The gate of the Krusedol monastery in Fruska Gora
An easy half hour bus ride from Novi Sad, Sremski Karlovci is a lovely little town which offers access to national park Fruska Gora. The park is supposedly an expansive hiking spot, but in the boiling August heat physical exertion was a bit out of the question. Instead, a NYC friend and I hired a private taxi driver to take us on a tour of the monasteries in the area. The very helpful tourist office in town helped us to arrange it.
An intricate ceiling in Subotica’s city hall
I have to admit that I am not a huge architecture buff and I normally don’t go out of my way to learn a terrible lot about the buildings or what period or style they were built in. I certainly never remember an architect’s name. But when I got to Szeged in Hungary, then Subotica in Serbia, and I kept hearing about Art Nouveau, I knew I had to learn a bit about it. Luckily, the tourist information offices in both Szeged and Subotica have published self-guided walking tours that are informative and easy to follow.
In a nutshell, Art Nouveau flourished in this area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Szeged was stricken by a massive flood in 1879 and Emperor Francis Joseph promised to rebuild it “more beautiful than it was before”. The resulting efforts took a cue from European architects and artists who believed that industrial development was negatively impacting beauty. Therefore, they tried to instill art and tradition into everyday life. This philosophy spilled into Subotica, which at the time was actually part of the same country at Szeged. Hungarians eventually established their own Art Nouveau movement – the Secessionist Period.
The strangest thing I think I’ve ever eaten… smoked puffin breast at 3 Frakkar in Reykjavik
I’ve been traveling around central and eastern Europe for the past few weeks and getting my delicious fill of wiener schnitzel and goulash, but I’ve also been craving some of the Icelandic delights I had during my road trip a few weeks ago. The amazing fresh seafood and awesome lamb dishes were undeniably sumptuous, albeit a bit above my backpacker price range.
Strokkur, Geysir’s neighbor, erupts every 4 minutes or so
I arrived at Gulfoss, one of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls, at just about 2 o’clock in the morning. I had drunk a lot of Red Bull before the drive because I was nervous about getting drowsy, and the drink worked better than I had expected. Full of energy, I decided to just go ahead and visit the falls in the twilight, which turned out to be a magical experience.
Seriously, looking at this sky never got old.
I initially wanted to visit Snæfellsnes National Park on day 4, but I quickly realized that it was an overly ambitious plan. As it was, I spent most of the day driving even without making the detour onto the peninsula! I definitely could have used another two or three days with the car to see more sights. It just means I’ll have to go back one day.
A Yank without a Chain 