expensive cheese (£1,000+ per kg) made from donkey milk.

• The word "vampire" is of Serbian origin, stemming from stories in the early 18th century.

• The majority of Serbian surnames end in "-ic" (e.g., Djokovic), which typically indicates "son of."

• Serbia has produced several top-tier athletes, including tennis star Novak Djokovic and NBA player Nikola Jokić.

Novi Sad

• The name Novi Sad translates to "New Plantation" or "New Garden".

• Novi Sad has a popular 700-meter sandy beach on the Danube riverbank called The Strand

• The world-renowned EXIT music festival takes place inside the 17th-century Petrovaradin Fortress, combining modern music with historic surroundings.

Today is a beautiful day in Novi Sad! It is cold, but the beautiful blue sky, and flowers beginning to bloom started our day off with a wonderful mood. After breakfast, we took a walking tour around Novi Sad, with a great guide - knowledgeable and fun.

We started off by walking along the Danube for a bit and then looking across the river to a very famous bell tower.

The Petrovaradin Fortress clock tower is famously called the "drunken clock" because its small hand tells minutes and the big hand tells hours—the opposite of standard clocks—designed to help fishermen on the Danube see the time from far away. We also learned that the clocks on each side of the clock tower could show slightly different times, and that the temperature outside can influence the speed the hands move!

 As we continued our walk we visited a local food market. Even though Mondays are slow days, we saw a lot of produce and other food items.

The local produce looked very fresh and colorful

Lots of different types of Serbian cheese

Olive Oils, Honey and spices

As we were leaving the food market we had the opportunity to taste some local pastries , with some favorite local toppings. Nancy's favorites were a locally made soft white cheese, and second favorite was the locally grown and produced apricot jam. Karen also like the apricot jam, but really liked the pastries!

As we walked to our next destination, we passed several churches, old buildings, shops and restaurants. The streets were wide and the plants were just beginning to bloom. Here are a couple highlights from that walk:

Notice that two of these windows stick out from the building and have glass bottoms that allow the residents to look down on the street below. The purpose of these windows seems to be for neighbors to keep an eye on what is going on down on the street. We all know a neighbor like that!! These stick-out windows were seen in many areas around the town.

Notice the light colored building in the first picture. This building is one of the early, successful banks in the city. Notice the black, rounded shapes on the roof. These are known as beehives, and I think this rhyme clarifies what the represent: "Bees collect honey, banks collect money."

We arrived at a music hall that is in a building that used to be a synagogue. The interior is beautiful, but even better was the musical performance by three very talented women. This was an absolutely amazing experience!

This is the inside of the music hall.

Here is the musical program for the performance:

And here are the performers:

These performers were fabulous!

As we walked back to the ship we passed through a beautiful park, which included a small lake with some turtles warming up in the sun (just like back home in Eastlake Village).

Back at the ship we worked on the blog and went to lunch.

Next up today was a trip to a family farm about 20 minutes out of town for a strudel-making lesson and tasting.

We started with a toast of local liqueur, and we learned the local style of holding the glass and lifting up to get your taste.

The Chef:

Katie making her strudel:

The end result:

The ones Karen and I made:

Animals at the farm - rabbits, roosters, and miniature horses.

Dogs of Novi Sad:

And a final, incredible picture from today. Karen took the great picture of a cormorant starting to take off.

And the answer to the question at the beginning of the blog....the nickname for the bridge is "McDonalds".....get it?????

Our introduction to a new country - Serbia - has been a wonderful experience and Novi Sad is just the first of three stops. Tomorrow, we will be in Belgrade, the Capital, and one of the oldest cities in Europe. Learning about the eastern countries of Europe has certainly been eye-opening and thought-provoking! And there's more to come....thanks again for joining us on this journey!