Less than 40 miles from Sofia takes you to the border to enter Serbia. Depending where you look there are several answers to the conundrum of … how many countries are there in the Balkans ?  Over the last year I have made it my challenge to get to them all, but finding a definitive answer to how many there are is not so simple.

Today I had the pleasure of going to Serbia, my 8th country visited in the Balkans.

Nis is the largest city in southern Serbia, and the 3rd largest overall behind Belgrade & Novi Sad.  It’s a cool place that is big enough to be interesting, and small enough to have character.  Like always it is just fun to wander around and drink in the atmosphere of a really nice place and country.  I have to say I didn’t raise high hopes of Serbia .. it’s not Hong Kong, Rome or Cape Town, but it was well worth the trip.

The story that attracted me to Nis was the Cele Kula (The Skull Tower) which was built comprising of 952 human skulls of killed revolutionaries following the 1809 Battle of Cegar.

Unfortunately, after walking 20 minutes from central Nis I was presented with the sign at the entrance “closed on Mondays”.

Not to be denied I went round the back, passed a security guard leading into the hospital, over a fence and in to see the building I’d trekked out for.  I couldn’t get in the locked insides of building itself, but I did get a few photos to show that I have been to Cele Kula.

A stop on by the Niš Fortress, Tinkers Alley and FK Radnicki Nis football stadium all brought together a nice few hours in a town full of personality.  I had parked the car in a free 3 hour parking spot, and headed back to move on, only to find I had a parking ticket. Herein lies lesson #1 in visiting Nis – the three hour parking is not free, and you have to pay for your spot via text on your mobile phone !  Given that I can’t read Serbian, and don’t have a Serb cell phone – I was not sure what I was supposed to do, and I’ve not come across parking by phone before.  I have no idea how I can pay the fine, so I exited Serbia and pleased to say that I wasn’t arrested at the border.

Another day, another country, and Serbia I appreciated your hospitality and give thanks for my enjoyable time spent in your company.